Music
Coffee can hurt your ears' ability to recover from loud noise
by Richard Howard
July 19, 2016
Sound Engineers and musicians worldwide are accusing God of having a sick, sick sense of humour.
image credit brooklynpaper.com
Due to crazy hours and the regular necessity to be up-and-at-em after only a few hours of sleep, many musicians, sound engineers and others in the music industry are notoriously addicted to coffee (and terrifyingly strong energy drinks). You could try telling your session guitarist uncle that “too much caffeine can’t be good for you,” but prepare to either get locked out the house or have a cup of coffee dumped on your head (just kidding, he wouldn’t waste a cup of coffee like that).
A new study, however, is revealing a cruel irony for people who regularly rely on it and also happen to be regularly exposed to high dB levels. Researchers at Montreal’s McGill University have discovered that daily consumption of caffeine can impair recovery after temporary hearing damage. So, keep that in mind if you’re still hungover from that rager Sunn O))) show.
So how did the discovery of this link come about? Previous studies gave the researchers cause to suspect certain factors could impede the ear’s ability to recover from exposure to high noise levels. Caffeine intake was one of them, and since it’s so ubiquitous – especially in a number of environments where noise is a hazard – they zeroed in that. In animal studies, subjects were exposed to sound levels of 110 dB (about as loud as a rock concert) for an hour. Subjects were then separated into two groups: one that received a daily dose of caffeine, and one that remained caffeine free. While both groups displayed identical hearing loss after one day, after eight days the caffeine free group had completely recovered, while the caffeinated group showed continued signs of hearing impairment.
“When the ear is exposed to loud noise, it can suffer from a temporary hearing reduction, also called auditory temporary threshold shift,” explained McGill Auditory Sciences Otolaryngologist Dr. Faisal Zawawi. “This disorder is usually reversible in the first 72 hours after the exposure, but if symptoms persist, the damage could become permanent.”
Considering the propensity for caffeine ingestion amongst construction workers, factory employees and the like, this is a real kick in the nuts. However, for folks that rely on their ears, it probably seems more like some devil’s handiwork shit. One thing’s for sure: Dave Grohl is going to be pissed.
