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Why You Should Wear Ear Protection?

2012-05-22T14:27:58Z

Click on the image to find out moreSince noise began we have been doing our utmost to preserve our hearing and protect our ears from any harm. The advice given concerning the levels of safe sound and the periods of time that we can hear certain sounds without causing damage can be contradictory and in some cases leave people slightly confused. However, with a little help from us at All Ear Plugs and our talented design team we have crafted an interactive graphic where you can grasp trustworthy information regarding what you can hear and how long you can hear it for without causing any damage to your hearing easily. With one look at Why You Should Wear Ear Protection you will find out when hearing protection in the form of ear plugs is required along with some interesting facts about hearing loss that will shock and amaze you.

Although this may sound trivial we wish to share with you the importance of preventing hearing loss and want to share this information in all shapes and forms. Only recently some of our favourite musicians have shared their stories about tinnitus (a form of hearing loss) due to listening to music when they were teenagers and are now supporting the new charity campaign, Action On Hearing Loss.

Hearing loss in any form whether it’s temporary or permanent is something we should all strive to prevent. Once your hearing is gone, it’s gone and you may have to resort to expensive hearing aids to live your life normally. This isn’t a gimmick, nor is it a sales pitch, it’s fact and something we care greatly about.

Check out Why You Should Wear Ear Protection and find out just how many potentially damaging sounds you’re exposing your hearing to.

Westlife on tour

2012-05-10T08:12:45Z

How to make the most of the music

It was a sad day when Westlife announced their split. As soon as it was publically revealed we all began reminiscing of the days we used to line up outside music shops to buy their latest album (I believe iTunes wasn’t as popular back then) and gushing over Nicky and Shane’s pictures. However, as all artists as big as Westlife do, the band will bid their final farewell to their fans by going on tour.

We believe it might be a bit too early for the band to wave goodbye as the rival of the late 90s bands is at its peak. Steps, Atomic Kitten (rumoured), Take That and more recently S Club 7 have all reunited and we’re sure that there’s space for Westlife too. We can keep hoping, but it looks like it an indefinite certainty the band will not return.

If you’re lucky enough to have secured a ticket to one of the many tour dates you’re sure to be very excited. Expect to hear hit songs such as ‘I had a dream’, ‘Flying without wings’ and of course, our personal favourite ‘Up Town Girl’. However, more often than not, expect to hear the screams of fans, songs sung out of tune by fans and maybe a bit of crying by them too. There is a way round this you’ll be relieved to find out. Not only can you block the atrocious sounds of wannabe singers you can also make the voices you came and paid to hear a lot more audible.

“How?” I can hear you ask. By simply inserting some musician ear plugs.

But doesn’t that block sounds?

Musician ear plugs are designed specifically to be worn at musical events, blocking out harmful and damaging sounds, but allow you to listen to the sounds you came to hear. Without background noise interfering with the sounds of the Westlife boys you will be able to hear each lyric clearly.

If this is music to your ears then you’re going to love the range of musician ear plugs we have at All Ear Plugs. Here are just a few we recommend to Westlife fans:

•   Proguard Noizezz Universal Earplugs SNR 24 dB
•   Alpine MusicSafe Pro Ear Plugs
•   Mack's High Fidelity Hear Plugs Ear Plugs

Preparing for your exams

2012-05-07T08:25:00Z

The end of the school year is looming, which can only mean one thing; tables are being lined into neat rows within the walls of a sports hall. It’s exam season.

After the Easter holiday break, you should all feel revived from the previous term and ready to hit the books. However, that can be easier said than done. Once you have finished your school/college day it can be hard to get into the mindset that you must do revision as soon as you’re home. As soon as you sit down, you want to cook your dinner, catch up on any television shows you missed and unwind. There are a lot of distractions, especially if you’re living with family or housemates and having to contend with them in order to study can be challenging.

