PSA: Please protect your hearing
Happy Coachella week fam. I'm coming back to the desert after missing these last two years. While I'm happy to be back and will spread love and positivity through every interaction, I need to be a buzzkill for a moment.
Tinnitus.
> Tinnitus is the perception of sound, such as ringing, buzzing, hissing, or roaring, when no external noise is present. It is a common symptom affecting approximately 10–25% of adults, often associated with hearing loss or exposure to loud noises, though it can also stem from ear infections, medications, or blood vessel issues.
I'm in my mid-30s, and I know a few people who stubbornly refused to wear earplugs at concerts when we were younger, and now they have to live with the consequences of that choice by dealing with tinnitus for the rest of their lives. Unsurprisingly, they are now very serious about wearing earplugs to every show. You cannot reverse the damage of hearing loss, but you can stop it from getting worse by wearing earplugs. Proper concert earplugs are "attenuating", meaning they take the extra NOISE out of what you're hearing. If the music is mixed correctly and you're wearing the right kind of earplugs, it'll honestly sound BETTER with the earplugs in.
In 2018, I lost my earplugs in the evening and raw-dogged the last two shows of the night. I had a headache and my ears were ringing when I tried to go to bed that night. If your ears are ringing after a show, it's because you suffered a dose of hearing damage. You should not be comfortable with that.
Anyway I'll stop finger-wagging now. I hope that this message landed with some of you.
Let's have a great Coachella week! 🌴🌴🌴🌴🎡🌴🌴🌴🌴