Hearing loss high among musicians

MORE THAN 60 per cent of adult orchestral musicians are breaking their best instrument – their hearing.

In the most comprehensive audiological study of orchestral musicians, 60.7 per cent of those aged 27-66 had hearing loss, as well as 22 per cent of those aged 18-38, and 16 per cent in child musicians aged 8-12.

Capital & Coast District Health Board head audiologist Dr Sargunam Sivaraj conducted hearing tests, measured their music exposure and studied the progression of hearing loss over periods as long as 20 years as part of his Massey University PhD research.

‘‘It is the best instrument that musicians have, and to say it is broken is hard,’’ he said.

‘‘ But we found the increased years of music exposure causes progressive hearing loss in significant numbers of individual musicians, and this trend is observed in all age groups of musicians but not in all musicians.’’

Hearing loss was not specific to loud musical instruments or musicians with many years of music exposure, he said.

Some people had ‘‘ stronger/ harder ears’’ while others had ‘‘weaker/tender’’ ears with marked hearing loss after short-term music exposure.

Wellington percussionist Grant Myhill, who plays for Orchestra Wellington and the RNZAF Band, started getting tinnitus at 25.

His ears regularly buzzed the morning after playing, so he took

It is the best instrument that musicians have. Sargunam Sivaraj