Integration of Dentistry and the One, a Guarantee to Tinnitus and Hearing Loss Prevention
Over the course of the years, dentists have been on the receiving end of Tinnitus and hearing loss consequences emanating from their own practice. Apart from minor hand injuries and torn muscles operating on teeth, they experience continuous exposure to noise pollution. The sources of the noise they experience originate from the tools they use and from the natural environment. Some of the tools they use such as the handpieces generate too much noise which when the ear is exposed to for a long time, the dentist risks hearing loss. From the natural environment, the ear picks noise from the cries by the clients or from the people in the room during surgery. Without dentists, some of our toothache problems may lack an amicable solution, tooth alignment may stall and tooth removal cease. If the dentists are such a blessing to us, why do they go down the victims of tinnitus and hearing loss?
The One dental earplug
The One is a customized earplug specifically designed for the dentists. These earplugs prevent exposure of the ear to excessive noise from both the machines and the natural environment during operations. The One functions with two filters. There is the primary filter on the outside and the secondary filter in the inside. The primary filter filters general noise from the environment and machines. The secondary filter filters the unwanted noise before it reaches the eardrum.
The One Premium Series, With all the bells and whistles. Included are 4 sets of filters, one set of filter blocks, one tactical piece, and the filtered earplugs.
Importance of using the One dental earplug
The major difference between the big Ears’ the One dental earplug is that it allows for a certain limit of noise exposure. The two filters work simultaneously thereby controlling the type of noise that ends up in the inner ear. From the outside of the ear, the primary filter regulates the amount of noise entering the earplug from both the natural environment and the dental surgery equipment. Unlike other earplugs with a single filter, the One dental earplug has two to filters which collectively work together to regulate the amount of noise entering the inner ear.
On the second filter, the One dental earplug has the secondary filter installed. The secondary filter ensures only the natural voices access the inner ear. Additionally, it only allows up to 85dB. This implies that only the allowed noise pressure can penetrate the earplug. As for the One dental earplug, the allowed noise include natural sounds such as of the patient and the surgery crew. This earplug bars other types of noises from reaching the inner ear.
In addition, the dental earplug regulates the intensity of the noise that penetrates to the inner ear. This standardized feature does not discriminate the source of the noise. Therefore, even if the noise comes from the natural source, the secondary filter will filter it out. For instance, the earplug cancels the noise from a patient that screams exposing the eardrum of the dentist to a noise pressure exceeding 85dB. On the other hand, the earplug allows any other natural sound with pressure below 85dB into the eardrum.
The ringing in your ears stays with you 24/7. It’s like having a toothache forever.
Tinnitus and hearing loss, a risk associated with loud noise exposure
According to the study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 5 out of 10 retired dentist experience tinnitus. In the same study, they discovered that a third of the people suffering from tinnitus seek medical assistance which proves quite expensive. Two out of five people suffering from tinnitus successfully recover using this medication whilst the rest remain in the irreversible state. In cases of tinnitus irreversibility, the dentist risks permanent ear loss.
Tinnitus refers to the perception of a type of a ringing sound by a person whereas the sound is non-existent. Over the course of the years, scientists have tried explaining what really causes tinnitus and what the potential treatment may be. In as much as they cannot precisely deduct the cure for tinnitus, they relate treatment by studying the causes. They relate tinnitus and hearing loss to the related illnesses and understanding the symptoms to help ease, manage or block out the ringing-in-the-ear sensation.
How tinnitus develop
There are several factors preempted to cause tinnitus. However, the major cause is prolonged exposure to of the ear to intensive noise. This exposure leads to the inner ear cell damage. Exposing an ear to high-intensity sound causes the inner delicate hairs to move in the direction of the sound waves. This triggers the ear cells to produce an electrical signal through the auditory nerve to the brain. The signals sent to the brain translates into sound. In cases where the inner hairs in the inner ear break or bend, a random electrical signal sent to the brain cause tinnitus and hearing loss.
Tinnitus symptoms
The main symptom of tinnitus is the ability to hear imaginary sounds when there is no actual sound in the environment. Some of the phantom noises from the ear associated with tinnitus include the following:
- A ringing sound, which may become louder or lighter with time.
- A frequent buzzing sound
- A roaring sound.
- A hissing sound
These sounds may occur in one or both ears. In some cases, the noise may become so loud that it interferes with a person’s concentration. The sound may be irritating hindering a person from hearing the actual sounds in the environment.
Causes of tinnitus
- Exposure to loud noise
This is the major cause of tinnitus. Continuous exposure to loud noise increases chances of the inner hair of the ear-bending or breaking. When the hair breaks, it triggers the auditory nerve to send irregular electrical signals to the brain triggering tinnitus. The dentists while performing their tooth surgeries, they use noisy equipment such as the handpieces. Such equipment produces a large volume of noise to the ear. Continuous use of the same equipment by the same dentist without an earplug exposes them to greater danger of developing tinnitus and hearing loss.
Other causes
- Age-related causes
As a person ages, they become vulnerable to presbycusis. Such a condition occurs when a person approaches the 60th age. The person tends to wear out in terms of their hearing capability. The more a person experiences ear loss, the higher the chances of developing tinnitus.
- Earwax blockage
Earwax protects the ear canal by trapping the dirt and preventing bacterial development in the ear. However, when the earwax over accumulates in the ear canal, it may cause ear loss or irritation in the ear canal which may cause tinnitus and hearing loss.
