Can Loud Events Temporarily Affect My Hearing Test Results?

If you’ve ever left a Bruins game at TD Garden and noticed everything sounded muffled on the way to the Orange Line, you know the feeling. Voices may seem farther away, and familiar noises might seem duller than they did before the game.

Most of the time, you go home, get some sleep and barely think about it the next morning. Having a hearing test on the calendar, though, gives you a reason to think about what your ears were exposed to the night before.

Concerts, sporting events and other loud places can leave your hearing different for a short time afterward.

That doesn’t mean you need to avoid making plans before every appointment. It does mean that a particularly loud night and a hearing test scheduled close together are worth considering when you plan your week.

What Loud Events Can Do to Your Ears

At a concert, sporting event or other loud venue, your ears are handling high sound levels for much longer than they would during a typical conversation. Tiny sensory cells inside the cochlea respond to those noises and pass information to the auditory nerve.

After several hours of loud noise, those cells may respond less strongly for a while. When you leave, noises may seem muffled or quieter than they did earlier.

You might also notice ringing or a plugged feeling in your ears. Volume and time both make a difference. An entire evening near loudspeakers puts more strain on the ears than a few minutes of noise.

Your hearing may return to its usual level after spending some time in quieter surroundings. Repeated exposure can also damage sensory cells in the inner ear, and those cells don’t grow back once they’re damaged.

How Noise Level and Duration Impact Temporary Hearing Changes

Noise exposure adds up while you’re at an event. Your ears can spend more time around moderate levels than they can around very loud sound.

A three-decibel increase represents a doubling of noise, so even a small change in the number can mean more exposure. For example, 88 decibels carry twice the sound energy of 85 decibels.

An event rarely stays at one volume from beginning to end. The crowd may get louder during certain moments, music may play between periods or you may move closer to a speaker.

Those louder stretches all count toward the noise your ears receive over the course of the event. This is why the length of the event matters along with how loud it gets.

Common Types of Loud Events That Can Affect Hearing

Concerts aren’t the only events where your ears may be around high sound levels. Hockey and basketball games can get especially loud when the crowd reacts, music comes over the arena speakers or an announcement is made.

Fireworks are different because the sound arrives in sudden, intense bursts rather than staying at a similar level for hours. Festivals may keep you around amplified music and large crowds for much of the day.

Motorsports and air shows bring you close to powerful engines, while parades may include marching bands, sirens and speakers. Weddings, dances and parties can also be loud, particularly when your table or seat is close to the system.

Changes You Might Notice in Your Hearing After Loud Noise

Changes after loud noise aren’t always as obvious as ringing or muffled hearing. You may notice slight differences once you’re back in a quieter place:

• • Speech sounds clear enough to hear but certain words are harder to make out.
  • High-pitched noises seem less sharp than usual.
  • Music sounds slightly different or lacks some of its usual detail.
  • One ear seems to hear differently from the other.
  • Background noise makes conversation harder to follow than it normally does.
  • You find yourself raising the volume on your phone, television or car stereo.

Telling the Difference Between Short-Term and Lasting Hearing Changes

Noise can temporarily reduce the sensitivity of the inner ear, causing your hearing thresholds to rise. As the ear recovers, those thresholds may return to their previous levels within several hours or over the next day or two.

If noise damages sensory hair cells in the cochlea, some of that change may remain. The loss may affect certain frequencies more than others, which means you could still hear plenty of noises while missing specific parts of speech.

An audiogram measures each frequency separately, so an audiologist can compare those results with an earlier test when one is available.

Why Resting in Quiet Spaces Matters Before a Hearing Test

Quiet time before a hearing test is about keeping your sound exposure low. You can still talk with people, watch television at a comfortable volume or go about a normal morning.

The bigger concern is going from one loud setting directly into the testing booth without much time in between. That includes noise you might not think about because it’s part of your routine.

A loud commute with the windows down, earbuds turned up on the train or time around machinery all add more sound before the appointment. Giving your ears a quieter stretch beforehand keeps those exposures out of the hours leading up to your test.

How Long Should You Wait Before a Hearing Test After Loud Noise Exposure?

After a concert or another noisy event, try to leave some space between the event and your appointment.

Audiologists often recommend avoiding loud noise for about 12 to 24 hours before a hearing test. That gives a temporary adjustment in hearing more time to wear off before your thresholds are measured.

You may need more time if your ears still feel different the next day. Ringing, muffled sound or changes in how you hear certain pitches suggest your hearing hasn’t returned to its usual level yet.

If the appointment is already scheduled, tell your local audiologist when the noise exposure happened and how long it lasted. They can decide whether to test that day or reschedule.

How Hearing Tests Measure Your Hearing Ability

During a hearing test, you’ll hear tones at different pitches and volumes through headphones or small earphones. Your audiologist lowers the volume until each tone becomes difficult to hear, then records the softest level you respond to consistently.

Those measurements are called hearing thresholds. They’re plotted on an audiogram, which shows your results for each ear across low, middle and high frequencies.

Speech testing checks what happens when you listen to actual words instead of tones. One part finds the lowest volume where you can recognize speech.

Another asks you to repeat a list of words presented at a comfortable volume.

The percentage you repeat correctly is recorded as your word recognition score. This separates your ability to detect sound from your ability to recognize speech clearly.

Simple Ways to Protect Your Ears at Concerts or Other Loud Events

You don’t have to skip concerts, games or other loud events to think about your hearing. A few things you can do while you’re there include:

• • Put your earplugs in before the music or crowd reaches its loudest point.
  • Choose high-fidelity earplugs if you still want to hear music with less sound reaching your ears.
  • Keep some distance between you and speakers, fireworks or other noise sources.
  • Take occasional breaks in the concourse, lobby or another area away from the main noise.
  • Wear hearing protection during setup, opening acts or other loud periods too, since that exposure also counts.
  • Keep a pair of earplugs with your keys, bag or jacket so you have them when an event turns out louder than expected.

How to Get Ready for Your Next Hearing Test

Include things that may not seem directly related, like ear pain, drainage, pressure, dizziness or recent ear infections. Bring your current medications and any hearing devices you already use.

You don’t need to study for a hearing test or try to respond perfectly during it. Wear your glasses if you need them for forms or instructions, and bring your insurance information if the clinic requests it.

Arriving a few minutes early also gives you time to handle paperwork before testing begins.

Helpful Questions for Your Audiologist About Recent Loud Sounds

If you were around a loud noise before your appointment, give your audiologist the details rather than trying to decide for yourself whether it matters. Questions you might ask include:

• Was there enough time between the loud event and my hearing test?
• Do any of my results look different from my previous test?
• Would you want to retest any frequencies on another day?
• Could ringing or muffled hearing change how I respond during the test?
• How long should I wait before testing again if my hearing still seems different?
• What should I tell you about the event, like how long I was there or where I was sitting?

What to Keep in Mind About Loud Events and Hearing Test Results

You don’t need to plan your whole week around a hearing test. Just give some thought to where you’ve been and how loud it was in the day or two beforehand.

If you spent the night at a concert, game or another loud event, tell your audiologist. That information belongs in the conversation when you sit down for your appointment.

When you come to Holden Audiology Center in Woburn, tell us what your ears have been around lately and anything you’ve noticed since.

We’ll take that into account during your hearing evaluation and answer any questions that come up along the way. Call us at (781) 347-6227 to schedule an appointment.