Love of the open road and the thrill of speed are at the top of the list of reasons why people love riding motorcycles. However, if you’re a devoted rider, you should know about a substantial risk: research has linked this exhilarating hobby to permanent hearing damage.
The effect of motorcycle speed and riding duration on hearing health was examined in a detailed study conducted by a hearing protection maker in collaboration with a notable German automobile association. Alarmingly, at speeds of 62 or higher, for just 15 minutes, riders who don’t use hearing protection can suffer irreversible hearing damage.
What causes hearing loss in bikers?
While the concept of hearing loss might not be surprising, the leading culprit might. In spite of what many believe, it’s not the motorcycle’s roaring engine but instead, the wind that presents the greatest threat. While helmets provide significant protection from injury during crashes, the research stresses that they fall short in safeguarding the rider’s hearing. Improvements to the helmet, such as additional padding, vents, or weather stripping, do little to mitigate the wind noise swirling around the rider.
Bikers are frequently affected by a condition called temporary threshold shift (TTS), which is triggered by frequent exposure to extreme noise levels. The more frequently you’re exposed to loud noise, the more intense your TTS symptoms will be with this progressive condition. At first, TTS sufferers may detect minor symptoms like a temporary decrease in hearing clarity. But irreversible hearing loss can, over time, be the result.
How do other noises compare to wind noise?
The German study sheds a lot of light on just how extreme wind noise can be while riding. The wind noise around a rider’s head can reach 95 (dB) at 62 mph. For context, European Union (EU) law mandates that workers need to safeguard their ears if exposed to volume levels exceeding 80 dB. This means that bikers riding at this speed without hearing protection are exposed to volume levels nearly 19% higher than what is considered safe in a work environment.
As the speed increases, so does the noise level. Hearing damage can occur after only 7 minutes of riding at 74 mph which produces wind volumes of 98 dB. Other studies corroborate these findings, suggesting that bikers are indeed at a substantial risk of hearing loss.
How to protect your hearing
Luckily, it’s simple to safeguard your hearing with earplugs. Hearing specialists emphatically recommend making use of filtered earplugs, which are far superior to the old, uncomfortable versions most people are familiar with. These sophisticated earplugs are designed to safeguard your eardrums from high-pitched noises like wind while still allowing lower frequency sounds to penetrate. It’s important for bikers to still be able to hear important sounds like human voices, emergency warning sounds, and car horns.
Bikers are also able to get the full experience of riding without feeling isolated or cut off from the external world which can’t be said for the old conventional style. You can protect your ears from harmful wind noise while still enjoying the thrill of the ride by using filtered earplugs.
It is possible to enjoy the excitement of speed and the freedom of the open road while still keeping your hearing safe from wind noise. The wind noise produced at high speeds can cause significant and permanent hearing damage in a very short time period. However, with the simple addition of quality earplugs, bikers can continue to enjoy their rides while safeguarding their long-term hearing health.
Stay on top of your hearing health by contacting us to discuss hearing protection.