However, blocking out the sounds is easy. With a pair of noise reduction ear plugs you will be able to reduce the level of noise you hear coming from the television, the radio and the conversations going on around the house. With this piece and quiet you’ll be able to concentrate on revising for your exams and perhaps have better success when it comes to sinking in all the information provided.

The only thing ear plugs can’t assist you with is motivation, that we’re afraid is all down to you. However, if you’re looking for a solution to blocking the racket that fills your loving home, All Ear Plugs could provide you with just that.

Noise reduction ear plugs are designed to reduce the level of damaging noises heard, yet allows sounds you need to hear, like alarms, to remain audible. These can be priceless items to have when revising for your end of year exams, here are just a few from All Ear Plugs’ dedicated range:

•   Killnoise Classic
•   Hearplugz-DF Earplugs
•   Mack's Ear Seals Ear Plugs
•   Mack's Ear Ammo Ear Plugs For Men with Aluminium Case

These ear plugs are ideal for students at any educational level, whether you are studying for a SAT exam, GCSEs, AS-Levels, A-Levels or a Degree. For younger children, All Ear Plugs hold a wonderful range of children’s ear plugs that will fit smaller ears.

Campaigning For Your Hearing

2012-05-04T13:21:03Z

Find a fantastic range of musician ear plugs at All Ear Plugs

Why should you use ear protection?

Chris Martin, front man of the immensely popular British band Coldplay has recently revealed that tinnitus could have ended his music career. This news adds weight to the messages we at All Ear Plugs have been sending out, urging people that music when played at a loud volume can effectively be damaging your hearing.

Tinnitus is not something new to Chris either. According to recent reports the Coldplay singer has been suffering from the condition for a decade. The problem was caused by listening to loud music when he was younger and now, through his experience, he ensures his children’s hearing is always protected.

However, the multi-award winner has said that the ringing in his ear and the headaches that go along with it have stabilised since wearing ear plugs. Martin urges any young music fan or musician to protect their hearing to avoid a similar fate: “Looking after your ears is unfortunately something you don’t think about until there’s a problem.

“I’ve had tinnitus for about ten years, and since I started protecting my ears it hasn’t got any worse – touch wood.

“But I wish I’d thought about it earlier.

“Now [the band] always use moulded filter plugs, or in-ear monitors, to try to protect our ears.

“You can use industrial headphones, but that looks strange at a party.”

It isn’t just Chris who has been dealing with the condition for some time, Benjamin Drew aka Plan B and Gary Numan are also experiencing hearing difficulties. Reportedly Plan B mistook the ringing noise in his ears for passing trains saying: “At first I thought it was trains rushing by as I live near a railway line. It's caused by years of being subjected to loud music.

"If you're listening to music a lot, producing music or performing live, then always wear earplugs, you're not Superman!

"When I first developed it, I thought it was trains rushing by my house as I live near a railway line - it was really loud and an extremely high-pitched ringing in my ears.

Alpine MusicSafe Pro Musician ear plugs"There's no doubt it's been caused by years of being on stage and subjected to very loud decibels of music."

Whilst Gary Numan regrets not having looked after his hearing: “I didn't look after my ears and I'm in trouble.

"It's getting serious, to the point that I can't mix my music properly anymore, so it's majorly impacted on my career.

"If I'd just looked after them when I was younger then this would never have happened, so I very much regret it.

"I would often be at gigs, standing at the front next to the speakers, not wearing earplugs, thinking I'm cool and being manly, but that's just rubbish, it's stupid.

"So look after your hearing and wear earplugs."

All three artists are backing a new charity campaign called Action On Hearing Loss which, like Don’t Lose The Music, aims to encourage concert goers to wear hearing protection every time they visit their favourite musicians live.

Noise at Work

2012-05-04T07:03:58Z

Stay safe at workWe need to hear noises to do our jobs effectively, take on board instructions and hear alarms. Health and Safety plays a significant role when it comes to carrying out work and covers hearing protection when noises exceed 80dB (the considered safe level of noise).

What happens if noises exceed 80dB?

If noise at work exceeds the considered safe level of sound you could be putting your employees’ hearing at risk, which is why hearing protection falls under the Health and Safety Act.