Tinnitus causes for dentists
Several scientists have hypothesized different possible causes of tinnitus. Some relate tinnitus to head injuries, acoustic neuroma, blood vessel disorders and other medications such as antibiotics and aspirin. In all their arguments, they appreciate that the major and legit cause of tinnitus in the dentist is exposure to noise.
Following the nature of the working environment the dentists, they cannot resist exposure to noise. Over the course of their carrier, they continuously expose their ears to excessive noise from both the materials, which they use and the patients themselves. The materials in their laboratories produce a high volume of noise, which may trigger tinnitus and hearing loss when exposed for long. Other sources of noise in the office are the natural cause. Natural causes include the noise from the surgery personnel and the patients.
Complications that come with tinnitus
Tinnitus affects a person wholesomely. The quality of life of the person deteriorates differently. According to a research by the department of health and human service, one may experience the following complications alongside tinnitus and hearing loss.
a. Fatigue
People with tinnitus and hearing loss experience frequent fatigue without a proper course. Others may feel lazy in handling even the slightest of house chores.
b. Stress, which develops due to continuous worries of the condition one, is in. Continued stress develops into depression.
c. Sleeping problems
d. Concentration issues
e. Irritability especially in the inner ear.
f. Depression arises with excessive worrying of the situation one is in.
General tinnitus preventive measures
- Turn down the machine volume. Long-term exposure to loud music through headphones increases chances of developing tinnitus. For music listeners, reducing the music volume may help reduce chances of tinnitus infection. However, this preventive measure fails to apply to dentists. They cannot turn down the volume of noise produced by their machines.
- Take care of cardiovascular health as a routine. Prevention of tinnitus and hearing loss linked to blood disorders is achievable through right diets, regular exercise and taking steps aimed at ensuring one attains a clean blood vessel. This preventive measure is applicable to the dentist. However, the tinnitus in dentists is not blood-linked.
Tinnitus and Hearing loss preventive measure for dentists
Using the Big Ear’s the One dental earplugs. As stated earlier, the One dental earplug is the one stop shop for a customized earplug for dentists. At Big Ear Earplug Company, thorough research on earplugs enhances production of the right kind of earplug any dentists would desire. The company ensures a dentist is comfortable in their earplugs, they provide after-purchase services where they trace the client’s progress. Finally, the earplug has two filters, the primary and the secondary filter. The primary filter prevents noise penetration from the environment whilst the secondary ensures only the natural noise such as of the patient penetrates to the inner ear of the dentist. Using the One dental earplug is the only safe way that guarantees a person total protection from tinnitus and hearing loss.
Marching Band Students
Why Do I Need Hearing protection?
Musicians around the world are suffering from hearing loss more than ever before as they have spent a lifetime without wearing any form of hearing protection.
Surveys of universities reveal that more than 60% of band members suffer from tinnitus, or ringing in their ears, and more than 50% suffer from Noise-induced hearing loss. According to the World Health Organization, loss of hearing has escalated over the past 20 years and shows no sign of slowing down.
Band members have an increased risk for hearing loss as they have spent a majority of their young lives playing loud instruments near each other and during this time they have been exposed to horribly dangerous and irresponsible decibel levels without being warned about the lifelong pain and discomfort that they may potentially face due to playing in the band. Most musical instruments used in marching bands produce sound levels ranging from 92 – 126 dB as shown below will if unregulated or protected against cause irreparable hearing loss and may have already caused you tinnitus (Ringing in the ears).
Here are actual sound level meter readings from the practice field and at a football game.
Listening is everything
The Problem
Hearing protection companies have done a very poor job creating products that allow musicians to still hear their Balance, intonation, and note accuracy when playing a piece of music as a generic earplug or generic musician earplug creates an uncomfortable muffling effect. In order for any form of hearing protection to work, the players must understand when they should be wearing the protection and then wear it. Students should be cultivating the mindset that hearing protection is the most important piece of equipment (other than their instrument) they have. And unfortunately, because companies have opted for the quick cash grab, they have in turn muddied the waters and established a sub-par standard for hearing protection rather than providing a product that actually works.
The Solution
We were angered by the lack of foresight and the overall laziness on the part of hearing protection companies who at the time felt that mediocre filtered hearing protection left it up to the musician to adjust to their third-party product. In response to this, we spent five years traveling from place to place meeting and discussing hearing conservation with musicians and band Directors. We concluded that there was no form of marching band hearing protection that existed that could allow the musician to be comfortable with the earplug in their ears and not degrade the way that they hear the environment around them. The challenge was set.
Our team worked for months alongside Dr. Weiss, Director of Band, Dr.Thomas Bough and hundreds of musicians from the University of South Carolina, MSU and NIU, to come up with a solution.
We looked at what every individual musician needed from the piccolo to the drum line and developed a patented solution to give musicians total situational awareness while focusing on comfort and hearing protection.
The result was our Musician Earplug Trainer, a two-part non-linear and linear filtered earplug that allows the musician to be protected from decibels over 85 decibels while never being taken out of their immediate surroundings due to the plugged up feeling that earplugs give a performing artist. After releasing the product into the world, the feedback was outstanding and we refined the product to what it is now, little did we know we were in for a rude awakening.
Months passed and we decided to hit the road just like musical artists to promote our new product to bands across the country. However what we found upon arrival at most of the universities that we visited was heartbreaking. Musicians were understandably wary of filtered earplugs as they had already been bitten once by bad filtered earplugs and most of the students that we saw had no hearing protection in their ears, many cited that our products were too expensive (which upon reflection, they are pricey but not completely unaffordable) while others claimed that they were not feeling any ill effects from the band and are happy not protecting their hearing.
