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Football Season is here, so make sure you protect those ears!
For many the arrival of the crisp and beautiful autumn season brings the changing color of the leaves, pumpkin flavored everything, and of course the start of an exciting football season! For many football fans supporting their favorite team may involve screaming their lungs out, along with thousands of other fans. In addition some fans may have seats close to a loudspeaker or a pep band. As you can imagine or may have experienced yourself football games can get quite loud, even dangerously loud. The average crowd noise at an NFL football game is 80-90 decibels and reached a world record breaking level of 137 decibels last December at the Seattle Seahawks game. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health more than 15 minutes of exposure to 100 decibels can be damaging to adults and even more so to children. Children have smaller ears and the sound pressure level entering the ear is greater. There are many options available to protect the ears of young children and adults from exposure to dangerous noise levels.

As CSD students it is very important to be aware of the potential for noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) when exposed to dangerous levels of noise at football games and other loud events. While JMU football games or some NFL football games may not be quite as loud as the world record breaking game last year, it is still important to protect those ears. It’s also important to spread awareness to friends and family members who are not familiar with how loud these events can be and the detrimental effects it can have on hearing.

Some tips to consider before your next football game:
·       Bring ear plugs with you and have them ready just in case the game gets too loud.
·       Download a Sound Level Meter app on your phone before the game. While these are not 100% accurate they may be a useful guide when trying to determine if the game is dangerously loud.
·       Try to avoid sitting too close to loud speakers or pep bands.

Below are some links related to this post.
New York Times article on protecting the ears of young children at football games:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/health/02baby.html?_r=1&

NPR’s article on the risk of NIHL that NFL football fans may face:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/02/01/268370350/extremely-loud-and-incredibly-close-fans-risk-hearing-loss

CDC chart of recommended noise exposure limits guided by OSHA standards:
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/noise/signs.htm

Are you excited for football season?  Feel free to leave comment and let me know your thoughts on this topic!

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