When venturing into the world of hearing protection it's usually the result of an event that causes you to realize "I should've been wearing earplugs." Up until a few years ago, the options for universal earplugs were few and far between. I personally bought my first set of earplugs at some stereo store by the subway in Times Square. I went for these specific earplugs because they were discrete looking and not made of some bright foam that would eventually fall out on the dance floor.  I had no idea how they would sound, I just knew they looked closer to how I wanted to look (which was to appear like I wasn't wearing earplugs). 

Today, there are many styles of universal earplugs: foam, foam-tipped, flanged, wax and moldable. Regardless of the style, there are a few tricks to helping universal hearing protection fit the way it's intended. First, choose the appropriate sized earplug for your ear. Our ears are like snowflakes, no ear is shaped like the other, even on the same head. Knowing if you have small, large, or average size ear canals is helpful. The good thing about universal hearing protection is that often you get two sizes, small and large, in one package. Next help the earplug fit into your ear. The ear canal takes two turns once inside your head and often the unique curvature of a person's ear contributes to whether universal earplugs fit well or not. To aid your ears, before placing an earplug in your ear, use your opposite hand to gently pull up and out on your ear as you use the other hand to place the earplug in your ear. This helps to straighten the bends in the ear canal so that as you release your hand, your ear hugs the earplug a little more snuggly. 

If you're just starting out with hearing protection, we recommend our Pacato. It retains music quality, comes in two sizes and can be upgraded with any of our PRO Series filters and is adaptable to our PRO Fit monitors.