Ear Plug/Hearing Protection Poll

Hello,
I wear an earplug in one ear due to loss of high frquency
hearing loss. Hearing loss is cumulative, so protection at the first sign can help prevent further loss, so I wear one while driving, using lawn equipment, power tools. Unfortunately, I do not while listening to music because of the effect it would have on listening enjoyment, but you have to have some fun! Surgery can help if the hearing loss
is not caused by nerve damage to the auditory nerve, but unfortunately is the most common. Long term exposure to noise above 85db can cause hearing loss, which is equal to
loud conversation. A single gunshot, which produces 140-170db is equal to 40 hours of exposure at 90db levels. So,
be careful! I use earplugs of the foam variety, which reduce
noise to about 30db, and are easy to use and inexpensive.

I also wear plugs as the above posters stated but also wear them while using power tools. Sometimes in my travels I wear them to fall asleep as noise levels can be bothersome.

I use the foam type made by E.A.R. that are uniformly cylindrical. Very comfortable.

I spend considerable time tuning race motors on the dyno and always wear protection. I'm proud of the fact that I was the first local racer to install a really good exhaust system on my drag car which actually made the car faster.

Compressed air systems are very damaging to hearing. Beware of air powered tools and such.

I listen to music loud so will eventually pay the price for it, maybe.

Best earplugs I've used are called 'Flents' and are a sort of moldable waxy-cotton plug. 'What do I think of the noisy world we live in?' I'd love to move further out into the country, as far away as possible from neighbors who crank their sterios so loud I can hear it in my house 2 doors down. Or howabout people that have to have their car or pick-up sterio blasting in the driveway while they wash it or clean it or fix it. There really should be a law against people blasting their 'boom-boom' car sterios as they drive up and down the street, rattling the whole house and windows; sometimes these idiots drive up and down my street several times back and forth. Bottom line is people need to keep their noise to themselves, but you just try and tell 'em!

I use foam earplugs for sound protection and for some peace(on planes, etc.), and I use a different type of ear plug ("Hearos" brand...the ones that look like small, rubber christmas trees) for rock concerts. They don't offer the 30db reduction that the foam plugs offer, but they make the music much more enjoyable than the foam plugs do. The foam plugs cut out most of the high end and the live music ends up sounding pretty dull and uninterseting. The Hearos rubber christmas trees allow most of the important bass, midrange, and mid-treble frequencies to pass (reduced a bit), but cut the shrillest high frequencies the most. The high frequencies are the ones that do the most damage and cause the ringing. I've used them for the past year and they're much much better than foam plugs or crumpled pieces of napkin. They usually cost $10-$15 at guitar stores.