Noise damage is permanent. It is also almost entirely preventable.

Why custom, when foam is free

Foam plugs work extremely well in a laboratory and poorly in real life, for one reason: almost nobody inserts them correctly, and the ones that are inserted correctly get taken out within twenty minutes because they are uncomfortable and you cannot hear anyone talk to you. Protection you are not wearing has a noise reduction rating of zero.

Custom protection is moulded from impressions of your own ear canals, which changes several things at once:

• It seals. The rating on the box is only achieved by a plug that actually fits, and yours will.
• It is comfortable enough to leave in. Which is the entire game.
• It can be filtered rather than blocking. Musicians’ plugs use an acoustic filter to reduce level across the range evenly, so music and speech still sound like themselves, just quieter. Standard foam cuts the highs hardest and makes everything sound like it is underwater — which is why bands stop wearing it.
• It lasts years rather than one shift.

Earmolds for radios and comms

Island Hearing Services also makes custom earmolds for two-way radios and communication headsets — for anyone who needs to hear the radio clearly and protect their hearing at the same time, which on this island covers a lot of people on boats, in trucks and on job sites. A moulded fit means the transmitted audio is clear at a much lower volume, which is protection in its own right.

Get a baseline first

If you have regular noise exposure, an evaluation now is worth having even if you feel fine — because noise-induced loss is painless, gradual and starts in a frequency range you do not use for conversation. By the time it is noticeable in speech it has been going on for years. A baseline audiogram is the only way to catch the trajectory early enough to do something about it.

What an evaluation involves.