Common Myths About Hearing Protection Dispelled

Hearing protection is a must in many situations. But there are many people that use excuses to avoid using hearing protection. Perhaps because they think they are uncomfortable, or they don’t fit properly. However, proper hearing protection should not be uncomfortable and can prevent hearing loss in the future then why would you not want to protect your hearing? However, there are common myths about hearing protection that can easily be put right. Here are some of the ones you may have heard or even said yourself.

You Can Cause an Ear Infection

Many people believe that wearing things like earplugs can cause an ear infection, but the truth is you are more likely to get an ear infection if you go swimming. If you do have an ear infection, then it is best to use other hearing protection like earmuffs. But the myth of hearing protection causing ear infections can easily be dispelled.

Causing Damage to Your Eardrum

There’s a common misconception that using hearing protection like earmuffs or earplugs can harm the eardrum. However, this is not true. In fact, hearing protection is designed to protect your ears from loud noises that can cause damage. Properly fitted ear protection reduces the intensity of sound reaching the eardrum, preventing potential hearing loss. It’s important to use hearing protection correctly and ensure it fits snugly to provide effective noise reduction without causing any harm to your ears. Some people think this is a common issue, but in fact it is completely untrue.

Unable to Hear When Using Hearing Protection

Wearing hearing protection in situations like the workplace because of loud and severe noises is recommended. But one of the most common excuses not to wear them in that circumstance is down to not being able to hear co-workers or any alarms or warning sounds that might go off. Many hearing protection options will not fully cancel out noise like voices and speech. Hearing protection should only bring the decibels of the sound down, and not get rid of them completely, when wearing the protection in the workplace. So, you should still hear any warning sounds and conversations with coworkers.

My Ears Are Accustomed to the Noise Levels

Hearing protection is designed to protect you from experiencing hearing loss in the future, and putting yourself through situations where there are loud noises can be a cause of that in the future. However, your ears will never become accustomed to the noise levels. Hearing protection is designed to avoid any hearing loss in the future.

Always Use Hearing Aids if You Experience Hearing Loss

While hearing aids are there to help anyone experiencing hearing loss, they should not be the only solution to your problem when trying to prevent hearing loss. Going through the motions and not protecting your ears and hearing will mean eventual hearing loss. Hearing aids are there to help amplify sounds you cannot hear and to help prevent further hearing loss. But you can wear hearing aids and protection to prevent hearing loss from getting worse.

If you want to learn more about hearing protection or other solutions for preventing hearing loss, contact a hearing health professional.