From the age of about 6 years old our hearing slowly decreases . This is why some parents put their young children into music classes so when they get older they recognise musical notes more clearly.
Now like in my case, Rock Concerts, Night Clubbing , racing motor bikes, construction , boat building, cabinet making tends to speed up the process. While I did use ear protection 90% of the time, I still have a small amount of industrial deafness and tinnitus - ringing in the ears. In my own experience ear candling has improved my hearing a little bit and helps about half with my tinnitus.
As a rule of thumb, if the noise is louder than a talking voice, you need hearing protection. If you leave a nosey area and your ears are ringing afterwards , damage has been done.
Ear Plugs
As a teenager in the 1970s ear plugs weren't invented and at rock concerts we use to roll zigzag papers and put them in your ears and then go up the front to get a good look at the band and feel the bass against your chest.
With motor cross motor bikes, people used to put cotton wool in their ears. These two methods probably gave you about a quarter or half the protection you really needed.
Ear plugs have come a long way since then and seems to be 2 main types of ear plugs. One is a soft foam and is grade 2 and the other is like a soft rubber which is a grade 4. I used a grade 4 for sand blasting where I had to wear a big helmet which worked well. You can't wear ear muffs with a helmet. Sand blasting is as loud as a jet aeroplane.
I don't recommend the grade 2, but if that's all you got at the time, then some protection is better than no protection.
Ear Muffs
Ear muffs are either grade 5 or 6 and the amount of protection difference between the two is so small that I won't worry about it. A grade 5 ear muff retails for about $5 to $10 and a grade 6 is about $60. Don't leave them out in the sun as the rubber seal that seals around your ears will get cracks in them which will reduce the protection. Make sure the foam bits inside the ear muffs aren't missing.
Not so long ago my brother and his daughter visited a car race track and because they both had ear muffs they both walked closer to the race track and pit lane.
Now like in my case, Rock Concerts, Night Clubbing , racing motor bikes, construction , boat building, cabinet making tends to speed up the process. While I did use ear protection 90% of the time, I still have a small amount of industrial deafness and tinnitus - ringing in the ears. In my own experience ear candling has improved my hearing a little bit and helps about half with my tinnitus.
As a rule of thumb, if the noise is louder than a talking voice, you need hearing protection. If you leave a nosey area and your ears are ringing afterwards , damage has been done.
Ear Plugs
As a teenager in the 1970s ear plugs weren't invented and at rock concerts we use to roll zigzag papers and put them in your ears and then go up the front to get a good look at the band and feel the bass against your chest.
With motor cross motor bikes, people used to put cotton wool in their ears. These two methods probably gave you about a quarter or half the protection you really needed.
Ear plugs have come a long way since then and seems to be 2 main types of ear plugs. One is a soft foam and is grade 2 and the other is like a soft rubber which is a grade 4. I used a grade 4 for sand blasting where I had to wear a big helmet which worked well. You can't wear ear muffs with a helmet. Sand blasting is as loud as a jet aeroplane.
I don't recommend the grade 2, but if that's all you got at the time, then some protection is better than no protection.
Ear Muffs
Ear muffs are either grade 5 or 6 and the amount of protection difference between the two is so small that I won't worry about it. A grade 5 ear muff retails for about $5 to $10 and a grade 6 is about $60. Don't leave them out in the sun as the rubber seal that seals around your ears will get cracks in them which will reduce the protection. Make sure the foam bits inside the ear muffs aren't missing.
Not so long ago my brother and his daughter visited a car race track and because they both had ear muffs they both walked closer to the race track and pit lane.
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