Fall sports season is here, and if you’re a football, soccer or hockey fan, you might be getting excited about attending or watching your favorite teams’ games. In the middle of all the fun of buying concession stand nachos or throwing watch parties at home, don’t forget to practice a few ear protection tips to prevent sports season damage.
Let’s take a look at some sports-related hearing dangers and how you can protect your ears for maximum fun all season long.
Sports-Related Hearing Dangers
We measure sound in decibels (dB) or A-weighted decibels (dBA). For example, a normal conversation will reach about 60-70 dBA, and an emergency siren can hit volumes of 110-129 dBA. Anything above 85 dBA can damage hearing with prolonged listening.1 The louder the sound, the faster hearing damage can occur.
The noise at a sports event can reach levels up to 110 dBA. Noise at that level can cause almost immediate hearing damage, but sporting events aren’t the only source of noise. With the combination of the TV, cheering or music after the game, home viewing parties can also reach noise levels above the 85 dB threshold for hearing loss.
Protecting Your Hearing
Take the following precautions to protect your hearing this sports season:
- Wear earplugs. Earplugs soften the blow of loud noise. If the noise at your local Tampa sporting event starts to feel uncomfortably loud, put your earplugs in.
- Take breaks. If you’re throwing an after-game party, step away every once in a while for a few minutes in a quiet area. Your ears will be happy for the break!
- Don’t yell in each other’s ears. Cheering is a time-honored part of watching a game, but it’s also one of the biggest sources of noise exposure. You can still celebrate, but try not to yell in each other’s ears when you do so. It will protect both your hearing and theirs.
Taking the above precautions will ensure you get to enjoy every game this season without damaging your ears. If you notice a ringing in your ears or muffled hearing for more than a few days after loud noise exposure, call our experts at Kampsen Hearing to schedule a hearing test with one of our specialists.
Citations
1 National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. (2025). Noise-induced hearing loss. National Institutes of Health. https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/noise-induced-hearing-loss