Category Archives: earcare

Women’s Earplugs taking care of mothers

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Women's earplugs by JenGenFor many mothers there comes a time when you just want to tune out, especially when the kids are arguing or screaming. However, you don’t want this to become a permanent thing. You many miss out on their laughter or the greatly appreciated ‘I love you’. As a mother you often consider everyone’s health but our own and your hearing and women’s earplugs may be the last thing on your mind.

However, it is the decibel levels that you’re exposed to constantly that can affect your hearing. Continuous exposure to 85 decibels or more can cause permanent hearing loss or damage, such as tinnitus (ringing in the ears).

Everyday activities such as mowing the lawn and even some of your children’s toys (some can reach 150dB) can have a knock on effect on your hearing. Whether it is using a noisy device or simply listening to music at a high volume, you could be incurring permanent hearing damage.

We live in a noisy world that is filled with chatter, traffic and sometimes industrial sounds. Some noises are within the home environment and some are outside. Wherever we go, we are surrounded by noises that could impair our hearing and this is why it’s so important to protect it. Once it has gone, it’s gone forever.

Women’s earplugs are designed to fit smaller ear canals and seal out the dangerous decibels while allowing you to hear sounds. So although you may be able to protect your hearing from dangerous noise levels, you will, sorry to say, hear the 200th ‘Mum, I want…’ of the day. On a more positive note, though, your teenager’s metal music could be drowned out.

You will find a fantastic range of women’s earplugs at Earplug Shop, including the JenGen Blue Tassel Earplugs that are reminiscent of those Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s wears.

Children’s earplugs

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Mack's children's earplugsThere are many reasons why children should wear earplugs, the most common being protecting their ears from infections, another is to prevent water from entering the ear canal and causing irritation. However, the most significant reason is to prevent hearing damage and impairment.

In the early stages of a child’s life their hearing is extremely sensitive to loud noises and if they’re exposed to these noises on a regular basis it can cause irreversible hearing damage or loss. If the noise exposure is even greater, it could cause deafness, which will not only affect the relationships in their lives, it can also cause learning difficulties too.
It isn’t just noise levels either that can cause damage to your child’s hearing, below you will find a number of infections that are commonly found in children.

Ear Infections

Here you will find all the explanations you need for the most common of ear infections. However, if you still have questions and are uncertain about the infections, please feel free to contact us, or talk to your GP.

Otitis media

Otitis media occurs when there is a build up of fluid or mucus between the eardrum and inner ear. If a bacterium is then present it can cause a middle ear infection and become very painful. Symptoms are severe earache, fever and general sickness and dulled hearing. The eardrum may appear to be inflamed or look yellow and have a bumpy texture.

Signs to look for in young children include:

•    Irritability
•    Poor feeding
•    Disturbed sleep
•    Coughing
•    Lack of response to sounds

The simplest cases of Otitis media do not require antibiotics, as 80% of cases resolve within three to four days. However, the BNF recommends treatment if:

•    There is no improvement after 72 hours, or earlier if there is evidence of deterioration
•    The child is unwell
•    Mastoiditis is present
•    The child is under two and both ears are affected

Please note: Glue ear is the common name for Otitis media. Long-term hearing impairment is a significant risk with prolonged glue ear.

Otitis externa

More commonly known as ‘swimmer’s ear’, Otitis externa is an inflammation of the external ear canal and can be caused by many common factors such as swimming, heat and humidity, skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis or seborrhoeic dermatitis, damage to the ear canal caused by hearing aids, cotton wool swabs or ear syringing and discharge produced by a middle ear infection.

The danger concerning Otitis externa is that is can develop spontaneously.  However, it is easy to treat. In some cases the infection may need to be treated by an effective antibiotic ear drop or spray.

Best practice when preventing ear infections:

•    Let ears dry naturally
•    Avoid cleaning the ears with cotton wool
•    Never pick or poke at the ears
•    Keep ears dry when swimming by using silicone rubber earplugs

Hearing is essential to children especially when it comes to learning and developing their social skills. There are many children’s earplugs available at Earplug Shop that are ideal for general use as well as more specific requirements such as swimming, sleeping and travelling.

Ear plugs for exercising

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When we exercise the last thing we ever think about is the damage we could be doing to our ears. We are more concerned with what we are doing to our bodies; getting healthier and fitter. However, when at the gym or swimming pool we could be doing damage to our hearing.

Swimming

When swimming regularly if you do not wear ear plugs you could run the risk of contracting swimmer’s ear. Swimmer’s ear is an outer ear infection, which sees your skin inflame making it painful to touch.

Swimming ear plugs are ideal for those who want to spend a lot of time in the water without running the risk of infection. They are also brilliant for those who want to concentrate on their swimming technique.

Gym

If you are a gym fanatic the noise emitted by large machinery and the music played in the room can cause serious discomfort in your ears. Research has shown that gym-goers are more likely to turn up the volume on their personal music devices while working out to drown out the noisy environment, which can cause further damage.

Noise ear plugs are the ideal solution for gym goers to drown out surrounding noises without damaging your hearing. They are also superb to use when wanting to maximise your concentration levels, giving you the chance to focus on your ambitions.

Caring for your ear plugs

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It is extremely important to care for your ear plugs as much as it is important to care for your ears. Cleaning your ear plugs should be done as often as possible, ideally after every use. It is easy to do; all you need to do is follow these simple tips:

  • Fill a bowl with warm water and use a soap, (dish soap can be used) and soak the ear plugs for a few minutes.
  • With your fingers or if preferred a tooth brush remove all dirt and ear wax from the plugs.
  • Once all matter is removed, rinse the ear plugs with cold water and leave to air dry to discourage any bacteria.
  • To keep your ear plugs from any unwanted bacteria or fungi store your ear plugs in a case.
  • If you want to disinfect the ear plugs, spray them with alcohol and leave to air dry.
  • Do not wash silicone putty or soft wax ear plugs.
  • Multiple use ear plugs can last approximately 2-4 weeks, depending on care.

Caring for your ear plugs ensure hygiene, which will help minimise the chances of infection and can maximise the lifespan of the ear plugs. It is also essential to keep your ears clean as well, there is no point putting clean ear plugs in dirty ears. This can be easily done using Ear Plug Shop’s Ear Care Ear Plug Accessories.

Ear plugs: Pantos need to be blocked out?

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I have always found pantos a lot of fun and in the past couple of years they are growing in popularity, especially with young families. Pantomimes like Christmas is a bit of fun and you can’t take it too seriously, but because there is a higher demand for tickets and more shows the noise levels are also rising.

Last year I could hardly hear the punch lines. It was still an enjoyable experience, but having a lot of children crying, running about and having everyone talking above the performers did mean I missed quite a lot of the jokes.

I don’t want to sound like a bar humbug, I suppose I have sensitive hearing. So this year, I am going to bring along some noise reduction ear plugs. Why? Surely that will block everything? Well, I have found they only block the noises that can be harmful to your hearing, whilst letting the good noises in. These ear plugs can do this due to having two sets of filters, which I think is pretty amazing.

This year will most certainly be jolly, I will be able to hear all the jokes and really get involved in the panto and the audience, instead of suffering in silence.

Swimming ear plugs

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When it comes to exercise I’m certainly someone who would rather stay in the warm than brave the weathers, but I have found something that keeps me both warm and gives me the energy I want after doing exercise. Swimming!

I can’t believe I hadn’t have thought about that sooner, but I always make a connection with swimming with summer and not winter. It may still be autumn, but it feels like winter, I have been wrapping myself up warm, had the fire on and copious amounts of hot drinks, like I’m sure most of you have as well.

As I am going to be going swimming on a regular basis (in the run up to Christmas) I have bought some swimmer’s ear plugs to protect my ears from getting any infections (I really don’t fancy having an ear infection or worse swimmer’s ear for Christmas). I have swimming to be the best form of exercise for me, it works every muscle in my body and I don’t  even feel like I am exercising, the only downside is that spending a lot of time in the water can create problems for your ears, like swimmers ear.

Using ear plugs like Mack’s Aqua Block Ear plugs will help reduce the risk of causing damage to your ears and will also increase your concentration allowing you to perform better when in the pool. there are many advantages of swimming and there are many advantages to wearing swimming ear plugs.