This confounded us and we had an a-ha moment, maybe it’s not only the products themselves but the education around hearing conservation that is extremely lacking. From that point on we have made the education of proper hearing conservation our guiding light and with each school that we visit our goal is to not just sell a piece of equipment but to educate young and old performers on proper hearing conservation and increase the probability that you will be able to play your music comfortably for as long as you choose.
What We Do
The process is straightforward. We visit your school and discuss the goals of hearing conservation that you have for your band. After, we take that information and create a custom-tailored installment plan for your specific needs. We have the ability to finance products and we make our products as easily accessible as possible.
As music lovers, we want to do whatever is possible to protect band members and preserve music as a safe and honored tradition. We welcome you to assist us in that goal.
As we know all too well, there will still be a great majority of players who will choose to go without hearing protection when you play or a greater portion of you who will choose to suffer through generic poor fitting earplugs. While we here wish that we could make a set of our earplugs for every player we visit, that is just not a reality. What I can offer is a few tips on how to conserve your hearing starting right now.
- If you feel any sensation in your ears, speak up. Your section leaders and band directors are across the board caring people with a healthy appreciation for music and those who make it, so don’t ever feel like you are being bothersome if you talk to them about pain in your ears.
- Notice the times of your rehearsal when the music peaks and prepare yourself by having a cheap pair of foam earplugs to stick in for that overwhelmingly loud duration.
- Distance yourself from an unruly player. If there is a member of your band who is known to let off an extra loud trumpet, piccolo, alto sax, or drum solo after you finish a song, try to distance yourself from the blast zone and be aware of your surroundings.
- Hand in hand with tip number 3, talk to that person about their habit and politely ask them to be mindful of their fellow musicians around them.
- If you are taking any medication, talk to your doctor or school nurse about the specific medications interaction with decibel levels as there are hundreds of medications that can damage your inner ear hair cells and cause you permanent hearing damage.
- In the same light If you hear the word ototoxic followed by the name of a medication you are taking speak to your doctor and band director immediately
- If you hear for any reason at all ringing in your ears, address the sensation immediately with your section leader or band director.
Now that we have prepared you for life without our product, below this picture is a list of reasons why we believe you would benefit greatly from wearing what we provide.
(The One®) Select Series is the second tier selection in our M.E.T series. Furthering the idea of the standard set we wanted to give you multiple decibel reduction choices.
A list of the reasons why The One is right for you
1. It’s clear and not very visible which will reduce the comments of your peers.
2. Unlike cheap foamies and generic musician earplugs, the one does not hurt when you wear them all day as they are custom made to your ears.
3. By wearing them all day, you will reduce the chances of getting dosed if someone decides to blast their instrument during downtime in a rehearsal session.
4. Because of the dual filter system, you can hear everyone and everything around you clearly and not miss anything.
5. When you are playing, you can hear the color of the music and stay in beat and in tune with your fellow players.
6. When the full band is playing, you can hear your own instrument and your section while being protected from the massive decibels that you produce.
7. You will be protecting your most important investment, and that is your hearing. As you get better at your craft, you can be assured that you will have your hearing for the rest of your life.
We will be attending the opening camp day August 15 from 9am-6pm to make this hearing protection available for the students.
During this time we will make custom Impressions. The clear earplug is lab generated and takes 21 business day to build and ship. If you order the filtered earplugs you will receive our main specialized filter (a 20-decibel blue filter as seen in the picture below) that you can use in a generic earplug until your custom plugs arrive in the mail.
We take all form of payment and on the 15th we will be able to finance our hearing protection with a $50.00 down payment.
Recently we have developed a three-tiered product option kit for musicians that allows the player to have more flexibility in how they wish to protect their hearing.
The first is our Custom Musician Earplug Standard Series that comes with One set of filters, a lanyard, a Big Ear-cup, and case. (Click the link to see the product on our website)
How the one works.
Filtered Earplugs For Musicians. Allows the musician to hear their music and others around them while eliminating the plugged up feeling of earplugs while playing.
The second tier is the select series that includes an extra filter set so you can adjust the decibel levels that you reduce. The orange set in the picture below is a 25-decibel reduction, we also have a green 15 dB reduction and a purple 9-decibel reduction.
Marching Band Hearing Protection “Select series”
(The One®) Select Series is the second tier selection in our M.E.T series. Furthering the idea of the standard set we wanted to give you as more choices to protect yourself.
The Third Choice is our premium set with all 4 sets of filters for all your needs. (9 dB, 15 dB, 20 dB and 25 dB) Filters, one pop chord two filter plugs and a tactical piece with a rugged case.
Marching Band Hearing Protection Premium Series
The magnum opus of our Met Series, with all four filters, one pop chord, one tactical piece two filter plugs and a rugged carrying case this is the best money can buy
We wish you the best this season and if you have any questions you can contact us at any time via the website or the phone number 719-271-9081 or email us at ghood@bigearinc.com. If you wish to have a different selection of filters with your filtered set simply specify which one you would like when you have your impressions made.
Trumpet Player Testimonial
Alto Sax Testimonial
A second Trumpet testimonial
Serenity Now
Rebecca K. Horton, RDA
Yesterday I was so tired I didn’t think I could even go to dinner with my husband.
Why? Well, the noisy old day and all the stress had just about worn me out.
I decided to do an experiment. I recently was fitted for custom ear plugs while at the BMW Motorcycles of America Rally. It was held at the Des Moines Iowa Fairgrounds so it was a large meeting, with lots of vendors and attendees. I stopped by the Big Ear Incorporated booth and a very nice young many by the name of Stone Hood took my impressions and made custom plugs while I waited.
