RNOcommctr wrote:are you saying that some kinds of hearing aids also act as hearing protection?
Yes. Every modern hearing aid has a decibel limit, either by:
- your audiologist sets a limit
- or the hearing aid is not able to produce sounds that loud anyway. My hearing aid is not technically able to produce sounds louder than 140 dB, for example.
Several hearing aids also downregulate as soon as there are more than a few seconds of loud noises.
RNOcommctr wrote:Is it sufficient protection?
You'll have to ask your audiologist for reassurance, or even ask him write a letter stating what is safe to do with a hearing aid. I can guess that workplace safety rules will not allow it anyway, given that many bosses don't have good understanding of what these hearing aids can do.
I have tight-fitting ear buds:
http://www.hoerzentrum-online.de/tl_fil ... dukt41.jpg which block out noise very well. (When the thingy is switched off, I hear next to nothing, I hear much more when I remove the hearing aid altogether.)
These slim ones
http://www.echo-hoergeraete.de/images/b ... Modern.jpg will not offer that much of protection.
David