Loud music and pacemakers.

[rabbithutch]

I was at a gig this evening and the volume was high enough for me to feel the bass resonate in my chest. Could my pacemaker be affected by the vibrations?

[pottypete1]

Not sure as I don't have a pacemaker but last September I was at the David Gilmour concert at the Royal Albert Hall and my heart was clearly beating to the beat when he sung "Run like Hell"

Pete

[MarkS]

I think it's highly unlikely your pacemaker will be affected. But your ears certainly will. Once you get that resonation in the chest your ears are suffering damage, unless of course you're wearing ear plugs!

[EricW in reply to MarkS]

Many years ago I went to a couple of gigs in a relatively confined space. I was on flecanaide at the time which controlled my AF. After half an hour or so an attack of AF started. I put it down to the heavy beat of the double base. I went outside and within an hour resumed NSR. Interesting!

[BobD Volunteer]

Noise can't affect a pacemaker which is electrical but it may well be affected by EMF so for example if you stood next to a large speaker then the EMF from that possibly could just as from a ceramic hob or allegedly from keyless car systems or more likely electric welding. Vibrations could affect you body in lots of ways not to mention deafness. Any exposure to more then 98db can cause hearing loss.

[RichardE]

Interesting question. I don't have a pacemaker but do get SVTs and have also wondered if they might be affected by the sort of bass vibration you're talking about. I think I tend to be more aware of things going on in my chest nowadays but so far I've not had any problems at gigs. Interesting to hear of others experience with AF though.

The affect on your ears is a bit off topic, although it makes sense for anyone who regularly goes to loud gigs to wear some sort of musicians' earplugs. I've been using them for years and if you get a decent pair they don't affect the sound quality too much whilst attenuating the damaging level and frequencies.

[pottypete1 in reply to RichardE]

I realise this is not a hearing forum but I have very bad tinnitus due in my opinion to standing too close to Pete Townsend's speaker at a Who gig in 1968 at Worthing Pier Pavilion.

Pete

[RichardE in reply to pottypete1]

Yeah, I have a bit of tinnitus too, although I have other health issues that are likely to have contributed, as well as the gigs. Unfortunately you tend not to be so bothered about your ears, and health in general, when you're younger. I can also pinpoint a couple of gigs that were just a bit too loud for comfort. But if you're like me, you'll understand why I still wouldn't have missed them for the world And whilst it makes sense to be careful with your health, I'm very much of the mind that you have to make the most of life and enjoy it while you can.

[pottypete1 in reply to RichardE]

I agree that we should make the most out of life and enjoy it. Live each day, it must be better than sitting in a chair watching television feeling sorry for ourselves.

I have been told that my rhythm drugs, Bisoprolol and Flecainide can cause tinnitus but of course we will never know as there is no way of telling what has caused it.

I know that my tinnitus is there all day every day and gets worse when I am stressed, my blood pressure rises or when I am tired.

Pete

[RichardE in reply to pottypete1]

Interesting Pete, I'm also on Bisoprolol. I didn't realise tinnitus was a possible side effect. But as you say, no way to tell whether it's that or some combination of everything.

[Mike11]

Your pacemaker won't be affected but your heart can be directly. Time to consider going to acoustic gigs maybe ?

[Hidden]

Who cares if you enjoyed it 😃.

I went to see my favourite band a couple of years back and my AF set off on the first note of their best song. But that was emotion not the sound level, although it was loud.

Not got a pacemaker though, so no comment.

[farmerwalt]

I've got a pacemaker and I install and operate sound systems and I like to turn the levels up loud. Certainly no problem with the pm. My pm has the ICD so I've got to avoid strong magnetic fields, otherwise the ICD will be disabled. If I have to go for any operation involving anaesthetic then the surgeons use a magnet over the pm to disable the ICD. As Bob says, electric welding is now out for me and also not supposed to use a chainsaw or petrol strimmers . Ceramic hobs are ok but got to stear clear of induction hobs. Cars with keyless ignition systems are ok. I've been driving them for three years now and no problem. However, the current vehicle is a hybrid and there are warnings in the handbook to avoid certain areas in the car if you have a pm, things like sitting in the luggage space in the back, which I'm not likely to do. Apart from that no problems.

I think the sensible thing to do is follow the advice given in the pm instruction leaflet. There's certainly a lot of suspect information going around, usually by folks that have no direct experience of pm's or electronics.

Walter

[rabbithutch]

Thanks for all the replies guys. Like most of you I'm not overly concerned with the hearing aspect of gigs in general, it was more the vibration I felt in my chest.

[Mazza23]

I went to see singing in the rain it was very loud and my heart had a fit thought I would have to leave put my hands over my ears felt stupid