hearing loss from vuvuzelas

[boxtops]

There is a bloke on the radio at the moment on Tonight R4 saying that people may sustain severe hearing loss from the sheer volume of vuvuzela-honking during the tournament. Discuss.

[boxtops]

Correction PM Radio 4, not Tonight.

[joggerjayne]

Who will be the first ABer to type ... "Pardon?"

[boxtops]

JJ - those who can interpret will understand.....

[joggerjayne]

Boxy ... it was supposed to be a joke about hearing loss ...

... hence ... "Pardon?"

[boxtops]

Derrrr... it's been a long day, sorry!

[joggerjayne]

LOL

[ttfn]

I always wonder why people say that about people with hearing loss, like myself - who also had her dog put to sleep last year. Still wouldn't do if we were all the same.

[Sqad]

Difficult question to answer.
There are 2 types of hearing loss.
1) Acute and sudden....bomb blast
2) Noise exposure, less intense over a long period of time.
Surprisingly the inner ear is well protected and quite resilient.
It sounds as though the Vuvuzelas are " blasting off" at about 80dbs, that is just a guess from listening to the TV. Inner ear damage would depend upon how near you were and for how long.
In my opinion a person exposed to that noise fro 90 mins would be unlikely to develop noise induced hearing loss (NIHL), however for 2 or 3 matches he may well develop a high tone loss which would not be realised for about 20yrs. So the problem would not be now, but later in life. For that person attending many matches being exposed to 80 db continually, only ear protectors would save damage to his inner ear. This damage is quite discreet affecting the range of 2-4Khertz..... indistinguishable impairment until later in life.

[Sqad]

Just been listening to the Vuvuzelas on the TV....it is a low pitched noise at a very low frequency and intensity and I would be very surprised if that would irreversibly damage one's hearing.

[AlBags]

One in each ear at 120dB would do the job pretty well.
Need banning asap. Ruddy annoying and distracting.
We miss all the old singing.

[joggerjayne]

"We miss all the old singing."

Erm ...

[joggerjayne]

I think I might get a vuvuzela for next season.

=0)

Ooh, next year's league fixtures are out on Thursday ... Yay !

[AlBags]

It's true ... The old chanting songs were great! : )
All ya get now is that ruddy buzzing ... permanently!

[AlBags]

No matter .. they will be banned soon enough. I'm confident of that.

[Count-A-Strong]

Sounds like there's a huge bluebottle in the stadium. It's just been said on the been that the manufacturers are bringing out a quieter one.

[grasscarp]

We have little hairs in the ear which get blown over like flattened grass in the noise. These can become permanently damaged and lead to tinnitus or losing ability to hear certain notes.

[boxtops]

Clearly, what they need is a vuvuzela Ed, so he can zap 'em when people complain.