•   Short term exposure – results in temporary mild deafness
•   Long term exposure – results in damage to the ear hair cells and can cause permanent hearing loss
•   Intense Impulse noise – resulting in the potential damage of ear bones and rapture of ear drum

Noise induced hearing loss

When regularly exposed to loud noises you can experience hearing loss, permanent and temporary. Damaging noises will affect your hearing and you will experience the similar level of loss in both ears. If you continue to subject your hearing to damaging sounds, hearing loss will progressively get worse. You may not be experiencing any symptoms of hearing loss at the moment, but it can catch up with you.

Tinnitus

This is another kind of noise induced hearing loss, but instead of experiencing a level of deafness you will normally hear a ringing in your ears. It can occur suddenly or gradually and for some temporary, but if you continue to expose yourself and employees to loud noises the damage can be irreversible.

The law on noise

When creating a working environment that complies with Health and Safety regulations you must take specific precautions at certain action values (values can be seen below)

• Levels of exposure to loud noises over the average working day or week
• The maximum level of noise employees are exposed to

Action values

• Lower exposure action value – daily or weekly exposure of 80dB and peak sound pressure of 135dB

ACTION: Hearing protection available upon request

• Upper exposure action value - daily or weekly exposure of 85dB and peak sound pressure of 137dB

ACTION: Hearing protection is mandatory

• Exposure limit action value - daily or weekly exposure of 87dB and peak sound pressure of 140dB

ACTION: This level of noise should never be exceeded when wearing hearing protection

Risk assessment

The risk assessment has to be based on evidence, such as the noise measurements in the premise, recorded and kept up to date. When it comes to carrying out a risk assessment, there are exposure limit values; these limit values are a daily or weekly average exposure of 87dB and a peak sound pressure of 140dB.

Hearing protection

All Ear Plugs’ range of Food Industry ear plugs is not only suitable for those in the catering and hospitality sector, but are perfect for anyone who wishes to protect their hearing when working in a noisy environment.

Moldex Spark Plug Corded Detect Pack of 200 pairs

Moldex Spark Plug Detectable 250 Pair Station (Wall Mount Not Included)

Moldex Wall Mount for Moldex Stations (Ear Plugs Not Included)

Living in shared accommodation and studying?

2012-05-01T08:34:23Z

When the sun begins to show its face we can’t wait to put on our shades and bask in the warm weather. However, for many students out there, the sun will have to wait and the dissertation needs to be completed. We have all been there, I can remember sitting at my desk looking out of my window watching the flowers bloom as I tried to put my head down and write my 10,000 word essay.

Getting my head down wouldn’t have been too much of a problem, using the sun as a motivator, if it wasn’t for my housemates toing and froing through the front door and slamming it behind them. I had a constant distraction and I’m sure for many students out there you’re experiencing the same. I feel your pain, it is the most important year and you need to ensure everything goes to plan. I’m here to say to you there is a way of blocking out all of these distractions.

Through my experience I found that ear plugs worked wonders. I could block out my noisy housemates, keep my head down and concentrate on the task at hand. My concentration levels rocketed and I was able to get my goal finished in time to enjoy the sunshine (in a pub garden of course).

If this sounds like the ideal solution for your studying nightmare then you’re sure to love All Ear Plugs’ range of noise reduction ear plugs. Within the collection you’ll find a range of ear plugs that boast a variety of noise reduction ratings (NRR) to ensure you can reduce the necessary level of sound. If you have an extremely loud household; you may live on a main road or have school children learning how to play an instrument (personal experience – it was a trumpet) as well as having the front door slamming repeatedly, then a high NRR is required.

The beauty of these ear plugs is that they will block out the necessary and irritating sounds, but will allow you to hear important noises such as a fire alarm – useful if you have a housemate who only knows how to burn toast.

