Is there a way for musicians to avoid hearing damage and loss, especially if they are rehearsing and playing shows all the time?

Besides earplugs for dulling the harshness of the sound, is there a special kind of device for your ear out there that blocks out all the sound but the other sounds of your band member's instruments?

If such a device exists, what did musicians do before it was invented? Did everyone just get severe tinnitus soon after becoming a serious musician? The dedicated musicians are going to be rehearsing loud on a regular basis and playing multiple shows back to back especially if they tour and they all are going to be really loud events...how do they not do some serious dramatic damage to their ears? You would think that eventually after a few years of doing that they won't have any hearing anymore and their musical performances will begin to suffer

I really want to know about any device out there as I am on the verge of getting a band going for the first time and I want to make sure I protect my hearing during rehearsals with drummers and especially if I end up playing live

It's literally just hearing protection, the most popular of which is earplugs. Especially drummers might use ear-protecting headphones. Not all musicians have used hearing protection, but aging rock musicians are notorious for having hearing damage in popular culture, aren't they? People have different genetic dispositions for sustaining hearing damage - what might, over time, completely deafen one person might be nothing to worry about to someone else. Personally, I have an inherited liability for hearing damage, so as a hobbyist musician and a music nerd, hearing protection is very crucial for me.

As for earplugs, there are different tiers. You can do pretty well with music plugs that you can get from Alpine. In Europe, they are priced around €25. If your hearing is limited too much by those, there are also custom-made earplugs that cost about 10x. They will generally give a clearer sound image, with less cut in the frequency ranges that are important for processing music, but enough cut in less information-rich frequencies that can contribute to hearing damage when excessively loud.

In symphonic orchestras, where any kind of earplugs can make work more difficult, and most of the musicians sit in chairs, they sometimes use special chairs where the headrest is designed and shaped so that it blocks a lot of volume. It gives the musician the flexibility of leaning forward when needed to hear things better, and to lean back and use the sound-blocking headrest when things get very loud. Especially woodwind players who sit right in front of the loud brass sections tend to use those. Violinists are especially prone to hearing damage due to the proximity of their instrument to their other ear. There's not really any way to prevent that, other than wearing earplugs, which is often far from ideal.

yea just ear plugs. some say get those special molded ones. I prefer the standard work ones that you can buy 100 for like 14 bucks. has worked for me for the last 20 years.

There's been a shift to in-ear monitors partially because of this. Done right, you get near total sound blockage from the design, but with the speakers inside that lets you clearly hear your bandmates. It's great, but also very, very expensive, and a commitment to set up.

I'd recommend just getting a set of Etymotic earplugs or something like that. They're designed to let more frequencies in than your typical foam earplug and sound better. They still help your ears a lot, too.