Swim plugs & hearing protection
If your child needs to keep their ears dry following ear surgery or infection, our custom-made swim plugs are the ideal solution.
We also provide hearing assessments and expert advice on how best to protect your ears and your hearing. If hearing protection is required, we provide a variety of custom hearing protection options, whether for recreational activities, shooting, or for those in the music industry.
Swim plugs
Swim plugs are little custom moulds of ears, which fit securely and snugly to keep out water. They come in a range of fun colours and can have sparkles and favourite characters inserted.
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If your child had surgery for a middle ear infection which involved placing a grommet or other ventilation tube through the ear-drum, then you need to be extremely careful not to allow water into their ear canal. Swim Plugs are advised for everyday activities like bath-time, hair wash, and swimming.
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Swim plugs can also be made for adult ears.
Specialised goggles and headbands
For swimming, we recommend specialised goggles and head bands and water resistant creams to improve water resistance of the swim plugs. Even with these precautions, we do not advise diving into the pool, or swimming at depth under water for any length of time whilst grommets are still in place.
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Hearing evaluation
We provide hearing assessments as well as expert advice on how best to protect your hearing. Sometimes this may include limiting your exposure to certain sounds and wearing hearing protection.
Let's talk about protection
Hearing protection
Hearing is a precious resource and once lost, never returns. Loud sound, (music, environmental, leisure, or industrial), can cause temporary, or permanent reduction in hearing. There is good evidence that repeated temporary changes in hearing can lead to long-term permanent damage.
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Recreational hearing protection
We supply a range of hearing protection such as 'heavy duty' ear defenders suitable for recreational shooting and other noisy activities.
Safe listening times
The risk of Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) depends on noise exposure time, the average noise level and the peak level of very loud sounds. Some people are more susceptible to hearing loss than others, so that protection based on an average time and sound level exposure will only protect the ‘average’ person.
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European Noise Regulations exist to provide employers with a platform to establish harmful levels of sound and the amount of time that workers can be exposed before they are at risk of permanent hearing loss. Within the UK, the law states that an individual can be exposed to a sound pressure level of 85dB(A) for a maximum of 8 hours. At this level, the employer upon request must make hearing protection available. Where the noise level exceeds 90dB(A), it is a legal requirement to provide hearing protection.
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Sound pressure is based on a logarithmic scale and expressed in Decibels (dB). Each time the decibel level is raised by a factor of 3, the intensity of that sound is doubled i.e. it is twice as loud. When the intensity is doubled, the safe listening time is halved. The graph above shows how quickly safe listening times are reduced as the sound level rises.
Note that Legislation applies only within the workplace. Outside of the working environment, it is up to the individual to safeguard their hearing. Unfortunately, people who spend a lot of time in noisy environments become so accustomed to it that they are unaware of the irreversible damage they are inflicting on their hearing.
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Avoidable hearing loss is therefore a rapidly growing global problem, and two campaigns have been launched to address this. The "Make Listening Safe Campaign UK" is taking the lead in addressing this issue. Launched on November 1, 2023, the campaign is set to roll out worldwide to other members of the World Health Organization in 2024. Their slogan is "Love Sound, Listen with Care."
To learn more about the Make Listening Safe Campaign UK and join the cause, visit: https://www.makelisteningsafecampaign.com
The campaign highlights that people who play video games for prolonged periods of time with the volume of speakers or headphones turned up high are at risk of hearing loss and tinnitus a result of exposure to potentially hazardous levels of sound. You can find out more about this in a BBC article here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-68004968.
You can read the article here https://bmjpublichealth.bmj.com/content/2/1/e000253
In October 2023 a separate campaign, "Listen for Life", led by the UK's Night Time Industries Association was officially launched at the House of Commons. The aim of the campaign is to reduce hearing loss by 50% across UK music venues, thereby tackling both hearing loss and associated tinnitus. You can find out more about this campaign here: https://ntia.co.uk/ntia-launches-listen-for-life-campaign-at-the-house-of-commons-in-partnership-with-specsavers-to-encourage-hearing-health-testing-and-tinnitus-prevention/
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You can find out more about these campaigns here. You can also find out more about hearing protection at concerts here.
If you are concerned, speak to us and we will advise what ear protection is suitable.
Musician's hearing protection
We supply specially filtered custom-made musician's ear plugs which allow musicians to hear their music in its true undistorted form, only quieter.