Take a look at the full collection of noise reduction ear plugs or view All Ear Plugs’ recommended ear plugs below:

•   Mack's Ultra Safe Sound Ear Plugs
•   Proguard Noizezz Universal Earplugs SNR 33 dB
•   Mack's Dreamgirl Ear Plugs
•   ACS ER20 Generic Fit Ear Plugs

A Customer's Letter

2012-03-23T10:03:05Z

All Ear Plugs is a leading UK ear plug retailer who aims to spread the word about the growing concern over hearing loss and damage. We want to ensure all our customers are happy with their purchase, and encourage people to get in contact with us about any concerns they may have regarding ear plugs. We’re extremely lucky to have a dedicated team behind us who respond to our customers messages, in which this lovely letter was received:

“Dear All Ear Plugs,

I have recently purchased a pair of your sleeping and snoring ear plugs under recommendation of a friend. I must be frank with you, at first I was dubious about the effectiveness of them and thought it could be a gimmick.

My husband and I have been married for over 16 years and for a substantial amount of that time I have had to contend with his excessively loud snoring. The first night I wore these ear plugs, not only were my husband’s snore unheard, so too was the sound of ongoing traffic (I live on a main road) and I was able to sleep peacefully.

I now cannot go to bed without wearing them and whenever we go on holiday I make sure they have been packed. I am very impressed with these ear plugs and will recommend them to family and friends.

Yours,

Mrs Potts”

Thank you very much for your letter Mrs Potts, a pack of Mack’s SoundAsleep ear plugs is in the post on its way to you.

Useful Links

All Ear Plugs

Sleep and Snoring Ear Plugs

Why Should Children's Hearing Be Protected?

2012-03-23T09:01:38Z

All Ear Plugs have a vast range of children's ear plugs for you to choose fromMany of us take our hearing for granted and don’t tend to think or be aware of the potential damage we could be causing it by entering loud and noisy environments. However, it isn’t just us and our hearing that we should be worried about, it’s our children’s. A child’s hearing can be a lot more sensitive to loud noises and infections, which illustrates just how important it is to protect their hearing. Children are prone to ear infections such as grommets and swimmer’s ear.

It is also vital to protect their hearing as it plays an important part in their speech development as well as writing and developing social skills. Worryingly hearing loss already affects two out of 100 children under the age of 18, which can have detrimental effects on their school, working and social life.

Infections in children

Many children can be prone to contracting inner ear infections, such as swimmer’s ear, especially if they spend a lot of time in water. Swimmer’s ear can be an extremely painful infection that can cause your child irritation, pain and discomfort. Another infection that is very common in children is glue ear, which is caused when the middle ear is filled with a glue-like substance instead of air.

Other factors that can cause ear infections:

•    Being exposed to a smoking family member
•    Laying down whilst drinking a bottle
•    Exposure to a family member who has suffered from ear infections
•    Being around a child with an infection

Further information about ear infections can be found in our Help Centre.

Fortunately wearing ear plugs when noises are too loud (noises louder than 80dB are considered dangerous) or in the swimming pool can help to prevent hearing damage or loss from happening. At All Ear Plugs you’ll find an extensive range of children’s ear plugs, ideal for general use as well as more specific circumstances such as swimming, sleeping and travelling.

The children’s ear plugs that are featured on All Ear Plugs are comfortable to wear, colourful and extremely easy to insert and remove. They have all been designed specifically for small ears, as hearing damage can occur when a child wears too large an ear plug.

The Difference Between Foam and Silicone Ear Plugs

2012-03-19T09:38:45Z

You can find an array of silicone and foam ear plugs at All Ear PlugsThe main difference between foam and silicone ear plugs is that one is reusable and the other is disposable. There are two kinds of foam ear plugs available, poly urethane and PVC and two kinds of silicone, mouldable and pre-moulded. Mouldable ear plugs are designed to mould to the shape of your ear whereas pre-moulded ear plugs are already moulded to a certain shape and size, which can be ideally suitable for children.

