Ear protection

ScottM said:
Another good reason is that it helps to stop your skin from coming into some really bad chemicals. My cousins husband has a really obscure cancer and died in his late 40s. He was a car mechanic and the type of cancer he had was correlated extremely well with a common solvent used for the cleaning of car parts. It is very likely that he developed the cancer that killed him from his exposure.
Click to expand...

My cousin passed away last year in his early 60's with an unusual cancer of the sinuses/nasal passages. He was a auto body guy his whole life. It makes you wonder ...
 
I have a pair of Peltor earmuffs hanging from the handle of the snowblower (10hp Tecumseh, you can hear every one of the four strokes) so they are always available before I start the brute. In the summer they live on the handle of the lawn mower.
An added benefit is that the hearing protectors keep my ears warm!
 
Hearing protection at all times when target shooting. Have for nearly 50 years. Hearing protection when I use the gas powered leaf blower. That sucker is loud. Don't have a lawn mower anymore, never wore hearing protection while using one. Not as bad as the leaf blower. And I always have a headset when flying.

That said, somewhere along the line I hurt my hearing. Constant ringing and a high frequency loss profile that tells the doctor that it is damage due to loud noise. Fortunately, I can still enjoy music and hear well enough to sing on pitch. Picking individual voices out in a noisy environment isn't as easy as it once was.

Scott, keep doing what you're doing. You don't need to justify it to the neighbor. They're your ears. Protect them.
 
I don't wear mine as much as I should. I do wear them when using the planer / molder - that is loud. But only sometimes for the table saw or skill saw. I'm sure I have lost some hearing.

Can't fix stupid.
 
I ran a hearing conservation program at a steel mill for 13 years before I moved to Arkansas. I tried to encourage guys (and gals) to take ear plugs home to wear whenever they used power tools of any kind at home. Seemed like for the most part they understood that the tools were noisy at work, but didn't realize that the same tools could be noisy at home as well. Unfortunately I have also fit way more hearing aids that I ever cared to. Noise doesn't have to 'seem' loud to damage hearing. If you even think that something could be loud, you definitely need to wear ear protection.

Something else that most people don't realize is that properly inserted ear plugs are more effective at reducing sound than ear muffs. I'll admit that I haven't kept up with ear protection technology since I left the field in 2000, but the problem with most muffs is that they don't usually seal as well as the sponge type plugs. This is especially true if you wear glasses under the muffs. Plugs and muffs are the best possible solution.

And while tinnitus can occur due to medical pathologies, it's generally one of the early signs that permanent noise induced hearing loss has occurred.
 
jlwilson said:
I ran a hearing conservation program at a steel mill for 13 years before I moved to Arkansas. I tried to encourage guys (and gals) to take ear plugs home to wear whenever they used power tools of any kind at home. Seemed like for the most part they understood that the tools were noisy at work, but didn't realize that the same tools could be noisy at home as well. Unfortunately I have also fit way more hearing aids that I ever cared to. Noise doesn't have to 'seem' loud to damage hearing. If you even think that something could be loud, you definitely need to wear ear protection.

Something else that most people don't realize is that properly inserted ear plugs are more effective at reducing sound than ear muffs. I'll admit that I haven't kept up with ear protection technology since I left the field in 2000, but the problem with most muffs is that they don't usually seal as well as the sponge type plugs. This is especially true if you wear glasses under the muffs. Plugs and muffs are the best possible solution.

And while tinnitus can occur due to medical pathologies, it's generally one of the early signs that permanent noise induced hearing loss has occurred.
Click to expand...

Joyce, you seem to know a lot about this. Do you have an opinion on the custom earplugs that I assume are molded by an audiologist? A few folks at a rifle club I used to belong to had them and swore by them. I never gave them much thought, but now I'm wondering if that's my next step in personal hearing protection.
 
