Are you someone who is planning to buy earplugs? There is absolutely no denying the fact that the popularity of earplugs is increasing day by day. A study by Insight Partners forecasts that the earplugs market in North America will touch US$ 0.32 billion by 2025 with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.7% during 2018–2025.
In the following section, let’s find out the five top benefits of earplugs that make the gadget a favorite choice of many.
5 Top Benefits Of Earplugs
1. Improves The Quality Of Sleep
Earplugs boost the quality of sleep tremendously. If you are a light sleeper or reside in a locality that is quite noisy, then earplugs can block out all those sounds. Especially, when pets at home or a busy road nearby cause a big distraction to your sleep, then there is no better solution than earplugs.
2. Prevents Hearing Loss
Teenagers and youngsters who are repeatedly exposed to amplified music at concerts, festivals, clubs, and other associated events may damage their inner ear finally leading to hearing loss. It also happens that at young ages, people get exposed to other noisy activities such as firecrackers, loud video games, personal music players, and lawnmowers.
Colleen G. Le Prell, the Emilie and Phil Schepps Professor of Hearing Science at the University of Texas at Dallas says that ear plugs if used correctly and consistently can prevent hearing loss in such cases.
3. Offers Protection From Other Health Issues
According to the National Library of Medicine, sleep deprivation and sleep disorders increase the risk of several health issues such as hypertension, depression, diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and obesity.
There are other studies that even show the link between lack of sleep and neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Thus earplugs, by providing sound sleep offer excellent protection for your health.
4. Effective For ADHD
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the common neurodevelopmental disorders experienced in childhood. It is a condition where children face trouble paying attention and focusing. It has been found that noise-canceling earplugs have a positive effect on children diagnosed with ADHD, especially among those who may show sensitivity to human voices.
However, a drawback is that once the earplugs are removed, the tolerance levels in those with noise sensitivity remain unchanged. Thus audiologists recommend using noise-cancelling earplugs in conjunction with other therapies such as Auditory integration therapy (AIT).
5. Reduces Anxiety
Last but not least, earplugs were found to reduce anxiety among patients who undergo a percutaneous coronary intervention. For the unknown, a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a minimally invasive procedure that is performed on patients to open blocked coronary (heart) arteries.
Though it is a lifesaving procedure, it leads to anxiety among those who undergo PCI. A study conducted by the National Center for Biotechnology Information revealed that nature sounds and earplug interventions were effective in bringing down the anxiety of patients who have gone through PCI.
Read More:- Can Ear Wax Build-up Cause Dizziness? – Symptoms And Causes Explored
Conclusion
Hope you enjoyed reading about the lesser-known benefits of earplugs. However, it is to be noted that earplugs come with some drawbacks as well. If you wear the earplugs without cleaning the wax in your ears, it can cause the ear wax to be pushed deep inside the ears.
Also, some of the earplugs available in the market are meant for single use. In the case of such products, using them repeatedly can cause ear infections.
Thus, make sure that you stay away from using them again. Also, while buying an earplug, do carefully evaluate its features and go for the one that best suits your needs.