After I spend any time practicing in the higher range of my soprano D whistle, I am keenly aware of it bothering my ears. Does anybody wear ear protection or is it recommended?
Susan,
I remember this topic being discussed on the board before, you should be able to find it with a search. I’m not an expert in the field, but I can say that if it hurts your ears, you’re doing damage to your hearing. I don’t know if hearing protection is RECOMMENDED, per se, but certainly I think it’s not a bad idea, and while I haven’t yet worn ear plugs while playing myself, I often do when I’m at concerts and the like.
Beth
-I’ve seen at least one other post from a whistler
whose ears hurt. -Probably a a good indicator of need for ear protection.
-The British government recently issued a hearing-loss warning for pipers,and a
recommendation for ear protection. Some whistles are pretty loud, so my assumption is loud whistling without protection could also lead to hearing loss.-No surprise, as a Canadian study of Inuit youngsters in a seal hunting culture showed hearing loss from exposure to as little as 7-8 nearby rifle shots while growing up. Ears are tender!
Well, I guess that this comes to one loud, blaring, obvious conclusion, as it were…
IF IT’S LOUD, WEAR EARPLUGS!
You have just read a Ross’s ‘duh’ statement. Thank you for your time.
Yes, better safe than sorry. Especially
playing a loud high D in an enclosed
space.
For plugs that evenly attenuate the sound across the wavelengths, check http://www.etymotic.com/
These plugs are sold for more by other folks, and are a good starter for musician’s plugs. Etymotic are the people who make the sound-damping inserts for custom-molded plugs.
I’m glad I’m not the only one. I have had to limit what tunes I play because the upper octave B hurts a lot, and even the upper octave A hurts sometimes, depending on what whistle I’m using. In fact, I just ordered a Dixon mezzo A to see if that will allow me to play without pain, the same tunes the rest of you play. I can’t imagine how anyone plays those high A’s and B’s without it hurting the ears. It also inspires me to practice more on the low D, since that doesn’t hurt. But it’s also much harder to play, and you can’t just stick one in the pocket and go. I almost quit playing in my first month because there are so many popular tunes that go high, and it seemed futile to continue.
I tried to order some earplugs but the checkout wasn’t working correctly. I guess I’ll try the phone number tomorrow.
Why don’t you get a softer whistle, or a low whistle? Playing with ear plugs is no fun.
claudine, hearing loss is no fun 
There are plenty of options to help reduce the sound levels… and still maintain comfort for the person wearing the protection.
I suggest you start off with cotton balls to see if you get the results you need. It’s inexpensive and you can vary the amount protection by how tightly you wrap them. If that’s not enough, you can get a package of disposable foam ear plugs at a cost of a few pennies each. They can be reused a few times and usually provide more attenuation than any other plug.
The barbed looking plugs similar to swimmers ear plugs can be cleaned with alcohol and reused many times. They don’t provide as much attenuation as the foam but the cord makes them harder to loose and they are easier to insert and remove between tunes.
Ear plugs are available in many places. Drug stores, music stores, safety equipment stores and most hardware stores like The Home Depot or Lowes, usually found in the safety equipment section.
I’ve used foam ear plugs before in a work environment and I have a lot of trouble with them. I know that I have a small amount of hearing loss already in my right ear but I don’t know from what, exactly, as I don’t really have many loud activities and I found this out before whistling.
I figure $10 (for the plugs) is a small investment to give something like this a shot. I do plan on getting some and I will post about them when I try them.
Huh ??
Most hardware stores carry the disposable foam kind that work well. Gun dealers have the higher tech kind. I use the foam ones for every whistle I own except for my Hoover narrow bore.
On 2002-08-14 10:35, ysgwd wrote:
Most hardware stores carry the disposable foam kind that work well. Gun dealers have the higher tech kind. I use the foam ones for every whistle I own except for my Hoover narrow bore.
Do you also provide ear plugs for all the non-whistlers in your house? :>)
Mike
Is the earplug website down or is it just blocked here at work?
Beth, it’s up and running, must be blocked by your employer.
Ah well, it’s not the first one. Guess I’ll have to try calling after work. That phone number on the first page: is it a toll free? it’s an 847 area code or something if I recall.
Avanutria, there is a condition,
otosclerosis, which involves a bony
growth of the tiny bones inside
the inner ear, reducing their
conductivity. It’s progressive and
unrelated to loud noise. The body is
too good at making bone. It’s
surgically correctible–in effect
they replace the stirrup (or whichever
bone it is) with a piece of metal.
I’ve had surgery in one ear, I
wear a hearing aid in the other.
Possibly you have otosclerosis. It’s
easy to diagnose, if ever you wish to
find out.
Sure, email me some stuff, thanks. I’ve always had a little trouble hearing, especially understanding spoken words, but various hearing tests I’ve had over the years said I was normal. (How little they knew 
) The one I took last summer was the first one to say there was some detected loss.
If you use the email link in my profile remember to take out the spamblocker.
Beth,
You may want to check the settings on your browser. You need to make sure that the security levels are turned on. On Internet Explorer (MS) look under Tools - Internet Options, advanced tab, check boxes under security. Most commercial sites won’t let you use their check out with out running in a secure connection.
I ordered from the site with out any problems.