We know earplugs protect your hearing, but do they improve your health? Yes. I hope someday conventional medicine puts more emphasis on prevention and wellness, but for now, it may be up to you. Earplugs should be a part of your preventative plan for you and your family.

Sleep is incredibly important. It is your body’s maintenance time when bodily tissue is replenished and damage is repaired. When you miss sleep due to noises from a snoring partner, traffic or neighbourhood disturbances, your body misses out on this maintenance time. You must reach the deep sleep cycles, so a night of restless, light sleep doesn’t work either. The end result is poor health, disease and premature aging.

Foam earplugs are fantastic for blocking all those disturbing noises. They are soft, comfortable and very effective. Mack’s Snore Blockers have a unique hollow-end design that offer extreme comfort while blocking 32 decibels. An alternative to earplugs is a sound pillow. If you do not like complete silence (yet despise rattling snores), you can plug in your personal music device into the sound pillow and fall asleep to your favourite artist.

Another area where earplugs can be a part of preventative medicine is by reducing the stress of noise pollution and distraction. Whether you work in a noisy factory, music venue or even a noisy office, earplugs can reduce the stress that noise pollution causes. You’ll be more productive at work and less stressed at the end of the day.

More credence is being given to the negative effect stress has on your entire body. It can cause or exacerbate many conditions such as fibromyalgia, depression or chronic fatigue syndrome. It’s a factor in the development of cardiovascular disease. The constant release of the stress hormone cortisol can cause weight gain, especially in the abdominal region. Excess abdominal fat is a factor in the development of prediabetes (metabolic syndrome) and type 2 diabetes. Stress in and of itself reduces the quality of life as well as longevity.

Simple musician’s earplugs for music venue employees or noise earplugs for factory workers can reduce the stress of noise pollution. Some earplugs can block dangerous decibel levels while still allowing ambient noise so important communications are not missed. Earplugs can be used in an office to block background noise so employees can concentrate on their work.