Love of the open road and the thrill of speed top the list of reasons why people love riding motorcycles. But this invigorating hobby comes at a high risk of irreversible hearing damage for people who ride a lot.
The impact of motorcycle speed and riding time on hearing health was assessed in a comprehensive study performed by a hearing protection maker in collaboration with a notable German automobile association. The results were startling: bikers can suffer permanent hearing damage after just 15 minutes of riding without hearing protection at a speed of 62 mph.
Why do bikers get hearing loss?
While the notion of hearing loss may not come as a complete surprise, the leading culprit could. Contrary to what many believe, it isn’t the motorcycle’s roaring engine but rather, the wind that poses the greatest hazard. The research emphasized that even though helmets offer crucial protection during accidents, they fall short in safeguarding a biker’s hearing. Improvements to the helmet, like added padding, vents, or weather stripping, do little to reduce the wind noise whirling around the rider.
Frequent exposure to excessive noise levels often leaves bikers with a condition called temporary threshold shift (TTS). The more often you are exposed to loud noise, the worse your TTS symptoms will become with this progressive condition. At first, TTS sufferers might notice minor symptoms like a temporary decrease in hearing clarity. But irreversible hearing loss can, over time, be the result.
Comparing wind volume with other noise levels
The German study sheds a lot of light on just how extreme wind noise can get while riding. At 62 mph, the wind around a biker’s head produces noise levels reaching 95 decibels (dB). To put into context, European Union (EU) law mandates that workers must safeguard their ears if exposed to noise levels higher than 80 dB. This means that bikers traveling at this speed without ear protection are exposed to volume levels nearly 19% higher than what is regarded as safe in a work environment.
As the speed goes up, so does the volume level. Hearing damage can occur after just 7 minutes of riding at 74 mph which generates wind volumes of 98 dB. Other studies validate these findings, suggesting that bikers are indeed at a substantial risk of hearing loss.
How to safeguard your hearing
Fortunately, protecting your hearing while riding is both simple and effective: use earplugs. Hearing specialists emphatically recommend using filtered earplugs, which are far superior to the old, uncomfortable versions most people are familiar with. Filtered earplugs are a more advanced model that filters out high frequencies like wind while allowing lower frequencies to get in. It’s important for bikers to still be able to hear important sounds like human voices, sirens, and car horns.
Bikers are also able to get the complete experience of riding without feeling isolated or cut off from the external world which can’t be said for the old conventional style. With filtered earplugs, you can continue to experience the thrill of the ride while protecting your hearing from the harmful effects of wind noise.
While the passion for motorcycling is motivated by the appeal of speed and freedom, it’s essential to acknowledge and mitigate the associated risks to your hearing. Significant and irreversible hearing damage can be caused by the noise of wind at high speeds. But bikers can safeguard their long-term hearing while still enjoying the ride by simply using a pair of quality earplugs.
Stay on top of your hearing health by contacting us to talk about hearing protection.