Electronic Ear Protection

[Dan Easterday]

I misspoke above. Bone induction is not a myth, what is wrong is thinking that an ear-muff/cup style protector, "protects" your hearing from bone induction. As I stated, you would need a helmet covering your entire skull to prevent it. A quick and interesting experiment showing this is to apply some kind of vibration to your head just behind the ear. You can use a vibratory neck massager or tuning fork. Stick your finger in your ear as you apply the device and you will notice the sound get louder. Then, do the same thing with a plug properly inserted and the sound is reduced.

Well, Duh. The reason that the sound is reduced is because of the material in the plug altering the resonance cavity and absorbing vibration, as well as occupying air space.

At the end of the day, the potential hearing loss due to bone conduction is a very small part of the equation. The cons of in-ear hearing protection is that extended use can cause more problems with ear infection, and that even if there are multiple inserts available to fit different ear shapes, unless you get custom molds by an audiologist, your cavity is not going to be correctly sealed as much as if you were using over the ear protectors with a good seal.