Earplugs

[travellover]

Would you please share your experience with earplugs? I never used earplugs before, so I have no idea that is good or bad. I picked up one set from a dollar store another day and tested them last night. The result: I could hear perfectly all the snoring of my husband next to me, with occasional snoring of my daughter in another room! The earplugs felt very uncomfortable and did not stay in place, They disappeared sometime over the night without the trace.
My another issue is that I hate earphones that you have to stick in your ear, I have a huge headache in just 5 min. So are there earplugs that actually block the sound and feel comfortable?

 

[homa_bird]

I feel like a bit of an earplug connoisseur, LOL, because I really don't sleep well with massive professional-level snorers. Soooo and therefore, I've tried lots of different kinds of ear plugs, and the only ones that actually work imho are these foam cylinder plugs:

http://3mcollision.com/products/saf...vation-312-1201-in-poly-bag-2000-pr-case.html

The tapered ones fall out and are pretty useless, the fancy plastic ones are a joke, etc etc. There also is a trick to putting the above foam ones in: you have to pinch and roll them into a point, then push them in, and hold them in as they expand, pulling up on your ear to really get them in. You can hear the world getting farther and farther away as they expand...strange.

Also, you can get pretty chronic ear irritations/infections if you use the same ones over and over. Itchy ears, at the least. Take clean new ones to switch with, or something to sterilize ones you reuse. I came home with itchy ears from using the same two pairs over and over, they stayed itchy for months... all's well now, but wanted to mention this...

Good luck

 

[Anniesantiago]

I love Hearos earplugs.
They are soft and mushy and I can REALLY squish them up inside my ears. I twist one between my fingers, put it in my ear, then just work it and work it until it's all smushed into my ear with none sticking out.

Without them, I can hear a flea fart, but I can sleep great with Hearos!

 

[Sheesh]

My favourites are wax earplugs by Ohropax. The heat from the ear softens them so that they mold to the ear canal. And you can cut them to whatever size works best for you.

 

[NicoZ]

There also is a trick to putting the above foam ones in: you have to pinch and roll them into a point, then push them in, and hold them in as they expand, pulling up on your ear to really get them in. You can hear the world getting farther and farther away as they expand...strange.

Yup you need to take a few moments to put them in correctly.

 

[Jonas]

I have used this for the last year (yes, I am sensitive
The best I have ever tried
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008MDVSWG/?tag=casaivar02-20

 

[NoQ]

I think I must have used all types of earplugs over the past 20 years. I prefer the foam ones as I find them the most comfortable and most effective for the first 5 or 6 uses, before they lose their expanding ability after insertion. The wax ones are ok for noise but I kept having problems with them in that they got inserted too far and I had to use tweezers to get them out or they kept dropping out and also they look really yucky after only a few uses. The plastic / rubber ones with three barriers really hurt and were not very effective. Cotton wool definitely does not work. Drinking a little too much whisky works well but is probably not what you are asking for. I'd definitely go for the foam ones and have enough to change them every 6 or 7 days.

 

[Espero]

When buying earplugs look for a brand having a Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) of 30 or more. Hearos Xtreme Protection earplugs have an NRR of 33.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I have used these for years for airplanes, yard work, and albergues. I take along a dozen pair and toss them every couple of days. You can find smaller quantities!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00065TQCW/?tag=casaivar02-20

You need to roll them into a small cylinder, insert them all the way into the ear canal, and hold them in place until they expand. If you need to use your fingernails to remove them, then you are using them correctly. If you stick them into your ear just a bit, they do nothing.

 

[qpqp]

Would you please share your experience with earplugs? I never used earplugs before, so I have no idea that is good or bad. I picked up one set from a dollar store another day and tested them last night. The result: I could hear perfectly all the snoring of my husband next to me, with occasional snoring of my daughter in another room! The earplugs felt very uncomfortable and did not stay in place, They disappeared sometime over the night without the trace.
My another issue is that I hate earphones that you have to stick in your ear, I have a huge headache in just 5 min. So are there earplugs that actually block the sound and feel comfortable?

