Noise-induced hearing loss often builds up gradually over time, and many people don’t realise it’s happening until it starts to affect everyday life.
Repeated exposure to loud music is one of the most common causes of tinnitus and permanent hearing loss. Here, we share what recent research is telling us about noise-induced hearing loss and how it affects people in their everyday life.
What is a hearing hangover?
Many people will recognise the feeling of leaving a gig or festival with ringing ears or finding sounds seem muffled the next morning. We call this a ‘hearing hangover’ – a sign that your ears may have been exposed to damaging noise levels. While these effects can seem temporary, repeated exposure can contribute to longer-term hearing damage.
We are funding research to understand exactly how this damage happens, how we can spot it earlier, and how future treatments might protect or restore hearing.
Paul shares his experience of years spent around loud music, the impact it had on his hearing, and why protecting it now matters more than ever.
Paul’s story: “I hadn’t realised how much had been dulled”
For Paul, hearing loss didn’t happen overnight – it built up gradually over years.
My band would practice three or four nights a week. During breaks we’d sit around drinking and smoking, listening to music at ear-splitting volume. With hindsight, we had the music on that loud because our ears were still recovering from the noise we’d just made, and we couldn’t hear anything. And then on the bus journey home after practice, I’d have headphones in, listening to music on my Walkman. So I just didn’t give my ears any rest.
I was in my thirties when my wife started noticing the deterioration in my hearing. I’d need subtitles on TV all the time and just wasn’t picking up certain frequencies at all.”
Getting hearing aids
Eventually, at the age of 40, I got hearing aids for both ears. I remember walking out of the audiology centre after they’d been fitted and thinking, ‘Oh my God! I can actually hear stuff!’ I hadn’t realised how much had been dulled and how much I’d been missing completely.
I haven’t suddenly got my hearing back to 100%. Friends sometimes think because I’ve got hearing aids, everything is fine again. It’s not, but day-to-day, the hearing aids make a huge amount of difference to me, including helping me to manage my tinnitus. ”
Playing music safely
Now, I wear over-ear protectors when I play drums. We take breaks in a quieter room and I’ll go throughout the day without listening to music to give my ears a rest. At gigs, I wear good-quality earplugs and I’ll pop outside for a bit.
At 16, I thought I was indestructible. So, if I tried to go back and tell teenage Paul to protect his ears, he’d tell me to do one! But my message would be: protect your hearing now so that you can keep enjoying music later.”
How noise damages hearing – what researchers are discovering
Paul didn’t notice the full impact of noise on his hearing until years later. Researchers are now uncovering why that happens, and what occurs inside the ear long before hearing loss becomes obvious.
We already know that repeated exposure to loud sounds can damage the delicate cells that help us hear. We also know that simple steps such as wearing earplugs, taking listening breaks and moving away from the source of loud noise can reduce the risk. Don’t Lose the Music is RNID’s campaign to help music lovers understand the risks of loud sound and take simple steps to protect our hearing.
But many questions remain. What exactly happens inside the ear when we’re exposed to loud noises? Why can damage take years to become noticeable? And could future treatments prevent hearing loss from getting worse or even restore hearing?
Researchers funded by RNID and their funding partners are helping to answer these questions.
What parts of the ear are most vulnerable to noise?
Dr Stuart Johnson, University of Sheffield, is investigating whether hearing damage caused by loud noise is the same as the damage that happens naturally with age, or whether it follows a different pattern. This could help explain whether noise exposure makes age-related hearing loss start earlier or progress faster.
His research has identified two key targets of noise-related damage:
- A protein called KCNQ4
- The outer hair cells – the ear’s natural sound amplifiers
By identifying these two targets, the team has opened the door to possible new treatments. Protecting these structures after exposure to loud sound could help stop hidden damage from becoming permanent.
The findings also suggest that damage to outer hair cells may be more closely linked to noise exposure than to ageing alone. This could help researchers distinguish between different causes of hearing loss and target treatments more effectively.
I hope that my research will help to identify whether there are common cellular mechanisms underlying noise- or age-related hearing loss that could be potential targets for the development of future therapies to combat progressive hearing loss.”
– Dr Stuart Johnson
What happens when sound overwhelms the ear?
Dr Philippe Vincent, Johns Hopkins University, USA, is studying how very loud sounds can damage hearing by overstimulating the inner hair cells.
These cells detect sound and pass signals to the brain through tiny connections called synapses. When sounds are extremely loud, the cells can become overstimulated, damaging both the cells themselves and their connections to the auditory nerve.
Dr Vincent is developing new tools to study these synapses in detail and test potential treatments designed to repair them. By understanding how these connections can be restored, his research could help identify new ways to re-establish communication between the inner ear and the brain.
In the long term, these discoveries could support the development of treatments to improve hearing and communication for people with hearing loss.
Can noise exposure affect hearing later in life?
Dr Samuel Webb, University of Sheffield, is exploring how noise damages the ear’s natural protective system and whether it can lead to earlier and faster hearing loss as we get older.
Dr Webb was awarded an RNID-Vivensa Foundation Fellowship for this project, co-funded in partnership with the Vivensa Foundation.
Recent research suggests that people exposed to loud noise earlier in life often lose their hearing earlier and faster as they age. Dr Webb is investigating whether the site of this hidden damage is the ‘medial olivocochlear’ system – the internal “volume control” that helps protect the ear from overstimulation. This protective system may itself be especially vulnerable to noise exposure, and that losing it early in life could trigger your hearing to decline quicker later on.
Dr Webb’s work will help determine whether this is the case, which could help identify people at higher risk of hearing loss and support the development of new approaches to protect or restore this natural defence system.
I hope that my research will help explain why individuals exposed to loud sounds, whether through their environment or lifestyle, are more likely to experience a faster progression of age-related hearing loss. By identifying these early risk factors, I aim to lay the foundation for new strategies that can preserve hearing over time and ultimately improve the quality of life for those affected.”
– Dr Samuel Webb
Why this matters now
Paul’s story shows how easy it is for hearing damage to build up over time and how it can affect the things we value, from music to everyday conversations.
The research we’re funding is helping us understand how this damage happens, how to detect it earlier, and how we might one day prevent it from becoming permanent.
For lots of us, life’s best moments come with a soundtrack. Keep it that way. Take simple steps to protect your hearing today, so you don’t lose the music tomorrow.