Seriously? The noise level out of a shotgun is more than enough to permanently damage your hearing. We never used hearing protection during hunting back in the day.
Now I hear cicadas 24/7.
Dude, this.
The following is assuming you are shooting the shotgun a lot. If you are taking the occassional shot in the woods alone, disregard. If you shoot a lot at the range, read on. Hearing loss and hearing damage are two different things, although one can imply the other. I have hearing damage, but I have no hearing loss (I actually have good senses all around, particularly the eyes, so I try to keep it that way). Kudos for the eye pro, I see so many people who shoot without it and it makes me cringe. Seen some tragic stuff there too, and I'd argue they are more important than the ear pro.
I set off a ton of demolition (almost quite literally, and in one shot!) even daisy chained a bunch of claymore mines together and set 'em off for giggles from barely 20' away, I felt that one in my head just the other side of a dirt mound, and fired shoot houses and such with an M4 and various machineguns. No ear pro, train as you fight as it were --if you don't have time to put ear pro in on in battle, you don't do it on the range. This is an unspoken rule in various combat arms though, since the military does not cover hearing damage due to loud noises anymore (although I got rated for the tinnitus because I argued it was caused by demo and not gunshots --I lucked out and have no hearing loss). Good thing too, because if the rule were spoken, I probably wouldn't have heard it early on anyway. Later as an SDM instructor, I was introduced to the Peltor ear pro. They make a set that even works with the helmets, has the "strap" or whatever it is called, around the base of the neck and the ear muffs are smaller, thinner. But they are rated about as high as they go. Military radios plug in too, nice if you are in the military obviously.
Now I hear tea kettles 24/7, have since just before I got out in '04. Now I don't shoot without ear pro. I bring up the military, not to illustrate the ear damage I took, but to illustrate the fact that you get accustomed to the noise. Believe it or not, a 9mm to me today with no ear pro sounds louder than an M4 indoors did then. Seriously. And no, shooting inside won't always blow your ears out, though I've seen blood come out of one guy's ear before, but it will hurt REAL bad IF you aren't accustomed to it... You don't want to be accustomed to it. Trust me.
If you can shoot shotguns comfortably with no ear pro, you might be getting comfortable. If you have a job in a factory or other noisy area, this can make it seem like the shotgun isn't loud, and driving on the highway with the window down has a similar effect. Hearing damage is done over time, the ear will try to adjust and compensate so you don't think it is loud, and this combined with the fact that shooting is a short increase in dB vs. the constant lower dB of say a factory or rock concert and it all can be somewhat deceiving.
I recommend you get the electronic ear pro, you'll love it. My wife loved mine so much I had to get her some. I got her the cheap Dillons, wore out a few pairs of those (Dillon is pretty good about warranty, ran over a pair in a Hummvee and they replaced 'em!) and finally got her the Howard Leight ones on sale for less than $40. They have a good rating, and her iphone and stuff will hook up to it too. Best of all, wearing the electronic ear pro can actually amplify regular conversation (especially the Peltor military ones, which is real nice) but they click off when the noise is loud. The Peltors are a little better at not interrupting the soft sounds as much, you can have a normal conversation on the range and the shooting does little to interfere.
As for ear plugs, I haven't found any that REALLY work. The military ones, those are just rubber baffles and come in all sizes (you HAVE to get the right size or you are just wasting time and money) and the ones with metal baffles inside, those work marginally better but get clogged over time.
Only time I use them now is when I fire something with ridiculous noise, like perhaps a 9x25Dillon with a brake, and I just use the cheap foam WITH the Peltors. The cheap foam ones, believe it or not, seem to be the best. They are disposable, cheap, and best of all, they fit and work. You can get the wrong size rubber ear plugs, they may feel okay, but when you go to shoot it is like not having any at all. Electronic ear pro is really the way to go, and keeping the foam plugs on hand. You can get a box or tube or whatever and keep them in the car or shooting box, and use those anytime you can't or forget the electronic stuff.
Like with everything else, you usually get what you pay for. The expensive Peltors are real nice, but if you aren't in the military those Howard Leight's my wife got are pretty nice. Slim too, and they come in green and black so a hunter can wear them all day --perfect for dove hunting... while listening to the ipod no less!
As for the ear pro hitting the stock... You know, I reckon they do, but never noticed it until you brought it up here. Try the thinner ones out I guess. My cheek weld is such that if they do touch, it is probably the bottom of the ear pro touching the top of the stock. How is your cheek weld? If you can't get one or a decent one, perhaps a change in stock would be preferred.