The convention hall was so noisy you had to shout to be heard. The moment he placed the impression material in my ear the noise stopped! I felt immediate relief and had one of those “aha!” Yet “ahhhh“ moments. I could hear him talking to me and another person who was asking questions, but no noise! It was like a little vacation!
So yesterday when I was terribly exhausted, I went outside and sat on the steps, put my custom ear plugs in and took a five-minute SERENITY NOW break. Just breathing in the fresh air and relaxing a bit.
In a few minutes, my energy returned and I was able to enjoy my evening.
Custom ear plugs by Big Ear Incorporated can do a lot more than just keep the wind quiet when you’re riding your motorcycle. Vacuuming the floors is easier, lawn mowing, weed eating, etc. Why suffer when you can relax and listen to your own thoughts? Ahhhhhhh…….. : )
Noisy Like A School Lunchroom Crossed With a Subway Station
Rebecca K. Horton, RDA
I saw an ad for a class coming up today with the subject line: CHANGING HOW WE FEEL BY CHANGING HOW WE THINK. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had plenty of positive thinking classes in my time, and I’ve read dozens of books on the subject, even recorded an audiobook called “100 Tips for Everyday Anger Management”, available on I-Tunes. It made me stop and think. Hmmmm. Maybe CHANGING HOW WE THINK BY CHANGING THE WAY WE FEEL is what we really need.
SO………..
I had a frank talk with our staff today about their perception of noise in the dental office. Apparently, I DO NOT KNOW EVERYTHING. Yet.
Sara said “Sometimes I go to the bathroom and hold my hands over my ears and pray to MAKE IT STOP, LORD! when everyone is talking with their patients all at once, the television is on in every room, the radio is on, kids are on their cell phones, equipment is buzzing, the phone is ringing, the doorbell, the lab, the crying…”
Lisa said “Sometimes the suction bothers me so much that I get into my car at the end of the day and I cannot stand to have the radio on – I drive home in silence. I am so relieved to have the quiet.”
Dr. said “I lose my train of thought when the office is too noisy and I find myself getting impatient with everyone, myself included. I lose my place and sometimes my temper, sad to say. That really wears me out.”
Rhonda said “How am I supposed to talk on the phone with a patient with all that racket? It’s so hard to hear what the patient is saying. How can I be effective with all that? I can’t remember who I’m even talking to sometimes!”
The truth is, we come into work because we love what we do. We just don’t like what the work does to us. We get ground down every day and no amount of POSITIVE THINKING can save you when you—PERSONALLY—are thrashed. And just because we start EVERY DAY DOWN IN THE MOUTH…lol… doesn’t mean we have to (figuratively) STAY there!
So, how about this, if we become what we think about all day long, what is it we become when we can’t hear ourselves think? Not gonna be your Super Bowl Performance is it? If you don’t care if you lose your hearing, well, alrighty then.
But why lose another day to a bad mood due to noise pollution?
Finally, Dental hearing protection that does not act like Ear Plugs.
The Best Dentist Custom Earplugs (The One®) Select
Hearing Loss and Prevention in the Dental Office Setting
By
Rebecca K. Horton
According to NIOSH, National Institution for Occupational Safety and Health, the most common occupational injury of all is noise-induced hearing loss, not only in dental offices but everywhere. Today, we’re going to discuss dental offices and NIHL, Noise-Induced Hearing Loss. Most dentists, hygienists, and assistants dedicate years to their careers in this important healthcare field. However, they’re at significant risk from an often undetected threat. Just as the dental community discovered that losing teeth wasn’t a normal part of aging, neither is most hearing loss!
The three factors that cause hearing loss are:
- INTENSITY
- DURATION
- SPECTRUM OF SOUND
In the dental office we have:
- INTERMITTENT
- IMPULSE
- FLUCTUATING
These sounds are tolerated on a daily basis with little thought to the damage actually occurring.
The NIHL types are:
- ACOUSTIC TRAUMA – CONSISTING OF A FEW EXPOSURES, BUT AN INTENSE SOUND LEVEL
- TEMPORARY THRESHOLD SHIFT – TEMPORARY HEARING CHANGE FOLLOWING EXPOSURE TO NOISE
- PERMANENT THRESHOLD SHIFT – RESULTS FROM CUMULATIVE EXPOSURE TO NOISE AND IS IRREVERSIBLE
The loss that the dental industry suffers falls into the “boiling the frog” category. In other words, you don’t know you’re “well done” until it’s too late!
Sound, of course, is measured in Decibels and 86 dB is considered over the limit.
- HIGH-SPEED HANDPIECE – 66 dB to 100 dB
- HIGH-SPEED EVACUATION – up to 100 dB
- SALIVA EJECTOR – up to 60 dB
- VACUUM FORMER – up to 90 dB
- AIR IN LAB – over 100 dB
- CHILD CRYING 110+
You can check your levels free on several phone apps. Try DECIBEL X to check your base levels.
Ear protection is a must. Losing your hearing isn’t a normal part of aging. Please take steps to safeguard your hearing and the hearing of others in your practice. Don’t forget to spread the word to others so the next generation of dental professionals doesn’t have to suffer the same loss.
Custom dental earplugs are available to prevent permanent hearing loss. There’s NO CURE, only PREVENTION. Dentists know the truth about PREVENTION more than any other group of professionals.
