I don't paddle cold water as much as I used to and it was a ritual to roll at the end of paddles. I glued in foam at the ear location on my winter hood and that stopped any leakage into the ears. It was always pressing against the ears but since I only used it for some rolls, it was fine. I may go to drug store plugs because that hood is gone and when I rolled recently, I got a trickle of cold water in the ears with my new (Oliver's old hood bought at the picnic).