Ear plugs

For what it's worth, I am quite certain that, if you are simply trying to cut out all noise, Castle's advice below is best.  Any DIY store or builders merchants sell them.

I bought some industrial earplugs off Amazon for less than a tenner.  Fit inside my ear nicely and allow sufficient sound through so that I can still hear the family. I put them in when the pitch is too high usually when I've had a stressful day and have to put up with everyone talking or shouting etc.  Makes a massive difference to my anxiety levels when I just want to wind down and chill.

just purchased some loops.

Disappointing.

Purchased the ones that are meant to cut out the most noise: 'quiet'.

At £20 I expected better than this.

Very small reduction in noise level.

I had to use the largest size from the options, so maybe I just have giant ear holes and that's why?

thought I would add my experience for what it's worth!

I've just got a pair of flare audio calmer, at first I wasn't sure if they were doing anything but there have been a few situations that I've noticed I can concentrate more when there is background noise and they do seem to take some of the edge of loud or annoying noises. I do have some sound sensitivity, but no where near what some people experience, so I don't think they would help everyone, but if you find background noise intrusive and don't like not being able to hear properly (as is the case with most ear plugs) then these are definitely worth trying.

Same, I've used blu tack or white tack almost every night since 2005. I briefly switched to silicone plugs but they don't stay in place as well. Personally I reuse the same piece for a month or two and have never had an ear infection as an adult (I had them constantly up until the age of about 7)

I find that quite incredible, that is where my imagination fails me, it would never have entered my mind to use white tack for anything other than sticking a document to my wall!

this is going to sound weird but I use white tack and it does a great job. i never push it inside my ear canal, just over the outer part and unstick it when not needed. i don't reuse the pieces so it's actually fairly hygienic if applying with clean dry hands.

I've tried ots of different types and brands of earplugs and inalways end up with sore ears and infections. white tack used for 10 years, not a single infection and no, tiny bits haven't ended up inside my ear

I've been using earplugs for a very long time, rather than repeat what I'm sure you'll already have found regarding various types I thought it would be helpful to offer some advice on how to look after your ears when having to use plugs on a daily basis.

However, it's only over the past 2-3 years I've learned a lot about ear anatomy and function since  developing problems - repeated ear infections, shocking tinnitus, some hearing loss - I worked with a very good audiologist who taught me about some of this.

We have very fine hairs inside our ear canal which help to move earwax from the inner to the outer ear where it dries off and can be easily and safely removed or comes away by itself. The 'wax' inside the ear protects our ears from dirt, debris and infection by having anti- bacterial properties. These hairs are also crucial to our hearing, in how they help to move sound waves to our tympanic membrane - our eardrums.

Any object, whether it be an ear plug, a cotton bud or a  pinky finger inserted into the ear canal can damage these fine hairs either through inadvertantly pulling the hair out - which will not grow back - or irreversibly damaging it's fine structure so it can no longer function as it should. This can also push the wax back into the ear canal which can result in impacted wax or infection due to trapped bacteria. This is why hearing aid wearers are more prone to be affected by these issues as the tip of the aid sits inside the ear canal interfering with the hairs functioning.

Not in a position to fund my perfect environment to avoid the use of sensory aids, I switched to silicone earplugs which mould onto the outer ear and these have been very effective just as much so as inner ear plugs, I still use my over head noise cancelling headphones every day and sometimes in addition to my silicone plugs depending on the noise issue. I was also provided with tinnitus aids from audiology which look identical to hearing aids but are programmed to produce noise to mask the tinnitus - this was a very interesting experience in itself given my noise sensitivities, the audiologist was excellent.

The silicone plugs are also washable so you can wear them several times before changing, I clean the holding container with alcohol, wash my hands before touching them, never put them down on any surfaces, never scratch an itch inside my ear with a finger nail but instead gently press repeatedly on the side of the ear and this works fine. One of the worst infections I had was caused by a lack of attention to ear plug hygiene and scratching an itch with my fingernail  grazing  the delicate skin. That was enough to cause a raging infection requiring 5 courses of antibiotics to clear it and having a perforated eardrum.

Currently wearing blutack and ear defenders with ambient music in the background and I can't hear the road resurfacing going on outside. Win.

Oh wow thanks, never realised that existed and I’ve had an iPhone since the beginning of time

There is actually a background noise accessibility feature on iPhone, and that is great, because I only have to triple press the power button and the world melts away..

This is totally random but thank you for mentioning the D Day Museum in Southsea. 

My late dad was on Omaha Beach during D Day. I'm very proud of him.

I'm in London and pretty much housebound but I hope one day to visit that important museum. 

I use earplugs designed for rock musicians. They have inserts that give different levels of sound block. No, I do not play anything, but my kids play drums and bass and drums and guitar, respectively.

Moldable ones because I've tried so many different ear plug brands and never found anything small enough to fit in the ear and stay there without hurting. Blutack also works.

Thank you. 

Hope they work well for you. 

Thanks.

I just purchased some loops.

I hope you also find something suitable.

I need to look at getting some for myself. I suffer dreadfully from sound sensitivity so ear buds or headphones will likely be required at some point. I think I'll look on Amazon, see the reviews and what's best. 

I hope you found something that helped you. 

Those also sound interesting ... subduing the sound, rather than completely cutting it out.

I recently visited the D Day Museum in Southsea and found it impossible to read any of the information or spend any real time in each room looking at the exhibits because of various taped sound narratives that were loudly going on around me.

I think I'll go back with earplugs in so I can actually get the most out of it.

I'm thinking of trying loops...

Thanks for this thread.

A friend at work has recommended these, I'm going to give them a go