The Best Dentist Custom Earplugs (The One®) Select
Noise-induced Hearing loss in Dentists
Hearing Noise or Useful Listening?
Rebecca K. Horton, RDA
In the dental office, we are bombarded by noise all day long. Did you ever stop to think how tired this makes you at the end of the day?
What if you could hear what you need to hear without all the distraction and exhaustion of that ceaseless, noisy racket?
What if instead of getting annoyed before lunch because you had a crying child patient, or kids in the reception area talking loudly, or doorbells, ringing phones, equipment in a ceaseless din, you had the serenity of speaking quietly to the patient you are working on and to the assistant you are working with? Would that make a difference in your life?
I can remember when we installed Theta Systems’ color-coded call system so we wouldn’t be yelling at each other. We would simply push the colored button and that person would appear. Right? Yes. And then there were times when we all abused that system. We’d lay down on that buzzer because we were already stressed out by 9:30 AM. The day goes downhill from there. You buzzed in an aggressive fashion, then the person responding caught your stress, then stress multiplied like Gremlins who ate after midnight.
So all day long the stress breeds more stress until at the end of the day when you should be celebrating making it through the day successfully, you are so pissed off you can’t think straight.
What do you have to lose? What do you have to gain? Is it possible to not be exhausted at the end of the day? Or, if you’re tired, why can’t it be a good tired? Why would you not move mountains to gain control of this situation that repeats itself day in and day out in dental offices around the world?
The solution does not cost much. How much does it cost to be exhausted and angry instead of peaceful and happy?
Let’s talk transducers! for those of you who know what they are your ears will perk up, but for those of you who do not know what they are I might as well be talking about solutions to the motion of the free asymmetric top or Göbekli Tepli, but if I do my job right then both the transducer savvy and the transducer newbies can leave here with more knowledge. So, where do we begin?
What are the transducers? Look closely they are these little metal blocks.
I believe that eating the frog and jumping into the murky details of what a transducer does and how it functions in a very simple way is a great way to dissect this topic (Pun intended). The term transducer in its base form means the conversion of an energy signal into another energy form. Simple enough right? One signal (The Input) takes in an electrical signal and relays that message to an output such as a radio outputting sound, or a machine such as this STANLEY right angle torque tool. In the in-ear monitor niche, the transducers job is to in the words of Headphonesty.com to, “convert the electrical signal into a sound wave that the ear can understand. Its straightforward and over the years many companies have crafted higher and higher quality devices that fulfill the needs of many different applications. And within these applications are the different versions of drivers available and they are a balanced armature, Dynamic, Planar magnetic, Electrostatic, Magnetostriction, or bone conduction transducers.
With this many choices, it is hard to go wrong with the transducer that you purchase, However, not all headphone drivers are created equal, and each specific type serves its purpose, read this article to understand which is right for your intended application. In our companies niche, we have selected balanced armature drivers as they are ideal for fitting within a custom shell and provide users on motorcycles, and users who intend using their in-ear headphones for communication in extremely loud surroundings exceptional clarity while efficiently producing sound waves which ensure that the user can have beautiful sound while listening at responsible volume levels. And this is an important point to be made as there are many options on the market and so many companies including ourselves that market and sell products with transducers in them. There are so many now that it can be hard to differentiate between what product you specifically need, and since I am writing this for both experienced and inexperienced transducer crowds.
I believe there are some myths to dispell before we go any further. The first is that there is a correlation between the number of transducers and the sound quality. While this is a true statement in most cases if the unit is a well-built device that showcases quality frequency responses and linear dynamics and meets professional standards only when this is achieved will adding more transducers to the equation output a higher quality sound. But if the build of the device is subpar and done in a non-professional manner with uncertified technicians the sound reproduction is degraded quickly, and the finished product may offer more drivers at a lower cost but when compared to a well built lower transducer count, the lower count higher quality transducer will perform much better.
Here ia a perfect example for you to understand Frequency. Our transducers we use to give you a response from 20HZ to 20,000. Get a listen to what that actually is. Set your speaker system to 3/4 volume. This is not a pretty test and it may even annoy some, but when people make recording either books on tape or music this is the frequency range that is used. When we design our head Stereo earplugs we take into account first what the frequency that is present, (say wind noise on a motorcycle) and designs a headset that will compensate for the outside sound and makes us totally different than any other company out there. Their units are designed in a quiet setting with no background noise. That’s why when you hear it just in a room then try and use it in an application they ALL fall short.
Get a listen at 3/4 volume to understand what frequency is.
The next myth to dispell is that name brand headphones are the highest quality products that you can buy. In the world of sales and marketing, the biggest fish dominate the industry and while this is fair, what does suffer at times is the end consumer as they are constantly being conditioned to purchase the most name recognized brand. The problem with doing this in the headphone industry is that it can wind up costing you a lot of money very quickly for a subpar product that has massive marketing forces pumping out ads and product placements.
How can I find a set that is personally made for me?
This is a very small niche that the Big Box players can’t service as everything is custom and one off. They try and make it seem that using a generic ear cup or a heat and stuff will do the trick as it is the easiest to manufacture.
However for the few who decide to look past the veil of advertising, there are many articles written that compare the performance of both well known and unknown in-ear monitors and even more youtube videos than you could ever watch in a lifetime that break down every aspect of headphones, earbuds, speakers and transducers and what they can do for you. And for those who do their research and invest in the right product, you can limit the money you spend while searching for the right product while also supporting non-name brand products.
