Dealing With Colds And How They Affect Hearing

[Jathon Delsy]

Bit of an odd one, or maybe not!
I'm really getting into sound engineering and sound in general, and I'm noticing, especially in these autumnal times, how colds, 'flus and other illnesses affect my hearing. They especially dull my perception of the top end, but also they affect the bottom too.
I remember many years ago talking to a professional engineer who told me that he was always totally determined to never catch a cold because it ruined his hearing.
I find that my head, my inner ear and euschasian tubes, get bunged up with flem if I go out and actually get cold or if I stay in the artificial atmosphere of central heating.
I was just listening to a track now and I could not tell whether it had a subtle comb filtering on the treble or whether my ears were clogged with catarrh.
Have any of m'learned friends got any thoughts on this matter?

[Tomás Mulcahy]

Yes it is very frustrating to have your sense of hearing blocked like that. I once had to take a chance with an album mixing deadline. We had to get some edits done, and there were some mix tweaks also. I did them quite mechanically since I was unable to judge them. Luckily it worked out fine and we did not have to postpone. This was back in the day when we released CDs so the manufacturing window was narrow!.

We catch the virus from other people, it does not come from being out in the cold, despite the name. It was named before we knew what viruses were. In cold weather people stay indoors more. We are closer to more people so the virus spreads more easily.

There are two ways to catch it- direct contact, and breathing it in. If you touch something that an infected person recently touched, do not touch your face, nose ears or rub your eyes. Use hand sanitiser first. The virus goes airborne with coughing and sneezing. One hopes people will be polite when they have to do that! I teach so spend a lot of time in crowded spaces. I get the flu vaccine every year to reduce my chances of catching it. I find the above practice works well for me but I have to be very mindful of it.

[amanise]

All good - although there has recently been a link established between cold weather and increased colds and flu risk in that your immune system is slightly compromised in very cold weather as your body puts up a fight against that too.

There are other professions which get seriously affected by colds and flu and related by products. Scuba diving with a head cold is a complete 'no no' as it manks up the chances of you being able to equalise the pressures in your head and chest air spaces as you descend and (more importantly) ascend. You can easily burst alveoli or blow out your eardrums.

Luckily most employers are ready to put you on other duties at such times.

[Zukan]

The only advice I can give you is 'don't mix' when you have a cold. Trust me on this. Try composing, recording, or catching up with stuff you've put off (I know I do). Whenever I have a cold I don't talk. If my missus hears me the 'to do' list appears and the rest of my life is spent mowing shit, screwing in shit, repairing shit...and so on. Practice faking in the mirror. This is what all producers do.

[Matt Houghton]

Yeah, you just have to (a) try to avoid them and (b) accept that you're unwell and unable to do it.

It's not just the top and bottom btw. I've had colds where it's caused a dip right slap in the vocal mid-range...

I do sometimes find that overdosing on wasabi, horseradish, hot chili peppers etc. can clear the pipes for a short while. That likely affects your judgement too, but at least it makes the world less frustrating!

[OneWorld]

Thomas and Zukan are spot on. I was once at a buffet, speaking to a friend of mine was a chef and I noted he never ate anything from the buffet and I asked "Not hungry?" He explained....

"I never touch food left out in the open, look at the child who has just taken a chicken wing after handling this and that, before he took some food he was crawling about the floor on his hands and knees, where he was a man has just come inside after going outdoors for a fag, how do we know that man hadn't been stood where a dog shat or cocked it's leg up? See that other man who has just come out of the toilet, how do we know he's washed his hands?"

All colds and flu are contagious diseases, even touching a door handle and then putting our hands to our face can infect us, it is important to wash hands. Secondly, if for example in an enclosed, say a lift, and someone sneezes, it is likely everyone in that lift gets infected. If anyone has a cold/flu they should do the world a favour and stay home and rest. The infection will heal faster as the body's energy can devote itself exclusively to fighting the infection off.

I followed this advice after getting flu by a friend covered me in snot after sneezing in my face. 2 days later, I as as ill as I had ever been, anyone that has had flu, proper flu, not just a heavy cold, will know what I am talking about. Since adopting those preventative measures I have had a cold about 4 times, in over 10 years, stayed at home and the thing had cleared up in a few days. If you are infected, there's not much you can do about it and will just have to forfeit time at work, I cannot imagine anything would compensate for hearing being affected

[alexis]

...If anyone has a cold/flu they should do the world a favour and stay home and rest. The infection will heal faster as the body's energy can devote itself exclusively to fighting the infection off.

...

Excellent advice. Unfortunately all too often in the real world people don't stay home, they go to work sick, because of suboptimal or even non-existent sick leave policies.

Maybe more of an issue here than there. It's really quite sad, and (from a public health point of view) quite maddening.

[OneWorld]

...If anyone has a cold/flu they should do the world a favour and stay home and rest. The infection will heal faster as the body's energy can devote itself exclusively to fighting the infection off.

...

Excellent advice. Unfortunately all too often in the real world people don't stay home, they go to work sick, because of suboptimal or even non-existent sick leave policies.

Maybe more of an issue here than there. It's really quite sad, and (from a public health point of view) quite maddening.

I used to be one of those that thought he could 'work a cold off' when in fact by doing that, going into work, the infection is prolonged and the irony, by going into work, productivity is not maintained or improved, it is deficient because half the work force gets affected, and if they go into work they aren't at their peak and the cold lasts a week or so instead of 2 or 3 days