A Belfast DJ is urging people attending music events to protect their ears after years of being in loud venues left her with noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus.
Natalie Simpson, known professionally as KEM, was diagnosed with the condition just over two years ago and attributes her hearing loss to years of regular exposure to loud music at gigs, festivals and clubs since her teens.
The 36-year-old has had to halt her promising DJ career on the advice of her doctor.
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While previously experiencing tinnitus for around ten days after a loud noise in a headset while working online, she had been told by an audiologist that she didn’t need to worry.
Natalie said that while she would often experience ringing in her ears after events, she assumed it was normal as it would disappear – until two years ago, it didn’t PICTURE: BRIAN LINCOLN
However, in 2024, the sound didn’t disappear after a string of gigs and she eventually received a diagnosis after being seen by an ears, nose and throat (ENT) doctor.
Speaking to The Irish News, Natalie said that while hearing loss and tinnitus impacts everyone differently, it “kind of flipped [her] life upside down”.
“I was starting to do really well with DJing – I had to cancel gigs,” she said.
“I was absolutely gutted; I love music so much, and I was excited to see where it was going with DJing.
“I’d just played in Dublin, that was me outside of Belfast, and I was excited to maybe go further.”
RNIB says that ear plugs can help prevent lasting damage when attending music events PICTURE: PA/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
After her diagnosis, Natalie said that she was in a “dark space”.
“It’s just over two years later, I’m doing so much better, and things are great, but for a lot of people, it takes a lot to adjust to,” she said.
“I felt really guilty, and very frustrated – and you grieve the life that you think you could have had, and you grieve, the life that you’re kind of in.
“It was pretty rough – but I’m doing much better.”
According to hearing loss charity RNIB, repeated and prolonged exposure to high sound levels can pose a risk to hearing or cause tinnitus (experiencing sounds not caused by an outside source) and is one of the biggest causes of hearing loss.
However, lasting damage is preventable by taking simple steps, such as wearing ear plugs when attending live events.
In their new study, RNIB found that 83% of Gen Z adults (aged 20-29) have experienced ringing, buzzing or muffled hearing after attending loud music events, with only 7% saying that they always wear hearing protection.
One-in-four Gen Z adults said that they would feel embarrassed to wear earplugs, while a similar level (23%) said they didn’t think they needed them.
Natalie said that she was sharing her story to raise awareness now she has the experience she didn’t have in her younger years.
“I just wish that I had known, really, what tinnitus meant,” she said.
“When I was very young, I would hear it after a night out, but I just thought that went hand in hand with the night out, I didn’t know that it meant that there could be damage happening.”
She added that it’s important that people still enjoy themselves at events, but that they can do so safely by not standing too close to speakers, taking breaks from loud areas and by wearing earplugs.
“I want people to see that there is a choice; it is preventable and just having the knowledge,” she said.
“Don’t make the same mistake, that I did, because it’s not something you want to live with.
“It does impact your life a fair bit and making the choice to wear a set of earplugs, it’s nothing compared to what it would be like.
“You only get one set of ears; you can’t change it once it happens.”