The BBC’s guide to avoiding tinnitus
Festivals
As Glastonbury music festival gets underway in the UK, the British Tinnitus Association (BTA) has announced the launch of the BBC iWonder guide on tinnitus, ‘How can I stop gigs and festivals ruining my hearing?’
The BBC guide is presented by DJ, Anne Savage who has had tinnitus for the past ten years. She is passionate about encouraging people to protect their hearing, to stop them experiencing tinnitus the way she has for half of her DJ career. Savage said, “I have to face the fact that I will never hear silence again. The thing is I could have taken simple steps and still enjoyed going to festivals and clubs and listening to music. I was stupid enough to think that wearing earplugs wasn’t cool. But tinnitus is a lot less cool than wearing earplugs!”
Anne Savage is also an ambassador for the BTA’s Plug’em campaign which is all about raising awareness and preventing people from exposing themselves to unsafe music levels at clubs, festivals, gigs and concerts. Plug’em encourages everyone to protect their hearing.
The BBC guide takes a similar approach and though the online resource explains how people are potentially damaging their hearing and what they can do to avoid exposure. The website also links through to the National Institute for Health Research, Nottingham Hearing Biomedical Research Unit site for more detail. You can view the guide here.
Emily Broomhead, BTA Project Manager, said, “We’re so pleased that the BCC has created this guide which reinforces the message that protecting hearing is essential. We hope it encourages more people to be aware of their hearing and use earplugs at festivals, gigs and clubs.”
Source: BTA
