Ear Defenders/Plugs

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I finally bought myself a pair of ear defenders (30 dB), but they don't block out the human voice as well as I'd like. Voices are the noises that bother me the most. Also, after wearing them for a couple of hours, they hurt my ears. The inside of my ears. It hurts like a loud noise. Is that normal?

What can I do to block out voices?

in this for the advice also - I wear plugs and over the ear at the same time and still get way too much sound

bothered both by people talking and by even worse loud traffic and ridiculous sound systems in vehicles

Not sure how much they cost, but look into noise canceling earphones - they are not as inconspicuous as the little twist and insert foam plugs, but I'm told they are fairly effective. Also, to prevent pain, make sure not to insert the twisted foam plugs too deeply. Your ear canal may be shorter than average. Also, get the softest ones available. I have use 'hearos' and find they work ok for me - you're right though, they do allow for voice communication for people nearby.

I have yet to find something that helps as well. One problem is that I have really tiny ears so I have run into some noice canceling ear buds (that go in you ears) that really hurt even though they were made for people with small ears.

I sometimes use earmuffs like construction workers wear when I take exams at the testing center at disability services at my college. After a while though, they tend to both the inside of my ears for some reason too.

Foam earplugs, though they work for some people, make so much noice because they are almost constantly expanding and compressing when ever I make the slightest move.

I have a pair of noice canceling headphones (that go over your ears) for around 200 or 300 US$ that are made to cancel lower frequency sounds, including trafic and even blood rushing through your ears which some other ear plugs make worse. They work well as far as those sounds go, but they unfortunately don't block out voices and higher sounds. They can actually uncover high pitched sounds that had be masked my the lower sounds. But I have found that they do help lessen the impact of sound in general, especially on car trips, but they are pretty useless when it comes to particular sounds, or if you want to block out sound completely. One positive thing is that since they are designed so that you can listen to music with them, I don't look funny wearing them. They also require batteries to work. I had been told that they would block out almost everything by my doctor and others so I have half wondered if have a defective pair, but at the moment I am not ready to spend another couple hundred dollars to find out.



GivePeaceAChance, these would probably be helpful for you when it comes to blocking out traffic. When I use them in the car I can't hear any traffic sounds no matter how loud.

I am going to an audiologist to see about getting a pair of custom molded ear plugs to see if those might be helpful.

Is it safe to drive when you can't hear any of the traffic around you? What if there's a horn blaring signaling an imminent collision and you can't hear it? I thought it was illegal to wear things over your ears while driving for this reason?

I tried this yesterday. I was at the very back of the bus, sitting right on top of the roaring engine, wearing HEAROS foam plugs and my ear defenders. There were only two other people, the driver and a passenger sitting a few feet away from the driver, at the front of the bus. They were talking. And I could hear them.

I already have noise cancelling headphones. Technology isn't helping me. I think I'm going to stick with trying to be a hermit as much as possible to deal with noise; maybe live in an intentional community, use grocery delivery service and shop at odd hours, and ride my bike everywhere rather than take the bus.

Last edited by starkid on 07 Apr 2014, 6:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

You're completely right that it is not safe and that it is illegal to drive with them on. I should have clarified that you can only wear them when you are a passenger in a car.

Sorry for any confusion!