Earplugs should be packed when getting ready for a concert, music festival, or nightclub in order to help prevent hearing loss, based on a new study. These events can expose people to sky-high sound pressure levels for many hours and cause temporary or permanent hearing loss. Ear plugs help to decrease long-term exposure to sounds higher than 85 A-weighted decibels (dBA).    

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The study was published in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.

In the study Dutch researchers divided 51 people with an average age of 27 years old into two groups. The experimental group of the audience at an outdoor music festival was given earplugs, and the control group did not wear them.

Researchers measured the sound pressure level at the Amsterdam event and learned it was 100 dBA. Only 8 percent of the earplug wearers had hearing loss after the music festival. However, the figure was 42 percent among the non-earplug group.  

Health experts explain that increased rates of hearing loss are due to higher exposure to recreational noise. Music at events such as concerts can expose the audience to sound pressure levels of around 100 to 110 dBA, according to CBS News.

85 dBA is considered the cut-off between safe and possibly unsafe loudness levels, Some examples of 85 dBA include a dial tone from old-school rotary phones, soft rock music, and some music players at half-volume settings. It is safe for people to listen to sounds at 85 dBA for eight hours per day.  

However, when loudness increases the exposure time should decrease. Dr. Sharon A. Sandridge is the Director of the Audiology Clinical Services Head and Neck Institute at Cleveland Clinic. She explains that music's loudness and listening time can cause hearing loss.  

In recent years the issue of hearing loss has become a major health issue. The United Nations' World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 360 million people worldwide have major hearing loss. In addition, the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey notes that hearing loss among United States adolescents rose 31 percent from 1988 to 2006.

In related news, another new study by the Medical University of South Carolina links hearing loss to higher medical bills for people who are late-middle-aged, according to HealthDay. People with hearing loss had one-third higher healthcare costs.

Here's how to protect your ears at concerts: