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Writer's pictureSally Jackson RHAD

I work in noise, will Flare earplugs help me stay comfortable?

FLARE TYPE EARPLUGS FOR LEISURE vs WORKING IN NOISE.


Flare (and other hollow brand) ear plugs are, I believe, designed to reduce high frequency sounds. People use them for hyperacusis, to dampen sounds and make them duller. At a certain high-pitch, known as 4kHz, the ear canal automatically amplifies the sound, because it is the resonant frequency of the ear canal (my blog has an article on this). This can cause Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL).


NIHL is not something anyone would want. In addition to the hearing being impaired in the 4kHz region, we suspect that the inner hair cells are also damaged, which means permanent difficulty separating speech from background noise (blog also has articles on this).


Wearing Flare earplugs or similar devices will reproduce NIHL symptoms, as they restrict 4kHz sound from reaching your eardrums. Not a problem if not worn for too long, but sensory deprivation can lead to tinnitus and other issues, so I wouldn’t want anyone to wear them all day/night. Hyperacusis is sometimes intolerable for people, so you need to manage your own risk/benefit for these situations.


Flare earplugs will NOT protect someone from loud noise such as factory work, and proper ear defenders with a 27dB or better protection are required.


Ear protection can be bought which filters out certain frequencies to protect you, while letting in other frequencies. These devices are about £350 a pair and worth their weight in gold. They are custom made and allow you to converse/hear warnings while protecting you from NIHL. If your job involves noise and communication, ask your employer to provide/pay for them. If self employed, they should be tax deductible depending on your country.


NIHL is serious and working in noise is a specific risk. Protection is necessary. If you don’t like wearing ear defenders because you can’t hear your colleagues, a NIHL will give you a *permanent* difficulty in hearing your colleagues. It’s important to accept the difficulty to protect yourself long term.


Below is an image of the style of plug I’m talking about. A hollow tube that narrows the effective lumen of the ear canal, and would not hold water if you poured it in! Please note that these companies may also make solid earplugs that can cancel noise. Refer to their data to see if they would be effective.



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