With carnival just around the corner, the hearing shops are busier than usual. Hearing protection is especially popular among young people. The earplugs, whether or not custom-made, cannot be found at some stores. “Especially people who often go out or visit festivals, I recommend tailor-made protection.”
Almost everyone knows it during carnival. Procession here, café there with the carnival music that makes the floor vibrate. That is of course great fun, but the sound is often so loud that there is a risk of hearing damage.
Young people in particular are aware of this risk and know how to find their way to hearing care professionals. Carla Vermeer of Brabant Oor in Waalwijk: “This morning I had a girl who had bought earplugs for a party. The music was constantly louder than 100 decibels and now she came to have custom caps made.” The hearing shop notices that it is busier around carnival.
This also applies to Beter Horen in the Eindhoven region. Frank from the store in Best: “Here we mainly see that parents get universal caps for their children during carnival.” His Eindhoven colleague Maureen notes that anyone who still wants earplugs before carnival will have to use universal plugs. “Due to delivery problems of raw materials, you now have a waiting time of up to three or four weeks for custom-made items.”
“We see whole groups of friends taking hearing protection.”
Hearing protection is gaining in popularity anyway. According to Janien Walhout of Audinc Eindhoven, the peak has been going on for a whole year. “Not just during carnival. People just want to protect their ears during concerts, for example. We also see that more people are having earplugs fitted at the same time. Then they really come as a group of friends.”
The ENT doctors in the hospitals in Brabant are also happy with this. Last September, the chairman of the Association for Ear, Nose and Throat Medicine already argued for a reduction of the maximum sound volume at festivals and discotheques. According to a covenant, there is now a standard of 103 decibels, but the World Health Organization sets a maximum of 100 decibels as the upper limit. And that’s with earplugs in.
The noise level that can cause damage is also regularly exceeded during carnival, says ENT doctor Jan Pieter de Mönnink of the St. Anna Hospital in Geldrop. “If you go home with a ringing in your ear or even the next day, it’s a sign that the sound was too loud for your ears. If that happens more often, there is a greater chance of permanent hearing damage.”
“Carnival can be considered as a festival in terms of sound.”
The ENT doctor always advises his patients to wear hearing protection when using noisy equipment or visiting festivals. “Carnival can be considered as a festival in terms of sound.” The Amphia Hospital in Breda clearly sees more cases of tinnitus and hearing damage after carnival. “There are fewer than after old and new,” says a spokesperson. The St. Anna Hospital in Geldrop and Elkerliek Hospital in Helmond and Elisabeth-TweeSteden Hospital in Tilburg do not see such a peak.
There is a lot of choice in terms of hearing protection. Everyone knows the somewhat clumsy foam rubber rods, but for two decades you already have something like your headphone ears. Anyone who wants custom-made earpieces will soon lose over a hundred euros, but this will protect better. You can sometimes also choose how many decibels and at which pitches you want damping.
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