When—and How—to Protect Your Hearing

What do sitting in traffic, mowing the lawn, and going to see your favorite team play have in common? You might not realize it, but these everyday activities can affect your ears. All three have the ability to damage your hearing over time if you’re not wearing the proper protection.

Sudden, loud sounds can lead to hearing damage. But senior staff writer Lauren Dragan—an audio expert who has tested more than 1,500 pairs of headphones—says most noise-induced hearing loss is caused by exposure to louder-than-recommended noises over a long period of time. Common noises that you might not consider harmful, such as the blare of movie theater speakers or the screech of an approaching train, start to add up. And once you’ve surpassed your daily threshold (which Lauren discusses in this article about noise-induced hearing loss), you start to put your ears in danger.

“Our ears’ nerve cells need a break every so often to repair themselves and flush out waste,” Lauren explains. “If we don’t give our ears that rest, the nerve cells can die. And once a hearing nerve cell dies, it doesn’t grow back, and the sound frequency it corresponded to is gone forever.”

If you’re wondering how loud is too loud, the CDC puts it this way: Normal conversation is around 60 decibels, while a motorcycle engine running is about 95 dB. And being exposed to anything louder than 70 dB (such as at a concert or sporting event) for a prolonged period of time could damage your hearing.

Not all situations call for earplugs, though. And even when they do, not all earplugs are created equal. Because ear protection is nuanced, we’ve broken down what type of gear to wear and when you should be wearing it to keep your ears safe.

When you want to block out everyday noise

Folks who ride the subway daily, fly often, or work in a noisy environment should consider investing in noise-cancelling or noise-isolating headphones. “By blocking out the noise around you, you won’t need to compete by turning up your music,” Lauren explains. The Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 pair, our top pick, offers adjustable noise cancellation, allowing you to adjust the level of the active noise cancellation on a scale from 0 to 10, which gives you more flexibility to find a level that works for you. If you’re working with a tighter budget, we recommend the Anker Soundcore Life Q20 pair, which still offers great noise cancelling without the frills. We also recommend the 1More True Wireless ANC set for folks who prefer earbuds to over-ear headphones; though it isn’t our first choice for noise cancellation, it does a good job of effectively reducing the sound around you. Another budget-friendly option for people who already have a pair of wireless earbuds they love is to invest in removable isolating tips. This is an easy way to upgrade your current earbuds to block more noise, and foam tips like those from Comply will block more sound than silicone sets, Lauren says. Just be sure to get a set of tips that is compatible with the pair of earbuds you own.

When you still want to hear what’s going on

Earplugs geared toward musicians are ideal for people who want to protect their hearing while still enjoying the nuance of the sounds around them. You probably already know that you should be wearing earplugs at concerts and rowdy sporting events, but keep in mind that even the elevated volume in movie theaters and fitness classes warrants ear protection. We recommend the Loop Experience Earplugs for these kinds of outings because they’re good at taking the edge off the volume without completely dampening it. If you attend concerts frequently or work around musicians, we recommend a custom pair of earplugs—or at least our upgrade pick, the Decibullz Professional High Fidelity Earplugs.

When you want to muffle all sound

A pair of foam earplugs (like the kind we recommend for sleeping) muffles all sound. This is ideal when you’re doing a loud activity where you want to block out all sound (but don’t necessarily want to pull out your noise-cancelling headphones). Wearing Mack’s Slim Fit Soft Foam Earplugs reduces noise by around 35 dB—which makes them good to wear when you’re doing yard work like mowing the lawn, trimming the bushes with a chainsaw, or clearing a path with a snow or leaf blower. Foam earplugs are also great at dampening the sounds of woodworking and other home-improvement tools such as orbital sanders, circular saws, and electric drills, but note that you do need to replace them every week or so.

When you cover your ears, don’t forget the younger folks in your life—if a sound is too loud for you, it’s too loud for them, too. For kids between 18 months and tweendom, we recommend the Muted Earmuffs—they’re comfortable, durable, and adjustable enough to grow with a child. We think the Ems Earmuffs are best for infants because the elastic headband and soft earcups are unobtrusive enough to allow babies to fall asleep while wearing them.

This article was edited by Treye Green and Annemarie Conte.