The last two myths that I would like to dispell are. First, all custom earplugs are the same and second that all custom transducer products are too expensive. These two can be dispelled by just typing in,”Are custom earbuds worth it?” Into Google. What you will find are cases where journalists take the plunge into custom earbuds to uncover how good they are. And the dynamic range of choices that each journalist or enthusiast has defeats the first myth. Dispelling the second part of the myth that custom headphones are all too expensive is why I am writing this article. The problem that I see permeated in other articles covering custom products is in many reviews; the journalists acquire the biggest baddest and most expensive products from the most established and well-known custom headphone companies. They get the ten drivers or the eight drivers and laud the performance of the device.
This in the world of cinematography is like getting ahold of a red epic or an Arri Alexa and stating that it’s amazing, its a known thing that is tried and true. However what happens is the journalist does the article on the ten thousand dollar product, and as an afterthought, they throw in that you can get an affordable product at the four hundred dollar price point and they end the article without going into any more detail. In our consumer-centric society, this is dangerous as it creates an air of false superiority around custom headsets in that they are lavish and only for the mega-wealthy or the world-class musician who has just signed a huge record deal. But that is not the case.
In our product line and most other companies, there are extremely available options that don’t cost as much as a downpayment on a home. From our Be-1c that retails at 350.00 or our Be-2 which provides pro-level sound quality at an affordable price of 550.00 or the myriad of other companies mid-tier priced products. These products are all but missed as they are not the flashy 5 or 10 driver’s that our marketplace has saturated. However, this would not be a productive post if I just stated the issues. The way that these products receive recognition and attention is like any other product or cause; it takes time and exposure to resonate with a broader audience. And hopefully, through articles like this one and the hundreds of others on the internet, customers can receive the correct information on the other options past generic earbuds.
Let’s wrap up what we learned.
I would like to wrap this up by sharing that the passion that custom companies have for creating these high-quality transducers. In most cases, you will deal with very honest and upstanding people who work hand in hand with some of the best labs in the world to create products that will provide their customers with the very best in both hearing production and sound recreation. And by doing business with these upstanding businesses you will cultivate a market that keeps everybody who sells these products on their toes and constantly innovating to create the very best products, and in turn, you create a truly fair marketplace.
Tinnitus and noise-induced hearing loss are at an all-time high in the dental profession. I took a step back to look at what happened. It can be said that the dental profession as a whole has contributed to better life experience for people in North America since the turn of the 20th century. They have made a concerted effort in education and prevention for overall mouth health in the US. Now It’s our turn to educate the dentist about their major health issue so they can do something for the next generation of Dental Professionals. It can be solved by simply wearing dental ear plugs. What follows is the five stages that contribute to large-scale changes regarding personal protection and preventative measures within our society.
1. Awareness:
Many factors have contributed to this catastrophic onset of Tinnitus and noise induced-hearing loss that we are seeing. I have poured over the research to understand the common issue causing this, and I have found it. We are not aware that the new lifestyle habits and the profession have completely devastated the normal hearing in the dentist profession.
2.Research:
Once a profession as a whole understands that there is a significant shift in the health of a group we go into research mode. We study, investigate and report on what we see. All the research supports that our lives have become much louder and the professions we choose can and will accelerate noise-Induced hearing loss and Tinnitus if we do nothing about it.
3.Realization:
“The Red Pill.” Unfortunately like when the dental health profession introduced the little red pill way back when I was in grade school, it showed the plack and scum that was on my teeth even after I was given the opportunity to brush first. It was a very embarrassing, and it was an impactful day for a lot of us. I think that when we became aware that we all needed to brush better, it changed all of our lives. The issue with tinnitus that it is invisible and the only person who can see and feel our shame, embarrassment and regret are ourselves. It acts as our own little red pill that only we can hear, and we have Ringing in our ears and difficulty understanding the conversation at a noisy restaurant. Just like our grandparents and even my parents that had dentures, They looked normal, but underneath the surface, they had to come to grips that they had false teeth. There was no alternative back then, and it was all about educating the next generations to come to take better care of what we have and took for granted.
4. Solution:
The Dental Profession is unique as a practice. You have to engage with the patient fully, and you have to be able to fully communicate with your assistant and hear all the nuances of your equipment, and you need to protect your hearing. Until now all of this was not achievable. I have studied all that goes into the workplace and have created a solution to solve the next generation of hearing loss in dentists. I Call it “The One.” It is a Low profile clear, discrete patented dual filtered custom dental ear plugs that allows perfect conversation and communication, all the while adequately protecting your hearing. You have to save what you have left of your hearing and try and get the Tinnitus under control and not aggravate it as it will continue to get worse through repeat exposure to damaging decibels. So like the “Red Pill” Take action now.
Choosing the right ear plug.
5. Advocacy:
Once you have implemented dental ear plugs as a necessary action in your practices it’s time to educate future generations of dentists that like brushing their teeth it’s up to them to personally protect themselves. Once you have found the right solution that works for you, it’s up to you to spread the word and pay it forward to the next group as we already are dealing with the effects of doing nothing.