Noise Pollution

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Noise pollution is everywhere we go, we can never escape it, but not all noise pollution is bad, it all depends on the level of which the noise is omitted. Safe sounds are measured up to 85dB (decibels), anything above that can have serious effects on your health. Noise pollution can cause not only hearing problems such as tinnitus and hearing loss, but can have an effect on sleep, aggression and stress levels, which in itself has damaging health effects.

High noise levels can have damaging effects even when exposed to the sound for a short amount of time, according to Hearing Loss and Coronary heart disease by S. Rosen and P. Olin during an eight hour period blood pressure can rise by five to ten points, which can rise even more if stressed.

Many people who reside in urban areas where there is a lot of noise pollution (maybe they have an airport situated close by) according to a study undertaken in 2005 approximately pay 4 Euros per decibel per year for noise reduction. However, there is a simpler way to protect your hearing and health when it comes to noise pollution and that is wearing a pair of noise reduction ear plugs. They are cheaper and can be taken everywhere you go, whether you decide to attend a music concert or are travelling.

It is scary how easily our hearing can be damaged, but it is even more reassuring that it can be protected just as easily, if not more so.

The importance of hearing

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In today’s hi-tech environment and the demand for everything, bigger, better and louder it is becoming increasingly more important to make sure you have the right hearing protection. We are used to the sounds omitted, but now we have the sounds coming from video games on various game stations, PCs and now our phones. Through this because we are growing around technology it is quite hard to realise the effect it has on our hearing, making hearing protection incredible important to our everyday lives.

Not only is the growth of technology increasing our risks of hearing damage and potential deafness, but also some working environments can have a serious effect as well as leisure sports and even holidays.

This however, can easily be combated; with the simple use of ear plugs that are especially design for a certain activity you will be protecting your ears effectively from damaging sounds. You will also be pleased to know there are ear plugs that have special filters that allow you to block the damaging noises and let the sounds you want to hear in.

When it comes to ear plugs there is a great range to choose form, depending on the brand you prefer and the activity you are going to wear them for. For instance if you will be going on holiday for Christmas flying ear plugs would be ideal for you as they will balance the pressure out, preventing your ears from popping and feeling ill when on the plane. Then there are ear plugs for children, designed specifically for smaller and more sensitive ears.

Take a look at the full collection of ear plugs today to see which ear plugs fit your preferences.

Hearing and Balance

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We all know how important our hearing is, once you have lost it, there is no way of getting it back. Many people who suffer from hearing loss use hearing aids to help hear better, amplifying the sounds they are hearing to make them louder and clearer. However, our hearing has an even more significant effect on the way we live, it also affects our balance.

Hearing and balance work hand in hand as balance is controlled through the vestibular system, which is found in the inner ear. The cochlea and the vestibular also share the same bone space and the same fluid, making it increasingly important that nothing harmful happens to the inner ear.

It is also known that the vestibular system depends highly not only hearing systems, but also vision and muscle feedback to function successfully. The best way to prevent damage to your inner ear when subjected to loud noises is to reach for protective wear.

When it comes to preventing hearing loss and damage to the inner ear there is a simple, effective and cheap way. Ear plugs will help you protect your hearing from harmful sounds, some have unique filters which allow you to block the harmful noises from reaching your inner ear, but still allows you to hear the sounds you want to. The best ear plugs to have on you are noise reduction ear plugs as you can choose the NRR (noise reduction rating) depending on how noisy the environment you live, work or socialise in.

Jedward on tour

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There is an event coming up across the country that is sure to see sales for ear plugs rise. Jedward are coming to town and are throwing a series of live performances across the UK that people are sure never to forget.  If you live close to any of the stages where they will be performing or will be taking your children to see them it might be time to get some musician ear plugs.

Jedward shot to fame through the UK series of X Factor and mentored by Louis Walsh. X Factor is known as a talent competition where we have seen the likes of Leona Lewis, however the talent that came through last year and what we are seeing this year seems to be less than talented and here they are making money from … nothing.

The dynamic twosome will be ‘singing’   through Edinburgh and Glasgow to Southampton, London and Birmingham on their UK tour throughout the month from the 7th to 30th.

However, if you are a fan of the twins, getting a pair of ear plugs for music lovers is still a good idea. An amplified rock concert can reach up to 120dB, which after a small amount of time can become dangerous for your hearing, causing tinnitus and permanent hearing loss.