ARTICLES

Protect Your Ears and Silence the Noise

By: Gian Erguiza - June, 2008

How important is it to protect your ears from hearing loss? Very. Loss of hearing is quite common and can happen to anyone. With proper care and nurture, you can save your hearing. With the right earplugs, you can protect your ears effectively. Earplugs can also save you from ringing, dizziness and $5000 hearing aid that you might possibly need later on in life because you chose not to wear earplugs early on.

I went to a concert last night and I forgot to bring my earplugs. Now, most people think, “Shit, I don’t need earplugs, I want to feel the power and energy of the music!” It is quite true that the experience is not the same when you’re wearing earplugs but most venues and arenas are way too loud for your sensitive ears. The decibel levels reach far up in the scale and is hurtful to your hearing. If you are going to see a concert, regardless of the size of the venue, my suggestion is to wear earplugs at all times.

There are a number of earplugs that are specifically made for different situations that rule out unnecessary noise. The prices range from $15 to $1000 depending on what you need the earplugs for. Choosing the right earplugs is also critical in aiding you against hearing loss. Today, there are different materials that make up earplugs including PVC, silicone, foam, wax-cotton and polyurethane stopples. All of which are useful, safe and effective in the fight against noise and hearing loss in general.

Any of the above, mentioned materials including foam and silicone earplugs, are ideal for industrial work, swimming, and airline duties but not for concerts or music. Reason being is that it blocks out all unnecessary noise including the highs and the lows, which are valuable to a musician. These regular earplugs are ideal for industrial, airline, and other machining work since you want to block out all that harsh noise.

If you are an avid musician or love to go to loud concert events, an etymotic earplug will suite you best. These type of earplugs cancel out the noise but preserves the quality of sound. In effect, it turns down the noise but not muffle voices, environmental sounds or music. I own a pair of these and they work just great!

Then you have the more expensive, ergonomically molded, earplugs that fit only your ear while serving as your monitor that you see the professional musicians use all the time on TV or onstage. These start at $150 going all the way up into the thousands depending on which versatility, comfort, and capacity of the earplugs you prefer. These are usually custom made. If you are a serious musician, planning to tour extensively, or is going to be exposed to high levels of noise for long durations but still need the quality of the sound to come through, these are the earplugs for you.

Protect your ears at all times. I can’t stress this enough without getting frustrated at seeing musicians and workers not wearing earplugs when working, onstage or at a concert where the decibels are higher than usual. Ear damage is irreplaceable. Once your ears are damaged, they’re damaged forever.

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