大象传媒

A: Well, maybe that鈥檚 because you are one of the 70% of clubbers, 68% of gig-goers and 44% of people who go to bars who have experienced symptoms of hearing damage, such as dullness of hearing or tinnitus [ringing in the ears], after a night out. These statistics have been highlighted in the recent RNID report Like it Loud? - part of their campaign.

A: You mean you didn鈥檛 stop listening to them years ago 鈥�? One solution if you really do insist on subjecting yourself to such noise - sorry, music - are little things called attenuating earplugs.

A: They're simple in-ear devices that filter sound but don鈥檛 block it completely, like normal earplugs do. So you can still hear music and conversations, but the risk of damage to your hearing is reduced.

A: Closer to the price of a few pints actually, as they start at around a tenner.

A: Normal conversation is about 50 to 60 decibels (dB), so you should be OK. It鈥檚 more problematic if your work brings you into contact with louder noises such as a screaming kid (90dB), pigs at feeding time (110dB) and chainsaws (115dB), for example.

A: Well, the 'Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005' came into force for all industry in Great Britain on 6 April 2006, except in the music and entertainment sectors which have to wait until 6 April 2008. These regulations aim to protect people from excessive noise at the workplace. The noise level at which employers must provide hearing protection and hearing protection zones is when you daily or weekly average exposure to 85dB or more.

A: There are 9 million deaf and hard of hearing people in the UK. That鈥檚 one in seven of the population, so it鈥檚 not the most exclusive club out there. Sorry.

A: Jeff Rich of Status Quo, The Who's Pete Townshend, Stirling Moss, Bill Clinton, Claire Rayner, Bob 鈥淐an I have a P please?鈥� Holness ... the list is endless.

A: Ear trumpets are a bit old hat. Historic, in fact. Nowadays, digital hearing aids are highly sophisticated and programmeable to very specific requirements according to a patient鈥檚 individual hearing loss. About two million people in the UK have hearing aids, and 1.4 million of that number use them regularly.