Your Ears and the Effects of Loud Sound

1. Your Ears and the Effects of Loud Sound Nobody can deny that loud sounds are unpleasant to the ears. We also understand that exposing our ears to constant loud noise and sounds may have long-lasting negative effects – even deafness in severe cases. Loud sounds and noise, however, form part of our daily routine, therefore we try our best to eliminate the worst effects of noise from our lives. But it is not always possible to cut out unwanted sound totally. Take, for example, the hunter in the bush or the shooter that enjoys wing-shooting activities, that listens to loud gunfire sounds all the time or the target and competition shooter at the practice range. These individuals listen to such –very often harmful – noise and sounds all the time and are therefore exposed to the dangers of damage to their hearing, also the effects of NIHL, Noise-Induced Hearing Loss, which could be avoided in many cases, if only those individuals that are so exposed, had taken precaution. Fortunately, more and more people than ever before are aware of these issues and they take precautions to protect their hearing. In fact, this is not new: using earplugs when you expose your ears to damaging practices has been around for some decades. Of course, as time goes by, new earplugs – and types of plugs – are introduced over a much wider front than ever before, offering many more people the peace of mind that more advanced products enter the market to offer new features for the protection of people’s hearing. Older, traditional earplugs are those that you buy from various shops, insert in the ear canal, and then dispose of after one or two times. They may be made from roll down foam or some other material. Others are so-called semi- insert plugs that are kept over the ears by a rigid headband. The next level of protection is more developed and are the well-known earmuffs, worn over the ear to offer protection – often better than the older foam plugs. These plugs and muffs have their own advantages and disadvantages. The plugs, for example, are small and easy to carry whereas the muffs are bigger and more easily found when you need them, and they may cause fewer ear infections than the plug. A lot depends on choice. In more recent years, however, new technology has enabled manufacturers to come up with advanced, better hearing protection devices –devices that offer digitally enhanced features for the person looking for a superior product. These are carefully designed to consider various factors that could affect one’s hearing when exposed to loud, harsh sounds – while at the same time not eliminating all sound.

2. In fact, they are designed to block out high, a damaging decibel (dB) but not normal, acceptable sound levels. This, therefore, enables the shooter to hear those sounds they want to hear, such as a buck stepping on a twig in the bush, or a shooter that wants to listen to the voice of their instructor at the shooting range. These hearing protection devices are made to suit the hearing requirements of the shooter. It involves intricate manufacturing processes and proper research beforehand – more advanced than anything that was available a decade or two ago. They are light, easy to wear, custom made – in other words, made for a specific ear, not mass-produced, and they offer great new features such as, for example, technologically advanced digital ability. These are gaining ground all the time, also because shooters and other individuals that are aware of the dangers of loud noise to one’s ears, follow the trends, and are looking for new, advanced plugs when they shoot or have to listen to other very loud sounds and noise. About Us Electronic Shooters Protection (ESP) has been in business for more than 20 years and provides the best in terms of electronic protection for ears. Products are custom made to fit the individual’s ears so as to allow maximum protection while still hearing the sound. You hear all-natural sounds in the area and you can actually enjoy normal conversation, but our products will protect you from the harmful effects of loud and damaging sounds such as gunfire. Our digital products are state of the art and among the best available on the market. For more information about ESP and our top range of products, please get in touch by visiting https://www.espamerica.com/.