Musicians guide to wearing flanged earplugs

Any time you're wanting to shield your ears, you'll find three primary varieties earplugs you can use. The most widespread type of earplugs, the sort you might commonly notice construction workers using, are foam earplugs. Crafted from memory foam, these usually are squeezed down before insertion in the ear canal, where they'll widen, filling the canal. Silicone earplugs are moldable. People roll this type of earplug into a ball then mold it in the exterior part of your ear canal. One more type is flanged. Flanged earplugs resemble miniature Christmas trees with all the flanges showing as the “tree” part of the earplug. The flanged portion of the plug is inserted directly into your ear canal, where it should create a strong seal. Musicians’ earplugs and custom molded earplugs are often flanged.

1) Inserting

First, make sure your flanged earplugs are the proper size since, compared with foam and silicone earplugs, flanged earplugs cannot be squeezed down, or molded in any way before insertion. To prevent getting any type of ear infection, make sure you still wash both hands prior to touching your plugs. To help insert the plug, pull your ear upward and out using your opposite hand, this will straighten your ear canal. Using your other hand, holding the stem, push and wiggle the plug into the ear canal until you obtain a good seal. You’ll recognize you have a good seal if your voice echoes in your head and you feel slight pressure in your ear.

2) Removing

To remove, with the same side hand as your ear, grasp the stem of the plug and lightly wiggle and twist the earplug out of your canal. You can injure your canal if you aren’t careful taking out the plug.

3) Cleaning

Whenever you take out your earplugs, you should clean them with warm, soapy water. Dry them off, and then stow them in a clean place. If your flanged earplugs include a case, you should store them inside their case.

Since flanged earplugs can be cleaned safely free of chance of them deteriorating, the exact same pair of earplugs may be used for years. If you're a musician or someone who is around loud noises often, an additional backup pair of earplugs may be a necessary precaution against loss of your earplugs.

If you’re looking for musicians earplugs, flanged earplugs are some of the best earplugs I've been able to find.