Health and Safety

• Association of British Orchestras "The national body representing professional orchestras throughout the UK"
• Health and Safety Executive To check on any legislation that exists to protect musicians select ‘Noise’ from the ‘Topics’ drop down menu. You can also download a document about research into noise damage to workers in clubs and pubs here
• Hearing Protection Advice on hearing protection and the law

Hearing

• House of Hearing Where you can get the highly recommended Elacin ear plugs fitted in Scotland
• EarpieceOnline This is a detailed article examining the link between earpieces and hearing loss, shedding light on the impact this issue has on thousands of frontline workers. The piece also explores how the growing popularity of earbuds is amplifying the problem across a broader audience.
• Hearing Direct A well designed site which offers an online hearing test and affordable hearing aids. They have a no quibble money back guarantee
• Boots hearingcare Similar to the above. I have no experience of the products advertised on either of these sites so can not personally recommend them - but the info they contain may be helpful
• Canadian Hearing Society Lots of useful info, tables etc. about noise levels and durations
• Earplug Super Store Advice on earplugs. Ships to anywhere in the world. You can buy off-the-shelf ER20s from them
• Free Hearing Test An entertaining site! Take a free hearing test and listen to the sounds of nature
• Online Hearing TestA very well thought out test run by Specsavers. It gives fine gradations of sound volume, so noise cancelling earphones work well with it
• “A Sound Ear-II” by Alison Wright Reid An influential document exploring the issues of noise damage in orchestras. This is a downloadable pdf document
• Look up specific hearing problems on the MEDLINEplus site

Focal Dystonia

• "Focal Dystonia - My History," by Michael Houstoun Michael Houstoun is a top ranking professional pianist who’s career was brought to a halt by focal dystonia. This brief account of his five year’s of persistence in working towards a cure makes fascinating reading. He has now returned to a busy performing schedule and is, once again, playing brilliantly
• PDF download: “Focal dystonia in Musicians: From phenomenology to therapy” Altenmüller is one of the foremost researchers on dystonia and the possibilities of retraining
• David Leisner - Classical Guitarist and Composer A very interesting interview with David Leisner, who has found a way to cure himself of a hand problem which may have been a form of focal dystonia

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