Loud music may damage your hearing before you realise it Premium

Loud music at events can cause hidden hearing damage, often unnoticed until significant loss occurs, highlighting urgent prevention needs.

The thrill of live performances and the euphoric atmosphere of large music events may leave behind more than just memories. New research published in Scientific Reports suggests that prolonged exposure to loud music can cause long-lasting hearing damage.

The study conducted by Nele De Poortere, a postdoctoral researcher, and her colleagues at Ghent University in Belgium focused on “hidden” hearing damage caused by subtle but irreversible changes in synapses — the small nerve connections within the inner ear. Because this damage doesn’t immediately reduce hearing sensitivity, standard hearing tests often miss it, raising the possibility of an under-recognised public health concern.

“Our study aimed to identify subtle, early-stage forms of noise-related hearing damage and objective markers that could reveal them, to improve early detection, prevention, and clinical care for people at risk who currently fall outside conventional diagnostic criteria,” Dr. De Poortere said.

The cochlea, a spiral-shaped chamber in the inner ear, converts sound vibrations into electrical signals that the brain can interpret. The synapses connect sensory hair cells in the cochlea to auditory nerve fibres, transforming sound pressure changes into electrical impulses that are relayed to the brain. Conventional noise-induced hearing loss results from damage to hair cells and appears as reduced hearing sensitivity on audiograms.

However, research in animal models and human cadavers has shown that prolonged exposure to loud noise can also damage synapses without affecting hearing thresholds, a condition known as cochlear synaptopathy.

According to Aravindakshan Parthasarathy, assistant professor of Communication Science and Disorders at the University of Pittsburgh, who wasn’t involved in the study, clinical hearing assessments still rely primarily on measuring the softest sounds a person can hear.