Concert cacophony: Short-term hearing loss can be protective, not damaging, researchers find

Contrary to conventional wisdom, short-term hearing loss after sustained exposure to loud noise does not reflect damage to our hearing: instead, it is the body's way to cope.

The landmark finding could lead to improved protection against noise-induced hearing loss in future.

The research, led by University of New South Wales Professor Gary Housley, has found that "reversible hearing loss" is a physiological adaptation mechanism, allowing the cochlea (the auditory portion of the inner ear) to perform normally when exposed to noise stress.

"This explains why we lose our hearing for hours or days after we have been exposed to a rock concert, for example. The adaptation mechanism has been switched on," says Professor Housley, from UNSW Medicine, who worked with researchers from the University of Auckland and the University of California, San Diego.