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A couple of weeks ago, Richard Whiteford and his wife went to their local movie theater near West Chester, Pennsylvania, to see “The Odyssey,” one of the most anticipated films of the year
It tells the story of Greek hero Odysseus’ journey home after the Trojan War, and all of the mythical creatures and perilous obstacles he encounters along the way
But Whiteford, 79, said that he and his wife struggled to enjoy the movie because the volume in the theater “was just so insanely loud.”
Whiteford had previously been concerned about noise levels in movie theaters, and had installed a decibel meter app on his phone
“According to my decibel meter, we were subjected to 110.2 dBs for several minutes many times during the action episodes,” he wrote in an email, along with screenshots of the app’s readings
That’s a range that could potentially lead to hearing damage in some people
A few weeks later, when he took his grandson to see the new Spider-Man movie, they could hear “thundering” sounds from “The Odyssey” playing next door
He began to wonder: Have movie theaters become significantly louder? And what’s the impact of that noise exposure? He already has some hearing injury after working in the music industry for over 20 years
“Now that I’m facing hearing loss myself, it’s more of a prominent issue for me,” Whiteford said
There’s no clear answer on whether movie theaters have definitively become louder, but film run times are, on average, longer today than they were in the past. Viewers are often sitting through varying degrees of soft dialogue and explosive noises for more than two hours
Movie theater volume is generally safe in most cases, said audiologist Frank Wartinger, an adjunct professor in Drexel University’s Osborne Audiology Department. He specializes in helping musicians, performers and others in the music industry protect their hearing and manage hearing loss
But concerns about excessive sound and possible noise-induced hearing loss should always be taken seriously, he said
“If you consistently listen at a level that is harmful and dangerous, that does catch up,” Wartinger said. “It’s one of the most common public health concerns, and it’s one of the only public health concerns we have right now that is a hundred percent preventable.”
Safe and dangerous decibel levels at the movies
The intensity and loudness of sound is measured in decibels, with very low numbers either inconsequential or safe, and very high numbers indicating potential for harm
Wartinger likes to compare this range to how we look at temperature, measured in degrees Fahrenheit
“Sounds that are up around what we call conversational level, like the level that you would put your radio or your TV if you were to choose the level for those, are usually in the 60 to 70 decibel range,” he said. “That’s also room temperature, isn’t it? That’s what we set our houses to or our cars to if we have a choice.”
At around 80 to 90 decibels, the sound might resemble a crowded bar, a hair dryer or street traffic — uncomfortable, but manageable
“And then there’s a certain point where things go from uncomfortable to potentially dangerous or harmful for our health,” he said. “When we get above 95 to 100 degrees, it’s still healthy to be outside briefly, but longer duration exposures to those temperatures can harm our health over time.”
The same is true for decibels in that range and the potential for hearing damage, Wartinger said. Movie theaters typically stay below 95, but there are exceptions
“There are very loud moments, and there are very long movies,” he said. “So, when we talk about these recreational sounds, some of them could pose a health issue to our hearing. Many are loud to the point where we wouldn’t choose to listen that loud if it was our TV at home.”
The good news is that brief and intermittent exposures to these higher levels don’t usually cause long-term hearing damage in the casual moviegoer, Wartinger said. But people can experience short-term damage and a condition called temporary shift effect
“You are hearing muffles, sometimes you get ringing and buzzing in your ears, which we call tinnitus,” he said. “If your body is telling you, ‘That was too loud,’ the way it’s going to tell you that is by making your ears ring and muffle for the day or two after a loud event.”
The effects usually go away, but some people are more susceptible to these complications than others, Wartinger said
Young children, who have smaller ear canals, and adults who’ve already suffered hearing damage from repeated exposure to high volumes over a long period of time, are more likely to have short- and long-term hearing issues with future exposures, he said
“Even if your hearing comes back and bounces back to the baseline, it’s still important to take that moment and think, ‘I could avoid this in the future. This was a warning shot,’” Wartinger said
Protecting hearing while enjoying the show
Whiteford wishes theaters did more to warn people of the dangers of excessive noise, like posting a warning message at the beginning of screenings or having a decibel reader somewhere visible in the theater to help people track sound levels in real time
“I think it’s really a degrading situation for quality of life when you get older if you can’t hear,” Whiteford said. “I have hearing aids, but I struggle with those all the time, too. And I think it’s wrong that they subject audiences to something with decibel ratings that high.”
Theaters have to maintain reasonable degrees of hearing safety, Wartinger said, but added that they also want to respect the art of filmmaking and provide viewers with an immersive experience of visuals and sounds
In that respect, people should expect deeper and more intense sound levels in these environments, he said. But they can enjoy the experience while protecting their hearing, and the best way to do that is with earplugs, he said
“It’s really the loud action movies … those are times when you can say, ‘OK, I see what’s happening in this movie, I see it’s very, very loud. I’m not going to miss any dialogue, I’m going to pop in these filtered earplugs,’” Wartinger said. “And guess what? You can still hear everything that you need to, but you don’t leave there feeling like you’ve gone through basic training with your ears.”
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