How is Spinning Class is Causing Noise-Induced Hearing Loss and Tinnitus? Waking up in the morning you feel it; you have everything set out ahead of time, your outfit is hanging on the outside of the closet, your balanced breakfast is in the fridge and your gym bag is at the front door. You grab your things jump in your car and feel your foot is a little heavier on the gas as you fell the nerves and excitement before today’s workout. You have planned to arrive 15 minutes ahead of the others to ensure that you get your chance at the new peloton at the front of the class. You go through the class and feel yourself breaking new ground and hitting your imagined wall. After the workout finishes, the sweat has pooled around the floor, you are seeing double, your caloric counter reads that you just burned 700 calories a new personal record, but when you leave and sit on the bench in the locker room with your towel draped around your head, the only thing you notice is the ringing in your ears. Is it the workout doing this? No, you’ve done this workout hundreds of times before at home, and you’ve never experienced this before, could it be the music in the studio? You rush back to the room and try to talk to the instructor, but they still have the music on full blast, you have to shout to be heard and its still not enough. “Is this music too loud?” You scream over top of the rising vocals of pitbull saying he wants you. “What?” They reply, “The music in here is this too loud for us to listen too?” You ask “Oh come on, don’t mess with the mood in here is what makes this class so much fun, it’s a workout par-teeey!!!” they respond.
Spinning Class Party!
This response hits your gut, and you leave the room embarrassed and shamed. Outside the room, the glass walls shake with the reverberations of the music. This is the sad scenario at hundreds if not thousands of spinning studios around the country and the world. But why is this behavior acceptable? And is there anything that can be done about it? The answer sadly comes in many different forms. According to the IFA(International Fitness Association), there are standards for gyms that must be met which are set by OSHA, they state according to official documents,” At 85 dB the EPA standard for safe sound is 45 minutes. At 88 dB the EPA standard for safe sound is 23 minutes. EPA regards 91 dB as unsafe for any length of time over 11 minutes.”
This is the law, and according to the same article, the authors state that “gyms and classes including instructors who do not adhere to these guidelines leave themselves open to legal ramifications in the future as well as workmen’s compensation considerations as this subject becomes more widely understood. ” Explained in this article is the key to the solution of NIHL (Noise-Induced Hearing Loss) in the gym and most areas of our lives. The key that this article hits upon is most individuals or corporations do not understand how their hearing is being damaged and are attempting to educate themselves on how noise levels in their workout classes are affecting their instructors and students.
This is understandable but what does matter in conservation programs is the action behind the intent. And in workout facilities, there is evidence that not much has been done to remedy this. In countless articles such as Kirsten Cole’s Pix 11 article,”Loud music in spinning class linked to hearing damage concerns.” Cole states, “In 2015 PIX 11 used undercover cameras and a decibel meter, to see just how loud classes were at some of the most popular spin studios.” Cole further explains that “All four studios played at a near constant 100 decibels or more. Throughout the classes, all studios spiked to levels of 115 decibels, blowing the known safety levels from industry fitness groups and OSHA.” In a separate article by Lindsay Miller titled, “Can Super loud Workout Classes Permanently Damage Your Hearing? An Expert Weighs in.” In the article, Miller asked an instructor at LA-based workout studio The Wall about any concerns she had. The instructor replied, “I’ve listened to loud music all my life. And I have noticed my ears ringing time and again. To myself, I always say ‘I’m losing my hearing!” And I still pump it up more.” In response to the same question, a colleague of the same trainer stated,”Music is a huge part of being an instructor,
Why are my ears ringing?
I worry much less about if it’s loud and more on if it makes people want to move.” Is it wrong to feel this way? To understand the risks of something and still do it anyway? Is Spinning Class is causing Noise-induced Hearing loss and Tinnitus? An argument can be made for both sides. But the idea of this article is not to judge and shame gyms and trainers on the noise levels in their workout classes and their business practices, this is written to spotlight a major problem within an institution and allow those within the institution make the decision to solve the problem internally before it is done for them by government agencies or any outside influences. By tracking data back to over 20 years ago, there is sufficient evidence to support the claim that sound within exercise classes is increasing at an alarming rate. In an article published in 2013by Elizabeth Francis Beach and Valerie Nie, titled, “Noise Levels in Fitness Classes Are Still Too High: Evidence From 1997-1998 and 2009-2011” The authors who “assessed noise levels during 35 low-intensity and 65 high-intensity fitness classes in 1997-1998 and 2009-2011″ and asked the participates to fill out questionnaires about the music levels in the room and if they found loud music to be,”Stressful, or motivating.” What they found was alarming. Their journal abstract states that, “Noise levels in 1997-1998 and 2009-2011 were similar, frequently exceeding 90 dB(A).” The article continues by stating, “Although noise levels in low-intensity classes dropped from 88.9 to 85.6 dB(A), they remained high for high-intensity classes averaging 93.1 dB(A).In 2009-2011 instructors preferred significantly higher volumes than clients for high-intensity classes.” The authors then explain that”In both time periods about 85 % of instructors found loud music motivating, whereas about one-fifth of clients found it stressful.”
This data is extremely crucial in understanding the reason why music in exercise classes is increasing and more importantly in what kind of classes the music is increasing in. This article defeats the notion that all exercise classes are the same. However, the truth is that a class dedicated to relaxing or rehab yoga will have lower music levels when compared to a spinning class or a CrossFit class. This delineation of high-intensity classes from low- intensity is important because the high-intensity classes are becoming extremely popular in our culture. Stemming from the cross-fit revolution new classes such as versaclimber, intense spinning classes, WOD, Trampolining, and combat based fitness programs all of which music plays a pivotal factor in the intensity of the workout, the volume is only going higher and higher.