Foam Ear Plugs

Foam ear plugs are often available in airport shops, on the internet and in some retail outlets as well as pharmacists and are described as disposable. The noise reduction rating offered by foam ear plugs depends on the type of foam and moulding. However, insertion is a key factor when it comes to noise reducing capabilities, as improper insertion can render these ear plugs ineffective.

Foam ear plugs often come in multi-packs and are relatively cheap to buy. There are many types of foam ear plugs available on the market today and are ideal for many different circumstances. However, it is advisable to keep foam ear plugs well away from water.

Poly Urethane Foam Ear Plugs (Disposable)

Poly Urethane Foam Ear Plugs are the softest foam plugs available. However, size variety is limited due to these earplugs being designed to be rolled into a thin cylinder, then inserted deeply into the ear canal. These plugs are a good choice for sleeping, studying, or when working as most Urethane foam ear plugs are tapered to provide a more comfortable fit and most have a thin smooth skin that helps them stay clean longer than PVC foam plugs.

PVC Foam Plugs (Disposable)

PVC foam plugs are punched out of a sheet of foam and are only available in round and hexagonal cylinder shapes that cannot be tapered. Although only one shape is available, PVC ear plugs offer the advantage of being stiffer than urethane foam plugs making them easier to insert. As PVC ear plugs are not tapered they tend to stay in the ear better, even when not deeply inserted. Through this, the wearer can be mislead into thinking that the ear plug is inserted well into the ear canal, which means better care is required to ensure the ear plugs are deeply inserted to provide the maximum rated protection.

Silicone Ear Plugs

Another kind of ear plug that is available is the silicone ear plug, which is said to be the best selling ear plug in America. Silicone ear plugs should never be inserted into the ear canal. Instead they should be placed over the canal. This is straightforward to do, but most of the time they need to be separated into smaller lumps to get the perfect fit.

Moldable Silicone Plugs

Soft, moldable silicone ear plugs are best for water protection and offer moderate noise protection when sleeping, studying and biking. They form a seal against the outer surface of the ear instead of being inserted into the ear canal, offering a comfortable fit every time, which can make them the best choice for young children. They are perfect for moderate noise protection as moldable silicone ear plugs offer on average an NRR of about 22.

Pre-Molded Silicone Rubber Plugs

Pre-molded silicone rubber ear plugs come in a variety of shapes and sizes and are designed for noise, water, music, flying pressure and shooting. Pre-molded plugs are designed to be washed and reused for extended periods of time and can last for years under normal conditions. With NRRs of up to 33, they are good enough for even the most demanding noise situations.

The 2012 X Factor Live Tour

2012-03-12T15:44:16Z

Over recent years the X Factor has become extremely popular and an important show for Britain to showcase talent that resides in the country. Through the television programme we have given the music industry the likes of Leona Lewis, Alexandra Burke and One Direction, who recently won a Brit Award for best song.

However, the show is also renowned for attracting a certain group of people who undeniably believe they have what it takes and posses the voice of an angel. The reality, however, is somewhat different.

Now the season has ended with Little Mix gaining the X Factor title and becoming the first girl group to win, the X Factor Live Tour is returning, showcasing all your favourite acts and the most memorable of auditions. Although the event has already commenced, beginning on 27^th February, there are still tickets available for the show in March and April.

Whether you already have your tickets or are planning to purchase them, remember to bring some musician ear plugs with you as well. With amplified rock concerts already reaching an estimated 140dB it’s extremely important to protect your hearing from temporary or permanent hearing damage or loss. Noises can escalate even further as screams coming from the crowd can add to the event’s overall noise level.

The beauty of musician ear plugs is that not only do they protect your hearing from these noises; they can also make conversations and the music being played more audible as it reduces the level background noise.

At All Ear Plugs you will find an extraordinary array of musician ear plugs that are perfect for you to wear to the X Factor Live Tour, all boasting a variation of colours and noise reduction ratings. We recommend you try:

ACS ER20 Generic Fit Ear Plugs

Mack's High Fidelity Hear Plugs Ear Plugs

Alpine MusicSafe Pro Ear Plugs