Earplugs

[benhall.1]

That should do it.

[busterbill]

Sometimes where you practice can make a difference. I have had more ear sensitivity when I practice sitting at a table or near a wall, or in my case sitting at a table which is actually my desk in the corner of the room. Simply turning my chair to face the room will make a bit of difference. I definitely recommend wearing something if you are experiencing any sort of ear sensitivity. At sessions the brown paper towel stocked in most bar bathrooms works well for me. Don't feel shy about standing up and moving if a particularly loud instrument comes your way at a session. There is no reason to harm your hearing. It is one on those things that doesn't bounce back.
Headphones can sometimes cut it just enough for practice, and most of us have them lying about.

[TWO TOOTS]

I reckon those fiendishly clever Japanese Zen monks had this one nailed ages ago with " The Ventilated Headcase "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tZo2aysjMg

[ChrisLaughlin]

I definitely recommend wearing something if you are experiencing any sort of ear sensitivity. At sessions the brown paper towel stocked in most bar bathrooms works well for me. Headphones can sometimes cut it just enough for practice, and most of us have them lying about.

I really recommend earplugs specifically designed for musicians, as they reduce the volume without reducing the quality of the tone and the overall listening experience. Etymotics sells non-custom-made musician's earplugs for about $15 a pair. You can also buy custom molded ones for around $250 per pair. Both work well.

[Jay]

I've got the Etymotic ETY plugs. They're rated at 20db. I find them okay. They do affect the frequency or my ability to hear the music some. The worst part is they make it very difficult to have a conversation between sets. Consequently, I don't use them much (unless I sit next to a loud whistle). Are the musician ear plugs any better in this regard?
-Jay

[ChrisLaughlin]

Years ago I developed a weird sort of feedback in my ears where playing in the second octave on the whistle or flute would cause a loud scratching sound in my ears. It wasn't tinnitus, I went to an ear doctor and an audiologist who concluded that a nerve was firing prematurely or something like that. The audiologist made me a pair of custom-fitted earplugs that were designed specifically for musicians: the earplugs screened out just the highest frequencies. I tried using them for a while, but the flute just sounded too muffled to me and made playing an unsatisfactory experience. Eventually the problem went away. I still have those earplugs but they no longer fit, which is interesting: I didn't realize our ears change shape so dramatically as we age but now I have the evidence.

You've described perfectly what happened to my left ear about 4 years into playing the whistle. Now, 20 years into playing, I've developed full blown tinnitus in the left ear, and it's a horrible thing to do deal with. I've got custom-molded musican's earplugs now. I don't like wearing them but they help a lot and protect me from more damage.

Folks - be careful with your ears. Once you damage them you can't fix them. Don't underestimate what it's like to never hear silence again.

[busterbill]

I find where playing sometimes makes a difference. Standing in the center of a room I don't get much ear pain, but if I play whistle at a table or a desk it can be piercing. I like those little silicone ear plugs for times when my ears are tender, but you have to follow directions. You place them in your ear while pulling your ear in such a way as to make a seal. There are instructions when you buy them. I used to just pop them in and wonder why people thought they were better than a hunk of paper towel. I find I sometimes come back from a session with an awareness of the ear that sat closest to an accordion or concertina. Sometimes this will go on for a week and feels almost like an ear infection. So I have gotten more careful of where I sit. I have recently begun playing the concertina and have a Labrador that likes to sing along for the first few moments before she gets bored and walks away. I ended up pulling my power tool earmuffs from the tool bench for those moments. Most importantly, if you are feeling something in your ears you need to protect them.

[jim stone]

The cheapie rubbery Walgreen's earplugs work very well IF, as mentioned above,
you follow instructions. The idea is to roll the end going into the ear into a narrow spiral,
pull on the top or bottom of the ear and insert the spiral, then
hold the piece in your ear while the spiral expands. I've had
expensive plugs made from molds and I believe these work better and
are lots cheaper.

Also industrial muffs work well for practicing. They'r also cheap.

[popsnorkle]

Playing flute in the bottom two octaves as loud and for as long and as frequently as you possibly can is highly unlikely to harm your hearing (unless maybe you have other problems with it) unless it causes your partner, children or neighbour to run a skewer through them.

Jem, What is the basis for saying this? Have you measure with a dB meter? On Terry McGee's page http://mcgee-flutes.com/Grey.htm measures 3 flutes to be about 80dB at 1 meter. Assuming your ear is about 10cm from the noise source instead of a meter that would be would be 100dB. That is loud enough that it would be considered a full day's dose after 15 minutes, using the NIOSH standard of 85dB being 8hrs and the time dropping by half for each 3dB over 85. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/98-126/pdfs/98-126.pdf.

When I've tried measuring by my ear I have one flute I can get down to 85dB if I try hard to play quietly, but in general it seems like its more than 90 if I'm just playing.

Also, these numbers for risk are not absolute, just a level that will only hurts some percentage of people that is considered acceptable. It depends on the person, some have no damage with more exposure and some have damage with less.

[david_h]

There seems to bit quite a lot about it on the web. For example see the table here: http://www.soundadvice.info/thewholestory/san12.htm

(Can sopranos deafen themselves?)