Earplug & Noise Reduction Ratings Explained

Earplugs are one of the methods of noise reduction, helping to protect your hearing. It’s important that you have some kind of protection if you are going to be around any kind of excessive noise so that you are not at risk of harming yourself and your hearing. In this article, we’re going to be taking a look at some of the information that you need surrounding earplugs, noise protection and noise reduction ratings (NRR). Keep reading down below if you would like to find out more. 

What Are Noise Reduction Ratings?

Noise reducing ratings are the way in which levels of noise canceling are measured. It’s important that you determine the level of noise in the environment that you will be in, so that you can know whether or not a certain noise reduction rated earplug will work. NRR will show you the level of sound that can be blocked out without using other noise blocking objects at the same time. You will still be able to hear some of the sound outside the headphones, but it won’t be anywhere as harsh on your ears.

Earplug Noise Reduction Ratings

NRR ratings typically go up to around 30 decibels (dBs). However, there are some more uncommon ratings that go a little above this as you can see:

• NRR 27 dBs
• NRR 28 dBs
• NRR 29 dBs
• NRR 30 dBs
• NRR 31 dBs
• NRR 32 dBs
• NRR 33 dBs

How Do Earplugs Work?

Earplugs work by blocking out some of the sound in a loud environment. Depending on the level of noise, you might be putting your hearing at risk, which is why earplugs are important. Or, it might just be the case that you want a little bit of peace and quiet, so choose to use earplugs so that you cannot hear what is going on around you.

The level of noise, and the NRR rating of the earplugs will determine how much sound you actually hear. Most earplugs still let some level of sound through, so you can speak to a hearing instrument specialist (HIS) if you want to get some more advice on this and keep your hearing safe.

When Are Earplugs Necessary?

There are going to be quite a lot of occasions where you should actually be wearing earplugs, even if you don’t realize it right now. While it’s not the cool thing to do, you should be wearing earplugs if you are anywhere in which you’re going to be surrounded by noise that is above around 60dBs just to be on the safe side. As such, earplugs are going to be necessary when there is any kind of excessive noise, which is something we’re going to talk about in a second.

What you might not already know is that some of our day-to-day household tasks are actually at risk of damaging our hearing. For example, the washing machine is actually extremely loud, and we have just gotten used to the volume so it doesn’t seem like a problem. The vacuum is another example of this.

What Is Considered Excessive Noise?

You need noise protection to avoid hearing loss as much as possible. When you are surrounded by excessive noise, you are at risk of damaging your hearing beyond repair, which is the last thing that you want, so it’s important that you get the right protection for your ears. Let’s look at an example of how you can tell what excessive noise is.

Normal breathing is around 10dBs, and general conversational speech is around 60dBs. The usual conversational speech is generally considered the last safe volume for your ears without risking damage, and anything higher becomes a little risky. However, any noise that interferes with your ability to enjoy life at home or that leaves you feeling sick is considered excessive.

A live rock band comes in at around 130dBs, and this is the threshold of pain for your ears. You are in danger of seriously damaging your ears if you go to this without some kind of protection. As such, you should be speaking to your HIS about the best protection based on what you’re going to be doing.

If you have any questions about your hearing, or any questions about noise reduction ratings, then you can get in touch with Byron’s Hudson Valley Hearing Aid Centers at 845-481-9267, 845-232-2147 and 845-481-9266. We look forward to hearing from you soon.