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Earplugs

I work on night shift so I sleep with earplugs, can they cause any ear disorder in the long term?
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Avatar universal
Thanks for the explanation.
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907968 tn?1292622204
With the foam ear plugs you crush the plugs and insert them into your ear canal.  Then the plugs expand back out and into the shape of your canal and leave a small air gap between it and the ear drum.  When you pull them out at the end of the day/night you must open an air path to that gap otherwise you create a vacuum which pulls on the ear drum and damage starts to happen.
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Avatar universal
Hi. Thanks for the tips. I use silicone earplugs. I change them every 3 months or so and I  wash them every morning. I´m not sure I understand how to "release the vacuum pressure". If you could please explain it, much appreciated, English is not my first language. Happy new year.
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907968 tn?1292622204
The foam ear plugs are great if you want to take a chance at loosing your hearing.  Been there, done that!  You have to be positive to remember to release the vacuum pressure behind them each and every time.  Even if there is none, you have to get into the habit!  In my case I pulled the ear drum bad, stretched the oval and/or round window(s), and broke the skull above the semicircular canals.  It was going to break anyhow because of a birth defect but the danger still holds true since that part of the skull in "normal" people is only 0.8 mm thick.

  Annie made a good point, they should be cleaned or replaced every couple days.  Any Dr. will tell you that plugs of almost any kind will push the wax deeper in and after a while you'll have so much it just compacts.
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134578 tn?1693250592
If you are using the soft foam kind that you can get in packages of 50, just change them every couple of days.  (They can also be washed.)  If they are always clean, you should not get into trouble with ear infections or anything.  Ask your doctor at your next exam, also.
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