Hearing Protection

Hearing Protection For Musicians, Shooters & Everyone Else

As awareness is increasing about long term hearing damage that can be caused from being exposed to loud noise regularly, specialist hearing protection is becoming more popular.

Whether you work in a noisy environment or have a hobby such as motorcycling, there are sufficient ways to reduce the risk of damaging your hearing in the long term. Using hearing protection can be discreet, comfortable and fit under head wear including helmets.

A small increase in sound level by 3dB makes the intensity of that sound double (i.e., it is twice as loud). Each time you double the sound intensity, the safe listening time is halved.In fact, listening to 100dB sounds for longer than 15 minutes per day will start to cause damage to your hearing. The louder the sound, the sooner the chance of permanent hearing damage. Symptoms such as continued ringing in the ears, or temporary hearing loss after a show are signs that you should be using noise protection.

Interested in Hearing Protection? Call us now on 01492 540000 to book your appointment

Elacin ER noise plugs

Elacin ER noise plugs are ideal for musicians who want to be protected from loud music exposure, but still hear the true sound and frequency range of the music and their instrument. Elacin ER noise plugs are custom-made, and fit deep into the ear canal to give the best comfort and attenuation. Available in clear finish.

Only ER noise plugs can also be combined with the ER Earphones monitors. Ideal if you regularly visit concerts and also listen to your favourite music comfortably at home on your MP3 player. The ER noise filter ensures good protection against noise that is too loud and, when you replace the filter with an earphone, it turns into a high quality in-ear monitor system with the benefits of custom-made earpieces. Also ideal for DJs who use one noise plug and one in-ear monitor at a time.

Ideal for giggoers, road crew and sound engineers, our range of generic noise protection provides effective noise reduction at an affordable cost, without the need for an ear impression. ER-20 soft silicone noise plugs are a popular way to enjoy a noisy gig without losing the impact of the music. These plugs reduce the overall level of the sounds, while still maintaining the frequency levels, meaning bass and treble response is still similar to the sound produced.

Personal Acrylic & Silicone Earmoulds For Headphones

Aimed at the amateur or semi-pro musician, these custom-made moulds offer a cost-effective way of achieving professional results. Personal moulds are simply fitted over any driver of your choice, creating a seal which increases low frequency response and improves attenuation.

Available in acrylic or silicone material, in a wide range of colours, these earpieces are the ultimate personalisation for the serious music listener. Ideal for anyone who wants to enjoy music to the maximum, or the musician who wants a cost-effective, custom-made in-ear monitoring solution for the stage and studio.

Hearing Protection For Shooting

Starkey SoundScope Sportsmaster™ Custom In-The-Ear

The SoundScope Sportsmaster™ is a custom fit, top-of-the-line model for the ultimate in comfort and convenience. Each SoundScope Sportsmaster™ Custom In-The-Ear comes with three eartips, four batteries, a cleaning tool, a carrying pouch and an owner’s manual.

Puretone CENS^® digital

With CENS^® digital, are custom made electronic noise suppressors for shooters. being custom made they fit exactly into the users ear, ensuring an extremely comfortable fit over long duration’s. You can have the benefits of an ultra lightweight and unobtrusive earplug, combined with excellent noise suppression while still hearing absolutely everything going on around you.

Features Include:

• Effectively suppresses gunshot noise.
• Allows for normal conversation and the use of mobile phones without the removal of your noise suppression.
• Hear releasing traps and approaching game before anyone else.

Industrial Hearing Protection

Many jobs and workplaces require employees to work in environments where noise levels and patterns are potentially hazardous to your hearing. Employers have a responsibility to provide their employees with adequate protection against this noise. If this protection is missing or flawed, the result can be serious and long-lasting damage to hearing and can result in industrial deafness or noise induced hearing loss (NIHL).

If you’ve been exposed to excessive levels of noise in your employment which may have damaged your hearing, Due to the ageing process every person’s hearing deteriorates to a level that they may require the television turned up louder or miss parts of conversations when in a group of people. The general deterioration in hearing due to the ageing process is known as presbyacusis. However if you were exposed to excessive levels of noise in your employment this may have contributed to your hearing loss.

Sound consists of vibrations of air in the form of waves. In the ear there are tiny cells called hair cells which move in response to the vibrations caused by noise. These vibrations are then converted into signals that are transmitted to the brain. In the brain, the signals are interpreted into language or music. The volume of sound is measured in decibels (dB) and when you are exposed to excessive levels of noise the tiny hair cells in your ear become damaged. If you experience this type of damage to your hearing as a result of being exposed to loud noises at work. The severity of Industrial Deafness / Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) can vary depending on the length and level of exposure suffered by the individual. Any occupation with exposure to loud noises on a continuous day-to-day basis can result in hearing loss due to nerve damage. Some people are more susceptible than others to hearing loss.

To test if a person suffers from a hearing loss a hearing test known as audiometry will be undertaken. The audiometry tests the hearing over a series of noise frequencies from low pitched noise to high pitched noise and the results are plotted on a graph.

If you have previously been exposed to high levels of noise at work and you now find that you have to turn the volume on your television up or cannot follow a conversation where there is background noise, you may be suffering from industrial deafness or noise-induced hearing loss.

Another effect of exposure to loud noise is Tinnitus which can sound like ringing, whistling, buzzing or humming in the ears or head. For those who are suffering from tinnitus as a result of exposure to loud noises at work.

Dowling Hearing Aids can help an Individual or Employee or Employer with there workplace hearing protection requirements and protect against debilitating Noise Induced Hearing Loss, take this opportunity to protect the only pair of ears you have. We also offer industrial hearing tests in order that Employers can meet their responsibilities under  The Control of Noise at Work Regulations (2005).