Dos and Don’ts of Wearing Hearing Protection

Hearing protection is very important for your general health and wellbeing when it comes to your ability to hear. But do you know exactly what you should be using and when? Your hearing instrument specialist (HIS) will always be able to provide this type of information for you. The reason is that everyone’s ears are different, and everyone’s sound experience is also different. So, if you are unsure if you need to wear hearing protection, it is always advisable to play it safe and choose hearing protection for loud environments.

Don’t Ignore Workplace Noise

There are laws and regulations to protect employees exposed to prolonged noise or a higher decibel volume of noise more regularly. There really is a thing such as a maximum exposure limit to prevent hearing loss in the longer term. Are you wearing the correct hearing protection for the noise levels in your workplace? An example could be operating heavy machinery where ear defenders would be required. Consult with your employer any concerns you might have regarding the hearing protection provided and discuss any symptoms you may be experiencing with an HIS, such as the ringing of the ears even amongst ambient sounds.

Do Routinely Carry Hearing Protection

Impromptu events can often mean that hearing protection is not to hand or completely forgotten about. By routinely carrying hearing protection, not only will you be protection-proofing your unplanned events, but you will start to get in the habit of knowing when to use them, promoting good hearing protection practice in the longer term. This way, you will be covered regardless of the type of event you head to or any situation you encounter that could potentially lead to causing damage to your hearing.

Don’t Use Someone Else’s Custom Hearing Protection

Custom hearing protection is unique to the individual who made them, creating the perfect fit for maximum hearing protection benefits. Everyone’s ears are different, just as experiences with sound are also different in each individual. Arrange an appointment with your HIS to discuss having custom-made hearing protection of your own for the very best results. Whilst using someone else’s custom hearing protection might offer some slight noise reduction, it certainly won’t offer a high-quality level of protection even though they’ve been custom-made as opposed to mass-made. They’ll also be less malleable than dollar store foam earplugs, so you may not actually achieve even that level of protection.

Do Clean Your Hearing Protection Regularly

Standard hygienic practice tells you that keeping things in general clean is healthier for us for many reasons, one being that it also aids in maintaining performance levels of products. So, it stands to reason that this applies to hearing protection too. From ensuring you don’t reuse single-use disposable dollar store earplugs to keep your ear defenders both dust and debris free, your HIS should be consulted for advice on the most practical cleaning methods viable for your hearing protection. When it comes to protecting your hearing, you can never be too careful.