Are Earplug Noises Dangerous for the Ears?

[Lauren Morse]

This morning I was removing one of my earplugs in my right hear. The plug must have gotten caught momentarily in my ear canal, and when I moved it just enough to get it to come out, it made a very loud popping noise in my ear. My ear hurt for a bit and rang slightly, but that subsided quickly.
This has happened multiple times to me and nothing ever comes of. This time, however, my hearing has been slightly reduced in that ear all day...I am afraid it is permanent as it often is for me.

Was removing the earplug loud enough to cause noise induced hearing loss??! Do earplugs have the potential to be that dangerous???

 

[Blake]

i dont think it damaged your hearing. they recommend that you twist your earplug when removing it and remove it slowly. when it is pulled out your ear may pop because the air filled in your canal or something way to quick

 

[Bobby B]

I've noticed that putting earplugs tend to push earwax deeper into the canal and reduce hearing..you won't notice that until you removed the plug so its seems that the removal itself caused decreased hearing and ringing but that's not the case.

Make sure you clean your ears with soap and soft warm water that will make the wax leave the canal as its water soluble - its not really "wax"

One way to check for wax as a cause is to tap the top left and right sides of the skull and look for a out of the ordinary sound effect like tapping on a musical drum.
Which means sound is not passing though the canal well but the ear bones are getting the vibrations and the hearing itself - hair cells etc.. is fine.

 

[Alue]

You should twist earplugs as you remove them.

 

[dpepper73]

I just made my first post in this forum a few minutes ago. It was about a low hum that I've been hearing and how I think earplugs are to blame. Before I joined this group I did a little research about earplugs and whether or not they could cause tinnitus. One of the things I read was a warning about pulling an earplug out too quickly. The earplug creates a suction in your outer ear and if it's pulled out too quickly, it can cause pain and/or damage to the eardrum. Always twist the earplug as you're taking it out. I'm going to stop wearing them at least until this low hum goes away, and it better go away. Good luck.

 

[Mosaik]

@dpepper73
Have you thought about ear infection?

 

[Coyotesheaven]

@dpepper73

I'm not sure about the real cause of the humming, but my foam earplugs are a possible culprit as the humming can get worse upon removal. I remove my earplugs very slowly, of course, so they should not do any damage outright. Did your humming go away after you stopped using earplugs?