Hearing Protection

Our sense of hearing is one of our most valuable. Without it, or if it is impaired to any degree, communication with others around us and our environments, becomes increasingly difficult, if not impossible altogether.

It is therefore crucial, that we take the best care possible of our ears, especially when they are exposed to high levels of noise, for extended periods of time. As mentioned in one of my earlier entries, I mentioned that our sense of hearing is often overlooked from a health point of view, and we as human beings will often only take the time to get it checked, when it is too far gone, down the road already.  

It is likely that most of us will have used some form of hearing protection or at least observed someone using hearing protection, at some point in our lives. Be it, for occupational usage in the workplace, or recreational usage when we’re at the shooting range for example.  

There are generally four different classifications of hearing protection.

These include the following:

1.  Earplugs

2. Earmuffs

3.  Earplugs attached to a band

4.  Earmuffs attached to a special device

Each of these types of hearing protection has a different application, for particular environments, and is often chosen by the wearer, by personal preference as well. They do all have their advantages and disadvantages, which we’ll take a closer look at in more detail, in the next few entries.