If they fell out during the night you probably did not insert them correctly. Try watching this youtube video which explains how foam earplugs are intended to be used.

http://site.earplugstore.com/videos/how_to_fit_foam_earplugs.htm

In my experience if you insert them correctly they should stay in and block about 50% of the sound, which works for me, but may not work for people who are very light sleepers.

 

[tictoc]

I think I'll chuck mine and save 2 grms, my wife snores anyway

 

[peregrina2000]

One more suggestion -- I have never been able to figure out how to work those cylindrical ones. About 8 years ago, I came across ototaps silicone earplugs in Spain. Box of 12, about 4 euro. http://www.ototap.com/silicone-earplug-ototap-oto-tap.html

They are silicone with a little fuzzy covering. They are circular and when warmed up by the heat of your ear, just push them in gently so they mold your ear perfectly.

I don't think any earplug really blocks the sound, but I have found that ototaps push it far enough away into the background that it is not an overwhelming disturbance.

Ears are all shaped differently, so you've got a lot of different suggestions here and can see if one of them fits your ear. Buen camino, Laurie

 

[jmcarp]

If they fell out during the night you probably did not insert them correctly. Try watching this youtube video which explains how foam earplugs are intended to be used.
http://site.earplugstore.com/videos/how_to_fit_foam_earplugs.htm

That's a great video. I wish I had seen it before I did my Camino. Thanks.

 

[travellover]

If they fell out during the night you probably did not insert them correctly. Try watching this youtube video which explains how foam earplugs are intended to be used.

http://site.earplugstore.com/videos/how_to_fit_foam_earplugs.htm

In my experience if you insert them correctly they should stay in and block about 50% of the sound, which works for me, but may not work for people who are very light sleepers.

Thank you so much. I just watched the video, and found out that I did everything exactly opposite to the video. I will try again tonight

 

[Charlottevs]

Hi! I am Charlotte from the Netherlands, for my bachelor thesis I am writing an export plan for a Dutch earplug manufacturer named Alpine Hearing Protection. They sell earplugs with so-called acoustic filters, which they would like to sell in the United States. Therefore, I would like to know more about the usage of hearing protection in the US and have drawn up a survey that only takes 2 minutes to complete. Out off all the respondents one will WIN a free set of Alpine Hearing Protection earplugs worth $14.95

To participate in the survey and make a chance at winning the earplugs please click on the link below:

https://docs.google.com/a/avans.nl/forms/d/1YsF5ucbAqHnbX5rzoXjrJhEDFUkTkDeJKx24rq4YD2I/viewform

The survey will be closed end of July 2016

 

[RyanBrandon]

Noise Reduction Ratings below the 29-33dB range are usually considered to fall outside of the normal NRR for this type of ear protection, but if sleeping earplugs have an NRR that goes right down to between 18 and 22dB, it’s intentional to accommodate those users who just need to filter down or block out a little bit of noise. So if for instance, you go with 22dB-rated Macks Pillow Soft Silicone Earplugs, it would be with the view of maybe blocking out some irritating snoring that isn’t too loud, while you still want to hear your partner speaking to you or indeed your alarm clock go off in the morning.

 

[Glenn Rowe]

Not-all-that-long-ago, I was heavily into larger-caliber (centerfire) shooting sports. For several reasons I opted for ear-plugs over ear-muffs.

I found that proper insertion was the critical skill. A pair of mediocre ear-plugs, inserted well, will always beat the bejeebers out of a pair of world's-best-but-poorly-inserted earplugs.

 

[Sunbun]

Worth reading. I'm looking for earplugs that block out more than 33 dB - I can still hear snoring through those. I may have to look into custom plugs. Do check out one of the replies that shows how to calculate actual Noise Reduction Levels (NRR).

https://www.everydayhearing.com/hearing-technology/articles/ear-plugs/