I've seen military crews who have both foam earplugs in, and then the attenuating headsets on over the top of those. Seems pretty common. Anyone do this?
 
denverpilot said:
I've seen military crews who have both foam earplugs in, and then the attenuating headsets on over the top of those. Seems pretty common. Anyone do this?
Click to expand...
I wore a regular DC headset on top of earplugs almost all the time I flew piston airplanes. I don't think ANR had been invented at that point, or at least it wasn't widely available. Even after ANR became more popular I stuck with this method and it seems to have worked OK since my hearing is still fine AFAIK.
 
nddons said:
Joyce, you seem to know a lot about this. Do you have an opinion on the custom earplugs that I assume are molded by an audiologist? A few folks at a rifle club I used to belong to had them and swore by them. I never gave them much thought, but now I'm wondering if that's my next step in personal hearing protection.
Click to expand...

Custom molded plugs are definitely more comfortable, but generally not quite as good at noise reduction. What happens is that the tissue in the ear canal gets somewhat compressed if the plugs are worn often and for long periods so that the plugs just do not seal as well over time. That's why the foam plugs continue to work so well, they adjust to the changing shape of the canal. Another problem with the custom molded plugs is that if you chew or talk while the plugs are in your ears, they seal will sometimes break as well. The jaw joint (temporomandibular joint) sits right inside the ear canal. If you stick your finger in your ear and open and close your mouth, you can feel the canal change shape and move.

It's quite possible that materials that the molds are made of have changed significantly since I've been in the field, but these are definitely problems to ask your audiologist about.

I really like plugs with active noise suppression muffs. Especially when I did a lot of competition shooting and firearms instruction. It helped me hear what I needed to hear while still protecting my hearing. Now I only say 'huh' when my husband says something I don't want to hear :D.
 
denverpilot said:
I've seen military crews who have both foam earplugs in, and then the attenuating headsets on over the top of those. Seems pretty common. Anyone do this?
Click to expand...

I do. Because I spend so much time on railroad properties, I have bags of earplugs of all sorts. I wear both when mowing the lawn.
Both my kids are competitive swimmers. I'm usually the only one at the swim meet wearing earplugs, except for the ones I give out to other dads who look longingly at mine. Parents screeching at their kids to crush the competition get really loud. I already have ringing in my ears, and if I don't wear plugs, it REALLY bad when I get home. Hell, the kids will tell you that they can't even hear all the yelling anyway.
 
denverpilot said:
I've seen military crews who have both foam earplugs in, and then the attenuating headsets on over the top of those. Seems pretty common. Anyone do this?
Click to expand...

Even back in the '70s this was the recommended procedure. Unfortunately, when I did so, I could no longer clearly hear the multiple radios I controlled, so left out the foam plugs. That, combined with rock concerts, operating heavy equipment and shooting activities in my youth, all without hearing protection, make me now so wish I had used earplugs regularly.
 
I have four sets of ear muffs hanging around my workshop. Tablesaws, routers, planers etc are really noisy.
Unfortunately, the damage has already been done. A lifetime of motorcycling, sports cars, loud music, etc has left me with constant ringing in my ears. Luckily I seem to be able to completely ignore it. I'm told it drives some people nuts when they get it.
I know it's there, but it doesn't bother me.
 
OffCenter said:
I have four sets of ear muffs hanging around my workshop. Tablesaws, routers, planers etc are really noisy.
Unfortunately, the damage has already been done. A lifetime of motorcycling, sports cars, loud music, etc has left me with constant ringing in my ears. Luckily I seem to be able to completely ignore it. I'm told it drives some people nuts when they get it.
I know it's there, but it doesn't bother me.
Click to expand...

If you want to know what frequency it is: http://www.audiorelief.co.uk/en/tinnitus_test.html

I ring at 9KHz
 
Are any of you guys using Oregon Aero's headset upgrades? I just have a pair of David Clark H10-13.4's and have thought about those.

I also use Hearos Extreme ear plugs.
 
MSPAviator said:
Are any of you guys using Oregon Aero's headset upgrades?
Click to expand...
If you are talking about the replacement ear pads and the sheepskin headband, I bought them in the neighborhood of 15-20 years ago and still have them on my DC headset. I don't use that headset much anymore but I still love the comfort of the setup compared to what came from the factory.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top