Meldrew wrote:Not enough I'd say, you might have a GP or practice nurse have a quick look at your ears on a surgery visit, but have you had a recent hearing or had an audiologist show you the inside of your ear canals.
I'd say that almost everyone on this forum will have some form of long termhearing damage or tinnitus caused by long term exposure to excessive levels of wind and engine noise inside a crash helmet.
I've had tinnitus for many years, being completely unaware of the condition when I started motorcycling and for many years afterwards. Then thinking simply wearing a helmet alone offered hearing protection, it doesn't.
Then all those years of wearing disposable foam plugs that were painful to wear for more than short periods, didn't work at all if they weren't inserted 100% correctly, or were difficult to remove if pushed in too far. Unless you carried spare new sets,you'd have to reuse them and they hardly ever worked a second time. They could up dirt from your fingers, get ear wax on them etc, you couldn't wash them etc.
I had tinnitus before I started ever riding but the plugs do certainly make a difference. Are your ear plugs the basic squidgy ones (mine are blue) from Ultimate Ear? Or do have ones that have a lead with a jack on the end to connect to your phone?