Testing Earplugs For Anxiety And Sensitivity To Loud Noise

Hello everyone,

I'm curious about earplugs and their potential benefits for various conditions like anxiety or autism. Has anyone here tried using them? Currently, I have a pair of Flare Calmer plugs, but I haven't been able to test them properly due to ear wax issues. Once my ears are clear, I'll share my experience with them. I've also ordered some Eargasm plugs to try out.

My main reason for using earplugs is to manage my social anxiety, especially in crowded environments where I struggle to function well.

If you use earplugs, I'd love to hear about your experiences. What type do you use, and how have they worked for you?

I am looking forward to your insights!

i know a few individuals and families who have used "Calmer" and have had some amazing success with them. https://www.flareaudio.com/en-us/collections/calmer

That is reassuring. Mine won't stay in my ears atm, because of the wax. They keep falling out. Do you use anything yourself @AmberMarie?

i have hearing aids. i had an injury as a child that made me lose my ability to hear much of my lower register. They also put out an ambient sound like ocean waves to help alleviate the tones and noises made by tinnitus. Also said to be from both the injury and genetics, as my father has tinnitus pretty bad. So no... i do not use anything. However, i have been known to take them out or turn them off in places like the airplane and crowds with too much noise. That's when i like my Samsung earbuds and play music instead. They get rid of all other surrounding noises. (noise canceling)

So i guess... in a way... i do use something.

I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you can still function reasonably well. I cannot listen to music in crowded areas! It freaks me out. It's like sensory overload. Thanks for contributing to the thread

Yes, i can as well as anyone i suppose. The music does calm me... but then that is what music has almost always done for me. Music has been a Huge part of my life for nearly all of my life. Maybe if there is something you find that does or can calm you... Some paint or color, some knit, crochet, or needlework of some sort, play games like word games, visual games or on the phone, looking at a picture or even reciting something, all while in public. There are some ways to do much of these so while walking or sitting or standing.

Is there something you think of that has given you a calmness when especially difficult? If there's something that stood out 1st and foremost when reading these or made you think instantly of something? i would love to suggest you try that. Try many different things. i have faith that you will be able to find that something that will work for you as music does for me.

I can play games on my phone, I guess. I'm a big gamer. Also, I'm addicted to TikTok (cats, mainly), so that helps as a distraction.

i am also a gamer. my son (26 yr old) and i play console and computer games together with his friends. my family has always been big gamers. Board games included. That sounds like a grand thing to try for you i do so hope it helps, at least a little bit.

Thanks @AmberMarie

I also use earplugs to control how much anxiety I experience due to people's voives. A type of social anxiety I suppose, as I don't have the ability to block out or ignore hunan speech. Then I get overwhelmed with emotion or very bad anxiety.

I simply use a fresh pair of cheap earplugs which I get at the huge chain hardware store here (@Pebble mouse you'll know which one I mean).
I make sure to wash my ears in the shower every day since I do have earplugs in a lot and that tends to increase the likelihood of infection.

I also use them so I can sleep peacefully when birds (Corellas, channel-billed cuckoo, & kookaburras) are making a racket here in rural NSW.

I didn't know there were special earplugs. I'd like to know more anout that. I love how I almost instantly regaon a sense of myself and of peace when I have earplugs in both ears. Having some control is really important to me.

You must mean Bunnings! Did you get your sausage sandwich when you went From my searching online the Flare and Eargasm ones are the best available. I will post here after I get my ears fixed about how I go with both!

The problem with them is it makes holding a conversation pretty hard. Not an issue with the earplugs I am going to test, @seabird.

I would love to know any findings as well. This is a mild issue for me. I have an exaggerated startle response, and sudden loud noises or sounds of certain construction equipment will have me clinging to the ceiling. I have tried the flare ear filter and it was too small for me. I didn’t try a larger size because the shipping time from UK to USA was a pain.

I have used frequency filtering earplugs designed for live music performance, and they were delightful. Expensive, but did the job of blocking loud noise at certain frequencies and still allowing me to hear what I needed to hear on stage.

the disposable earplugs are a no-go for me. They hurt. Same story with earbuds in my case.

wow, I didn’t know that was a thing, but I know that I do something similar. I don’t get overwhelmed by the noise, in and of itself, but my brain is trying to parse every single conversation and it is too much cognitive load, so my brain goes blue-screen like if I try to play several videos at once on my laptop.

A lot of people in know use loop ear plugs
https://www.loopearplugs.com/

does anyone else also have tinnitus? I just realized that if I was blocking too much noise, then my ears would seem to be ringing more. Noise canceling headphones are nice, but less practical in an environment where you have to talk to people.

Yeah, @LumberJack I have tinnitus. I'm sort of usedto it. The Rain on my My Sounds app does a good job of distracting me from tinnitus, when it gets to be too much.

I have a similar app called white noise. Despite the name, it also has user generated content that is mostly high definition recordings of soothing noises that are good for looping. Rain falling on various surfaces, birdsong, wind and stream recording, stuff like that

Yes. my hearing aids also have a setting that has an ambient sound of waves to cover the multitude of noises and help relieve it. It worked very well till i came down with covid in 2020. Using a sound machine as a low ambient noise around the house also helps.

Hey pebble,

I have autism and use noise-cancelling headphones. They work pretty well for me. Sometimes I wish that the noise cancelling was stronger, tho.

My headphones are the Sony WH1000mx5 and the smaller version WF-1000XM5.

The advantage of headphones is, that you can listen to calming music as well. I like to listen to slow paced instrumental songs.

You can also adjust how strong the noise cancelling is. So if you wish to hold a conversation, you could dial down the noise cancelling.