Fly in peace and comfort

At Hearology we want you to enjoy your flying and not have to worry about the damage that it can have on your ears. This applies equally whether you are a frequent flying passenger, or work as part of a cabin crew team.

An aeroplane’s rapid change in altitude upon ascent and descent can cause the ear to feel full or blocked. This is caused by the difference between the static air pressure in the middle ear, and the changing air pressure in the cabin. If you have ear wax in the ear too, then this creates further complications when it comes to equalising the pressure in your ear during take off and landing.

The plane’s engines, meanwhile, can be heard in the cabin at or around the 85dB mark – and worse during take off, and on older or smaller planes. This is the legal limit at which an employer in the UK is obliged to provide staff with hearing protection in order to protect the safety of their ears, because 85dB is sufficiently loud to cause irreversible hearing damage and tinnitus.

Believe it or not, however, the biggest potential source of hearing damage on an aircraft is the sound of the vacuum flush mechanism in the confined space of an aeroplane toilet cabin. In our own research, Hearology has measured flush noise levels as high as 103 dB, which is way over a safe and acceptable threshold – it’s important to remember that the decibel scale, like the richter scale, increases exponentially.

The best way to protect your ears from the damaging effects of flying is to use Hearology’s customised hearing protection devices, which fit your ear perfectly because we make them with our revolutionary, 3D ear scanner.


This scanner takes a measurement of the resting geometry of your ear canal. The scans are then sent to be 3D printed, and you will receive your hearing protection within a week of the scan taking place with clear instructions on how to insert and maintain the product – or you can just come back to the Hearology clinic where you had your scan taken, and we will insert them for you and show you how to use them.

We insert special filters into our bespoke, frequent flyer ear plugs. These special filters enable better equalisation upon take off and landing, as well as reducing the sound of the engines and vacuum flush mechanism.


However, and most usefully, Hearology’s customised, filtered, hearing protection devices are attuned to the sound of the human voice, so that, without having to remove them, you can still communicate with the cabin crew and those around you.

Our ergonomic design also makes the frequent flyer plugs feel lightweight in the ear, and ensures the plugs bend and flex with the natural movement of your ear.