When the ball is in the red zone and the crowd noise is deafening, that’s when the excitement begins. It’s also when the people on the sidelines of athletic events are most at risk for sound-induced hearing loss—a permanent condition that is often accompanied by tinnitus or ringing in the ears.
“Coaches, team physicians, athletic trainers and others are directly impacted game after game because they are closer to the cheering fans and loudspeakers,” says Professor Catherine Palmer, chair, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) and Director of Audiology for the UPMC Integrated Health System.
“They are also exposed to these loud sounds over the course of their entire careers,” she continues.
Through the UPMC clinic, Palmer and students in the Doctor of Audiology (AuD) program work with various coaches, sideline personnel and athletes at both the college and professional level. They customize hearing protection that will work in noisy stadium environments, especially enclosed stadiums. High-quality musician earplugs, for example, work well because they lower the sound but keep it accurate so these individuals can still communicate accurately.
Palmer says they also provide amplification solutions to athletes with hearing loss. They have to consider the helmets that will go over any type of hearing aid, the retention of the device even when the player is being tackled, and the moisture issues that arise when the player is perspiring throughout the game.
“For the helmet to be comfortable, we typically use a completely in the canal or invisible in the canal hearing aid,” says Palmer.
“Having an accurate sense of the sounds around you impacts the way you navigate the game,” she adds. “It’s rewarding to help the athlete maintain this awareness and improve communication on and off the field.”
Leah Helou, CSD assistant professor in the Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) program, notes that coaches and others who are always yelling from the sidelines can also develop phonotrauma, a cause of both long- and short-term voice difficulties that occurs when the vocal folds sustain impact injuries from heavy usage.
“It’s difficult to predict whose voice will be durable and resilient enough to bounce back after acute phonotrauma, so minimizing risks is important,” says Helou.
For people on the sidelines and in the stands who experience voice problems, Helou recommends consulting a laryngologist to diagnose the specific issue. This may lead to a referral to a SLP for voice therapy services to help build a healthy foundation for voice use.
Chelsea Herdt-Dawson describes herself as a “professional talker.” In her roles as a kindergarten teacher, swim coach and national anthem singer, Herdt-Dawson realized she was overusing her voice. “My voice was so fatigued and exhausted by the end of the day, you could hear cracks in certain pitches and the volume of my voice was lower,” says Herdt-Dawson.
Her SLP gave her easy exercises to do throughout the day to warm up her voice, maintain it and then cool down. Herdt-Dawson says now she has a voice at the end of the day and is not as exhausted from speaking.
“Never underestimate the value of consulting an SLP,” says Helou. “They can explain protective techniques for loud voice use and help you set and maintain boundaries that keep you out of vocal trouble so you can keep on cheering.”
