Creating an Ear and Hearing Health Culture for Professional Ear Users: Current Perspectives on Challenges, Management, and Recommendations

Professional ear users (PEUs), including musicians, instrument makers, or sound engineers, depend on highly trained auditory abilities for occupational performance. Given these demands, PEUs may benefit from tailored prevention, diagnostics, and treatment. Ear and hearing disorders are common and potentially career-ending in these populations, yet PEU-specific care pathways remain underdeveloped....

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✦ The floor

Discussion

Signed responses from readers of the wire.

✦ Clinical Takeaway ✦

Audiologists working with professional ear users (musicians, sound engineers) should consider adopting hearing conservation counseling frameworks tailored to occupational noise exposure and the specific career risks of this population.

✦ Why It Matters ✦

Professional ear users face career-threatening hearing damage yet remain underserved by current hearing health systems, making targeted audiological management strategies critically important.

✦ Key Points ✦

01Focuses on musicians, instrument makers, and sound engineers as high-risk 'professional ear users.'
02Identifies systemic challenges in delivering hearing healthcare to this occupational group.
03Offers management strategies and recommendations for building a hearing health culture.
04Published as a perspective article in Ear & Hearing (2026).
05Highlights need for occupational audiology frameworks beyond standard workplace noise regulations.

✦ Claims & Evidence ✦

ClaimEvidenceSupport

Professional ear users such as musicians and sound engineers face distinctive and underaddressed hearing health challenges.

opinionpartially supported

A dedicated 'ear and hearing health culture' can improve hearing outcomes for professional ear users.

opinionunclear

✦ Research metadata ✦

PMID: 42841814
DOI: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000001898.
Journal: Ear and Hearing
Publication type: editorial
Evidence level: 5
Population: Professional ear users including musicians, instrument makers, and sound engineers
Intervention: Recommendations and management strategies for hearing health culture

Primary outcomes

Identification of challenges in hearing health for professional ear users; Practical management recommendations

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