Know the Hearing risks of your daily life
The data found by Beach and Nie and the data found from PIX 11 in 2015 shows that the decibel exposure is only increasing. So what can be done? One of the biggest steps to solving complex human habits is to first identify the issue, that is what the articles and journals quoted above serve to do. The next step is to attempt to reset or reprogram participants and instructors habits when it comes to their workouts. And in certain cases, there is headway being made. In Vicky Hallett’s 2015 article titled, ” If you think the music at your gym is too loud, that’s because it probably is” the author describes the atmosphere of a popular workout location and states,”These days, however, you’d be lucky simply finding a fitness facility that has a noise policy of any kind.” The article quotes Teri Bothwell a group fitness director of sport and health as she states,”Booming bass may be bad for your ears, but it’s good for business.” She continues by stating, “At boutiques, it’s a party, and it’s loud, and that’s part of what people pay for.” So the contradiction remains, if its something that the people want, and there is an industry dedicated to providing what they want, is it wrong? Even though what the group wants is permanently damaging them does that make it wrong? These are questions for another time and another person to answer but by just simply knocking on the door of the ethical and moral grounds is enough to open the minds of those who are participating as trainers or clients.
There are methods that can reprogram and reshape the way that workout facilities and the individuals who run them and the participants who attend classes at them. The first is something already put into practice by one trainer as is stated by Vicky Hallets about a group Instructor Asuka Boutcher in Hallets Washington Posts article, “If you think the music at your gym is too loud, that’s because it probably is.” Boutcher is a group training instructor who works with large groups ranging into the hundreds and Hallets explains that “While she’s (Boutcher) willing to put her own hearing at risk, Boutcher recognizes that it’s not a laughing matter. That’s why she’s settled on the same solution Reid did: earplugs. There’s a big bucket of them available free for any student.” For an instructor to think about their students and provide them with hearing protection during a workout is a step in the right direction. The next step is recognition on the part of the students in these classes,
Overcome the social stigma of going against the norm
This may be one of the most difficult hurdles to overcome as there is not only a personal hurdle to overcome, there is a social issue where an individual must speak up and run the risk of being on the outside with their opinion within the fitness industry that can be a place of wonderful improvement but can also be fraught with industry backbiting and inter-gym competition and gossip. Lindsay Miller weighed in her article and gave insight into how she raised the issue when she experienced muffled hearing after a workout. Miller states that “Maybe I was being too sensitive. Maybe I just had a knack for booking exceptionally loud classes and instructors. So, a few days after that fateful Spin class, I decided to informally poll my Facebook friends.” She continues by stating,”Had any of them either walked out of a workout class because the music was too loud or been legitimately concerned that the volume in a workout class was negatively impacting their hearing? Fifty-four percent of the people who responded said yes.” Actions such as these are what power change.
The number of people who responded to her poll is not given, however what her data does show is the recognition of a glaring problem within a very hush-hush type of atmosphere that at times promotes pain as weakness and having the ability to push yourself through extreme mental, emotional, and physical pain to reach your goals as a sign of strength and positivity, and while these traits will result in a better physique, they can also lead to permanent damage. And this is the mindset that works for and against the participants and instructors. In our ideal gym environment instructors are making earplugs available for their students, the students are monitoring their own ear health and limits and acting accordingly by either protecting themselves or speaking up about the issue, the next question is how do we make lasting changes to these environments that promote the overall health of all of the participants?
It’s just Spinning class for god’s sake
Is it sweeping regulations forced on every gym in the nation? Is it drastic changes to the business practices of each individual gym, health club, rehabilitation facility, physical fitness service, or the hundreds of other names that these clubs fall under? Is it a state by state, county by county, block by block reform of every institution that plays music in their gym environment? That is what Aaron D. Werner and his article in, “The National Law Review” titled, “Compliance with Health and Fitness State Laws:Background, Best Practices and Key Takeaways for Health and Fitness Club Owners” In the article Werner attempts to give gym owners the proper tools to set up a healthy and responsible club that will allow them to practice safe and responsible ownership and contribute to a positive atmosphere. He does state at the top of the article that, “The problem is the difficulty in obtaining complete and accurate information regarding which laws are applicable to their business.” And this is the circle that we repeat as there is as of the time of writing this article in 2018, very little precedence within the united states legal system that holds gym owners, instructors, and students accountable for their actions. This does not mean that noise levels in workout facilities will remain the same, what it does mean is that there is room for growth and because we are becoming more self-aware about our health, we can always learn more and protect ourselves accordingly including legislation and sweeping legalities that maximum decibel exposure at a given time while engaged in an exercise class. But until that day does come it falls on the individual to educate themselves on the risks, and on governmental and industry-leading brands to promote safe and healthy workout environments for the overall long-term health of their members and most importantly it falls on the shoulders of those in positions of influence to set positive examples for younger generations to learn from and as we learn and adjust our habits we then have the possibility of exacting a positive change in our future.
Hearing Loss is not a benefit of spinning Class
Further Reading
If you found the above reading interesting, check out the following articles to learn more.
How to chose the best hearing protection for shooting
Here is an article on what the buying cycle is for stoping Hearing Loss.
Specialized protection for Spinning loss to stop: Spinning Class is Causing Noise-Induced Hearing Loss and Tinnitus.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/if-you-think-the-music-at-your-gym-is-too-loud-it-probably-is/2015/02/17/98084620-abc1-11e4-9c91-e9d2f9fde644_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.3ec2d09df000
https://www.elle.com/uk/life-and-culture/culture/longform/a41063/fitness-trends-gym-classes-workout/
https://www.thewallfitness.com/expect-circuit-training-cycling-core/
https://www.popsugar.com/fitness/Loud-Music-Workout-Classes-44521957
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260116067_Noise_Levels_in_Fitness_Classes_Are_Still_Too_High_Evidence_From_1997-1998_and_2009-2011
