How hair dryers and blasters affect your hearing: what do you need to know as a groomer?
Did you know that, as a grumper, you may be at risk of hearing loss caused by noise?
Hair dryers are the only equipment that all groomers need, or owners of dog and cat kennels, but, hell, sometimes they are so hard to choose.
Drying your four-sided client or pet with a hair dryer, as opposed to air drying, is imperative for the wool to look smooth and not tangled.
Today on the market there are several groups of hair dryers:
1. manual hair dryers - for finishing drying and laying wool;
2. Hair dryers - blasters (water wash) are powerful hair dryers with power from 2000W to 3800 W intended for the main drying of animal hair after bathing. These are rather powerful turbocharged machines that shorten the drying time by several times, especially long-haired animals. But the power of these hair dryers is not determined by the number of watts, but by the speed of air blowing - this is the most important indicator of the work of the most demanded and expensive equipment for grooming animals, especially large breed dogs. Therefore, when choosing hair dryers, pay attention to this indicator, especially if you work with long-haired breeds that require features in drying and styling wool. A hair dryer can be small, with a small capacity, and one engine, but having an air flow rate of 50-70 m / s - this speed is already enough to work with small and medium breeds of dogs. And you do not need to buy a hair dryer more powerful, and more expensive.
If you are considering a hairdryer to work with large and long-haired breeds, then you need a powerful hairdryer with two engines, with higher power and high air velocity - from 60 to 100 m / s.
When choosing a professional equipment, pay attention to important characteristics, make your choice, and we also offer you hair dryers with the trademark Tigers ™ - TIGERS WOW-1 and TIGERS WOW-2. You can get acquainted with their characteristics in detail at the link in our store.
Next, we will tell you in detail about hair dryers and how to choose them correctly, what to look for first of all, what materials they should be made of. And a lot of interesting things about hair dryers and additional equipment for them.
And now let's see what are the health risks of a professional groomer and an animal. More precisely, what effect does the noise level of the hair dryer have on the hearing specialist and the hearing of animals in the cabin? And the most important thing is how to reduce these risks to a minimum. ))
Go?
How do hair dryers and blasters affect your hearing: what should a groomer know?
We present an article by our partners, based on a study by Groomers Limited, conducted among 317 professional groomers (we took information about the study on our partner’s website: https://www.groomers-online.com/).
One thing we can all agree on: grooming salons can be very noisy places! There are many factors that contribute to this: phone calls, barking dogs, buzzing hair clippers ... but there are a couple of big "villains" - hair dryers and blasters!
Often, when buying a hair dryer or a blaster, our first thought: what is the "noise" of equipment?
"How will my furry customers respond to this?" Our thoughts are always connected with the welfare of the animals under our care. But have you ever thought about the negative impact of your equipment on your hearing?
It all depends on the noise level of the equipment, which, as we know, is measured in notorious decibels. You know all too well that hair dryers come with different speeds and settings, but you cannot control and adjust how loud they can be, especially at maximum speed. The noise of some of these hair dryers can reach 108 decibels!
Background: the pain threshold for humans is 110 decibels. And believe me, and it is really very loud!
A study of Groomers Limited, conducted among 317 professional groomers, showed that 88% did not know what level of noise their hairdryer had. This is not what we usually think about, but for us it is so important to know! We also need to understand how this affects our health and the health of other people or animals in business.
In the 2012 study, “The Impact of Noise from Professional Hairdryer,” this topic was examined, and it gave some really interesting results. Four hair dryers were tested. And, the study showed that the average noise level for three of the four brands ranged from 105 to 108 decibels, and for the fourth - 94.8 decibels.
Already a proven fact: sounds of less than 75 decibels, even after prolonged exposure, are unlikely to cause hearing loss. However, prolonged or repeated exposure to sounds of 85 decibels or higher can cause hearing loss.
The OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) rules regulate the time of noise exposure to business participants: “noise” from 105 decibels for 40-60 min / day. These indicators guarantee that hearing damage will not occur. Unfortunately, a study by Groomers Limited showed that 95% of us are exposed to the noise of hair dryers longer, and every day, and 38% of us "hear" the noise of a hair dryer for more than 4 hours a day. In general, the results are not very comforting: the majority of groomers fall into the risk zone and they may be at risk of hearing loss due to the high level of noise from professional equipment.
The main three factors that can cause hearing loss are: 1 sound intensity, 2 source proximity and 3 exposure duration. A weapon that shoots right near the ear can instantly stun someone, while the sound of an MP3 player with maximum volume (about 105 decibels) for half an hour each day will slowly cause noise hearing loss. According to WebMD, “most cases of noise-induced hearing loss are caused by repeated exposure to a moderate level of noise for many years, and not by short-term exposure to very loud noise.”
Groomers who work independently can limit the use of a hairdryer, but those who work in a large salon often use several pieces of equipment at the same time and are at even greater risk because the decibel level is higher and the exposure time is greater.
Signs of hearing loss caused by noise, according to the Institute for Improving Hearing, are "difficulty understanding speech," ringing or buzzing after exposure to loud noises, or a feeling of "overcrowding" in the ears after leaving the noisy zone. If you have any of these, it is likely that your hearing has already been affected by high levels of noise, and therefore it’s time to act now!
So, how can you protect yourself and your health in a busy salon? You should clearly know the main rule: with increasing volume, the amount of time at which the critical point of the load on the ear and the possibility of hearing damage occurs decreases. According to the Institute for Improving Hearing, a sound of 100 decibels can cause damage for 15 minutes, and 85 decibels will start to cause damage only after 8 hours. Lower the sound to a safe level, and you are much less likely to damage your hearing. That is why we recommend keeping a pair of ear protection at hand.
You can find out the decibel level in your hairdryer or salon in general in several ways. Some suppliers or manufacturers include this feature in their product descriptions on the Internet or on packaging, but if not, you can easily download the free app to read decibels on your smartphone or even buy a decibel meter from electronics stores.
In the 2018 Groomers Limited survey, 57% of the groomers surveyed did not have protective headphones, and of those who wore them, only 16% wore them every time they used a blaster or a hairdryer. The most important thing to learn from this is to start using ear protection every time you use a hair dryer or blaster. They protect your hearing by absorbing sound waves, helping to reduce the number of decibels that fall into your ears. However, 90% of respondents in the survey chose not to wear protective headphones. And how can this be achieved? It's simple: invest in a hair dryer, which will be much quieter.
We offer you very quiet TM Tigers hair dryers: TIGERS DRYER WOW-1 or TIGERS DRYER WOW-2. These are robust hair dryers that are equipped with Polymer Muting Technology, which ensures that they work in a safe range of hearing noise, even for extended periods of time. The nominal decibels for these hair dryers range from 60 dB to 80 dB. Ideal for professional drying. Hair dryers are distinguished by a durable and easily cleaned metal casing that provides thermal protection. Each hairdryer is equipped with a variety of useful accessories.
