Sports, Tinnitus, and Noise Resistant Headphones

[Ben Jubel]

I love going to sporting events.

I have been to many hockey and soccer games.

With the arrival of my tinnitus came a huge worry. I don't want to risk anymore hearing loss. I tried to wear ear plugs to a soccer game. the foam earplugs didn't help out at all. I was wondering if I can buy noise resistant headphones. Do they work at all? Which ones do you recommend?

 

[Sean]

hi Ben,
did you wear it properly? i tried foam plugs for the first time last week . there is video on you tube made my 3m EAR which shows you how to insert ear plugs in your ear. i wish i had know this before!. If you wear it properly it works great!.
if you wear ear muffs with ear plugs..you will get almost 100 % protection.

 

[Scubadude]

What is soccer? We call it football in the land of it's birth. and what stadium was it ?
Ok rant over, those foamy ear plugs are not that good, they work for some and not others. I would research about types and as Sean said above use YouTube. You were wise to consider your ears Ben, I need to keep reminding myself.

 

[LadyDi]

I love going to sporting events.

I have been to many hockey and soccer games.

With the arrival of my tinnitus came a huge worry. I don't want to risk anymore hearing loss. I tried to wear ear plugs to a soccer game. the foam earplugs didn't help out at all. I was wondering if I can buy noise resistant headphones. Do they work at all? Which ones do you recommend?

I would recommend custom-molded plugs. You usually need to get them through an audiologist. I like what they call "musicians plugs"... they come with filters in different decibel ranges, so you can hear people close to you and still carry on a conversation. If you go to a really noisy event, you can pop in a plug that has no filter and blocks more sound. And at something super-loud, I would be tempted to wear ear muffs on top of that.

Custom plugs are expensive, but I think worth the money. I paid $240 USD for mine, which came with two filters. I carry them with me everywhere. Here they are, Etymotics, but there are other good brands, too. Search the board for other recommendations.

Etymotic Research, Inc. - Musicians Earplugs™ High-Fidelity Hearing Protection