Ear Protection


I'm just curious about how often you wear ear protection. I know that growing up my grandfather had hearing problems due to war and loud working environments. He always advocated ear protection to his kids and grandchildren. I always wear ear protection when mowing, using the tractor, weed whipping, flying, loud concerts, really anything louder than I could hear a soft voice from ten feet. I've never measured it but feel it is important. I let go a little when listening to music but prefer medium volumes.
I know this has come up before but does anyone have any experience one way or the other? Do you listen louder and louder over the years? Are you aware of hearing loss or do you ignore it? How do you test it?
bjesien

Showing 2 responses by bar81

If you want to preserve your hearing the first thing you should do is not use earbuds (e.g., ipod, etc.). You test hearing loss by going to a specialist and testing your hearing; it's as simple as that.
My comments earlier were unclear. It is not the earbuds themselves but the damage that can happen when the earbuds are used by most people (people have a tendency to raise the volume to drown out environmental sounds and the nature of earbuds accentuates the damage to your hearing):

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4162028.stm

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/20/electric_earbuds/

What you suggest is not problematic at all as the volume is not being raised to drown out environmental sounds. Personally, I use Sony headphones on a plane to do the same thing.