Custom Sleeping Earplugs

I'm thinking of going to Musician's Hearing Solutions (Julie Glick) to get a pair from Sensaphonics. I normally don't sleep with earplugs but when I do, I use the Howard Leight Maxlite with part of the winged side cut off for a shorter length. I sleep on my back and on my sides, so the shorter length prevents the earplugs from pushing against my ear canal.

The Sensaphonics will cost $180, which includes the ear impressions. I am very used to acrylic CIEMs due to the UERMs but I have never tried any gel silicon CIEMs before.

Does anyone own a pair of custom sleeping plugs? How do they feel?

 

For sleeping, I prefer a 20 dB filtered ear plug. With the solid customs it seems to accentuate breathing noises and ear clicks which I find distracting. They (filtered) have a less closed-in or isolated feeling. You can still hear people talking and some room noise, but for me it attenuates it enough to get to sleep. I have a pair of solid customs that I use riding motorcycles, but I don't like sleeping in them.

For non-custom, the Harold Leight Max (not Max Lite) has a concave end that doesn't need trimming for sleeping on your side. Unfortunately, it has an even higher NRR than the Max Lite.

 

I just use the 3M industrial PE foam efforts. They're about £17 for 200 pairs, and give you:

Attenuation:
SNR=37dB, H=37dB, M=34dB, L=31dB

..which is pretty no-messing. I found an Amazon seller who sold "variety packs" of disposable earplugs for a nominal fee, so you could try them out. These beastly 3M things worked the best, after an initial "ear dildo" adjustment period.

 

Hmm okay, thanks for the feedback! Are your filtered earplugs universal or custom? I'm concerned about having to get them remade every 2 years or so.

Yes, I've tried the Howard Leight max before. They're actually less comfortable for me because the foam exerts more pressure on my ear canals compared to the Max Lite.

Hmm wow, that's a lot of attenuation lol. The Max Lite's NRR 30 is more than enough for sleeping. It's just a matter of whether I will get more comfort out of customs or not.

 

They are customs, but they are about four years old now and doing fine. My solid custom motorcycle / power equipment plugs are five years old and still doing well. They get significantly more use than the filtered set which I only use when there is unusual environmental noise. I haven't seen the fit change over time.

 

If we are permitted to diverge into the non-custom, disposable-foam area...

I was using simple foam cylinders (from Boots, UK) for a long time. Recently I got some Hearos plugs from Amazon. They are so light and squeezable that I could not believe they would block any sound at all. But they do. the fact that they are easy to squeeze, but take longer to "reform" makes them much easier to insert. Their presence in the ear is barely noticable: they exert little pressure. They are so soft that they can be slept on even if sticking out a little.

As I am a nightbird, I sometimes need to block out the sounds of the morning, when I sleep. Or the sounds of the wife as I am going to sleep.

At sometime, a new house will be built just a few feet from the bedroom window. Then, I might well have to investigate an Industrial solution.

 

I have a pair of custom-earplug made by ACS
pics:



I always use earplugs when I sleep because my neighborhood is relatively lively in the night,and have used 3M plug and Alpine sleepsoft before.
3M comes out from my ear canals easily when I sleep,although it's slightly better in sound insulation than ACS.
Alpine sleepsoft is soft enough,but I cant get it properly fit in my ear....so finally I go to ACS(They have a store in Taipei)
So far ,so good,but I have got my pair only 4 months ago,dont knowing anything about durability,though.
It costs me about $130 to made this pair including free ear-molding.

Hope this helps.

 

I am using a pair of Radians custom earplugs that I got from Amazon for around $10.

http://www.radians.com/radsite/inde...-products/item/radians-custom-molded-earplugs

These do not exert any pressure on my ear canal as far as I can tell. However, they are firm, so they would need SERIOUS trimming around the edges that abut the outer ear (tragus, antitragus, etc) to be comfortable for side sleepers. Previously, I had used the Hearos Ultimate Softness disposable foam plugs and found that the Hearos plugs exerted more pressure on my canal.

I figured for $10, the Radians were worth a try before I invested more money in something custom from an audiologist.

 

Silicone has a different feel than acrylic. Silicone is always kinda pushing a little against your ear canals in a way that hard shell don't. It's equally comfortable, I'd say, just different. That's a very different take than most who say that silicone is more comfortable.

I've slept with my silicone ciems, which I imagine is close to silicone custom earplugs. I've also sent patients to Julie for custom earplugs and they were happy. It's not bad at all.

 

How far out do the custom earplugs stick out? Can anyone take a picture of themselves wearing them?

 

They don't stick out at all. I might be able to do an ear-selfie tomorrow. (That sounds disgusting.)

 

Here are pics of the Radians custom earplugs.



Compared to my UERM, they are not quite as hard. They can be easily trimmed with a sharp knife for better fit/comfort, but I suspect they won't be as comfortable as silicone gel customs. (You can see where I made some crude cuts to them in my picture.)

 

If you get the option, make the left and right in different colors.

 

Amply demonstrated by @laevi in the first pic!

Actually, that looks amazing. Thank you!

PS... two days ago we had real noise, with local auto [-rickshaw] drivers celebrating a politician's birthday at 4.30am with high decibels. I was comfortable with my Hearos extremes (the blue ones) which I happened to be wearing anyway, and only just aware that it was noisy outside.

I'm sure custom stuff beats cheapo, but I am so pleased with these cheapo things. They are so much better than the previous cheapo things!

Does anyone have any idea of the (claimed) attenuation with the custom stuff? The Hearos claim 33dB. I don't know what kind of dB, of course. But they even list these as being suitable for shooting!

.

 

33dB is fine for shooting. The goal is not to make it silent, but to lower it to a level that does not damage hearing. Hearing damage is intensity x duration and with shooting the duration is generally low. Also, in some scenarios it is necessary to hear range commands or other shooters. That is why many use active units for shooting. Regarding the attenuation of customs, it is all over the map and should be specified by the manufacturer. Material, depth / thickness, venting or filtering, all have effect on final attenuation.

 

Am I audible when I talk out of my backside? Well, unfortunately yes!

I made an assumption based on the perceived attenuation of loud music, mentally scaled to how I imagine a gun would sound. I've never held a loaded gun, let alone fired one... so I probably didn't do very well.