A friend asked me to research which ear buds or ear plugs work well to drown out a snoring spouse or roommate. They are going on a trip and the snoring of one drives the other to the point of wanting to stifle the snoring with a pillow! There are lots available on Amazon but kind of confusing. Any personal experience in things to stick in ears to drown out a bandsaw snorefest?
This is the type I used to use. Also used them at an indoor shooting range. Not the same brand, but same specs.
Should be easy to find at a local drug store like Rite-Aid or CVS.
I use the same kind as running coach recommends. You can find them in almost any local drug store. I wouldn’t worry about which brand to buy. They should be soft and malleable.
Same here too. I would just note that they are not meant to be reused long term. I recommend changing them regularly.
I prefer the kind that are flat on both ends, such as these. They tend to be thicker and stay in my ears better. Also, I like to cut them in half because they’re more comfortable when sleeping on my side. They still fill the length of the ear canal but don’t have any extra sticking out, so they block out just about as much sound as a whole one. Also, you get twice as many ear plugs this way. Considering what they cost, especially when buying a 10-pack in a drug store, that’s a nice bonus.
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Since what is best is a matter of opinion, let’s move this to IMHO (from GQ).
I used to use a white noise generator and a comfortable pair of earbuds.
In addition to the white/pink/blue/etc. noise tracks, it will loop environmental sounds like oscillating fans and grandfather clocks if you prefer those.
So to answer the question, any comfortable earbuds that will stay in place.
Another option is for the snorer to use a mouthpiece (or other device) to prevent snoring. After all, why should the “victim” have to be inconvenienced?
My wife’s ears are small and she has a hard time inserting ear plugs easily. Fortunately for me, she’s a heavy sleeper, so if she gets to sleep before me, my thunderous snoring doesn’t usually bother her. (I usually make a point of staying up until she has fallen asleep.) If I get to sleep before her, or she wakes up and can’t get back to sleep because of my snoring, she prods me, and I put in my mouthpiece. It’s a generic thing I got years ago for less than $20. You can get ones that you custom mold to your mouth, but this one works better for me.
They work by holding the lower jaw a little forward, which keeps the airway open a little wider.
Sleeping with the mouthpiece takes a little getting used to when you first start using it, and tends to increase night time drooling, but it really reduces the noise. I made recordings of myself without a mouthpiece, then with two different ones, and the difference was incredible. The custom one made almost no difference but the other one reduced the snoring tremendously, a result my wife confirms.
Other claimed “cures” include sewing a tennis ball into the back of a t-shirt, so that you won’t roll onto your back, where snoring is often more likely or louder. I can’t advise on this, since I snore plenty loudly on my side.
I’ve had great results with the silicone putty type, which are not inserted into the ear canal but rather mashed in a tad to cover the opening. They stay in place because they have a tacky surface.
I have trouble get the shove-into-the-ear kind in place well enough to work, and find them noticeably uncomfortable. However, some people have no success with the silicone putty type, so different strokes. You’ll probably have to actually use a given plug to see if it works for you.
These Bose Sleepbuds work extremely well, if budget can be found for them. My hubby and his dog can saw logs with the best of them. I can attest that these work well.
If someone is snoring that much, they may have sleep apnea. Maybe get that checked out.
That’s actually what I came in to post. My wife had it, and once it was diagnosed in a sleep study, she got the CPAP machine. After a couple of weeks, when she’d gotten used to it, she felt much more rested.
If your friend hears any gasps or catches as his partner snores, then he should definitely urge her to get checked.
Thanks for all the answers. My friend has tried foam earplugs and they all seem much of a muchness. I was looking at a headband thing, ‘Cozyphones Sleep Headphones’ you wear like a …well, a headband. I’m not technologically bright, not sure how they work - I guess you need a smarrtphone or something? It had good reviews on Amazon. I will show it to my friend and see if it would be a good idea.
Another vote for these. They’re soft and flexible, like putty, easy to use. They create an almost air-tight seal on your ear, and leave you in almost complete silence.
They saved my sanity; and let me get good,restful sleep for many,many nights of sleeping in a tent side by side with 20 soldiers, all snoring…