Ear plugs

I've been using earplugs for a very long time, rather than repeat what I'm sure you'll already have found regarding various types I thought it would be helpful to offer some advice on how to look after your ears when having to use plugs on a daily basis.

However, it's only over the past 2-3 years I've learned a lot about ear anatomy and function since  developing problems - repeated ear infections, shocking tinnitus, some hearing loss - I worked with a very good audiologist who taught me about some of this.

We have very fine hairs inside our ear canal which help to move earwax from the inner to the outer ear where it dries off and can be easily and safely removed or comes away by itself. The 'wax' inside the ear protects our ears from dirt, debris and infection by having anti- bacterial properties. These hairs are also crucial to our hearing, in how they help to move sound waves to our tympanic membrane - our eardrums.

Any object, whether it be an ear plug, a cotton bud or a  pinky finger inserted into the ear canal can damage these fine hairs either through inadvertantly pulling the hair out - which will not grow back - or irreversibly damaging it's fine structure so it can no longer function as it should. This can also push the wax back into the ear canal which can result in impacted wax or infection due to trapped bacteria. This is why hearing aid wearers are more prone to be affected by these issues as the tip of the aid sits inside the ear canal interfering with the hairs functioning.

Not in a position to fund my perfect environment to avoid the use of sensory aids, I switched to silicone earplugs which mould onto the outer ear and these have been very effective just as much so as inner ear plugs, I still use my over head noise cancelling headphones every day and sometimes in addition to my silicone plugs depending on the noise issue. I was also provided with tinnitus aids from audiology which look identical to hearing aids but are programmed to produce noise to mask the tinnitus - this was a very interesting experience in itself given my noise sensitivities, the audiologist was excellent.

The silicone plugs are also washable so you can wear them several times before changing, I clean the holding container with alcohol, wash my hands before touching them, never put them down on any surfaces, never scratch an itch inside my ear with a finger nail but instead gently press repeatedly on the side of the ear and this works fine. One of the worst infections I had was caused by a lack of attention to ear plug hygiene and scratching an itch with my fingernail  grazing  the delicate skin. That was enough to cause a raging infection requiring 5 courses of antibiotics to clear it and having a perforated eardrum.

I've been using earplugs for a very long time, rather than repeat what I'm sure you'll already have found regarding various types I thought it would be helpful to offer some advice on how to look after your ears when having to use plugs on a daily basis.

However, it's only over the past 2-3 years I've learned a lot about ear anatomy and function since  developing problems - repeated ear infections, shocking tinnitus, some hearing loss - I worked with a very good audiologist who taught me about some of this.

We have very fine hairs inside our ear canal which help to move earwax from the inner to the outer ear where it dries off and can be easily and safely removed or comes away by itself. The 'wax' inside the ear protects our ears from dirt, debris and infection by having anti- bacterial properties. These hairs are also crucial to our hearing, in how they help to move sound waves to our tympanic membrane - our eardrums.

Any object, whether it be an ear plug, a cotton bud or a  pinky finger inserted into the ear canal can damage these fine hairs either through inadvertantly pulling the hair out - which will not grow back - or irreversibly damaging it's fine structure so it can no longer function as it should. This can also push the wax back into the ear canal which can result in impacted wax or infection due to trapped bacteria. This is why hearing aid wearers are more prone to be affected by these issues as the tip of the aid sits inside the ear canal interfering with the hairs functioning.

Not in a position to fund my perfect environment to avoid the use of sensory aids, I switched to silicone earplugs which mould onto the outer ear and these have been very effective just as much so as inner ear plugs, I still use my over head noise cancelling headphones every day and sometimes in addition to my silicone plugs depending on the noise issue. I was also provided with tinnitus aids from audiology which look identical to hearing aids but are programmed to produce noise to mask the tinnitus - this was a very interesting experience in itself given my noise sensitivities, the audiologist was excellent.

The silicone plugs are also washable so you can wear them several times before changing, I clean the holding container with alcohol, wash my hands before touching them, never put them down on any surfaces, never scratch an itch inside my ear with a finger nail but instead gently press repeatedly on the side of the ear and this works fine. One of the worst infections I had was caused by a lack of attention to ear plug hygiene and scratching an itch with my fingernail  grazing  the delicate skin. That was enough to cause a raging infection requiring 5 courses of antibiotics to clear it and having a perforated eardrum.