When Should You Wear Ear Protection?

Do you enjoy listening to music, or work in a noisy environment? Hearing is an essential part of daily life, helping with conversations, navigating busy spaces and enjoying activities like gardening or watching movies. Protecting your hearing is important, and there are many tools available to help. However, it’s not always clear when hearing protection is needed or which type is best for your situation.

When Gardening

Gardening may seem like a quiet activity, but many of the tools used, such as lawnmowers, leaf blowers, and hedge trimmers, can produce harmful noise levels. Lawnmowers and other gardening tools will normally be around 90 decibels or more. This means that it’s a good idea for you to wear hearing protection while you’re working outside in the garden. Although you may not think that you are gardening for extended periods, it is still important for you to protect your hearing health. Wearing ear protection like earplugs or earmuffs can significantly reduce the noise and protect your hearing without interfering with your ability to work.

Playing Music or at Concerts

If you are going to a live concert, you will find the music to be between 110 and 120 decibels. This is extremely loud, but you also have to think about how long you are going to be there. You are usually at a concert for a couple of hours, if not more, and this means your ears will be exposed to loud noises for a long period of time. The same applies if you are somebody who often performs in a live band; you need to wear some a form of ear protection so that you can lower the levels of the noise and protect your hearing. If you are a musician talk with an audiologist about musician earplugs or in-ear monitors to see which one would be right for you.

Using Power Tools

How loud are power tools? Many of the tools used around the house can exceed safe noise levels. If you enjoy do-it-yourself (DIY) projects, it’s likely you’ll need ear protection at times to protect your hearing. Tools like saws, electric drills and sanders are common tools for producing harmful noise. Wearing proper ear protection while using these tools can help prevent long-term hearing damage and make your projects safer overall.

At Work

In some occupations, you will be working in a noisy environment; it could be that you are a construction worker, a factory worker or perhaps a musician. If you are, then you will need to make sure you’re wearing protection most of the time. This will help you to block out any of the noises that you are getting from equipment that you may use.

If you find yourself in a noisy environment whether gardening or working in a factory, you should wear ear protection, as this will help to block out the excessive loud noise. If you want to learn more about when to wear hearing protection or if you are not sure which type would be right for you, schedule an appointment with an audiologist.