NEED EAR RELIEF?
Creative teen comes up with ‘ear relief’
and is handing them out for free
By Robert Green
Staff writer
7-23-2020
A 16-year-old Manti High School student has found a neat way to make a little device that prevents people who wear facemasks all day from ear irritation.
The devices are appropriately called “ear savers.” And Mathew Olsen, the son of Darrel and Corrine Olsen of Ephraim, makes them out of plastic on the family’s 3D printer. And he is giving them out for free.
He would be more than happy to give them out to whoever needs them. So far, he has made and handed out over 400 ear savers, said his mother Corrine. He has given them out to employees at Terrel’s Market, Walmart, Maverik and a few other health care providers.
The plastic ear savers go on the back of your heads and have multiple knobs that you can hook your elastic on so that it pulls the pressure of the elastic off your ears, Corrine said. It is a relief to those who have to wear their masks all day when the elastic starts to rub on the backs of their ears.
Corrine said she handed a few out to some Walmart workers and they “were so grateful.”
Mathew came up with the idea when he noticed a Facebook post by a Boy Scout who had developed a program to manufacture the plastic devices. “We said we could do this on our 3D printer, so we gave it a try and it worked great,” Corrine said.
The family has found they can print out about six ear savers per hour, and the cost is nominal, so they are more than pleased to give them out free to all who want them.
Corrine believes the ear savers might turn out to be life savers for students who are returning to school. There might be a surge in demand for ear savers once school starts, she said.
In addition, the devices work great for smaller kids too because they keep the masks snug around the face, Corrine said.
If any business or person would like try some ear savers, please call or text Corrine at 851-6104. They are more than willing to provide a little relief to those suffering from wearing a facemask during these trying times.
