Re:Improving deep sleep may prevent dementia, study finds
by globular-toast on Wednesday November 01, 2023 @11:13AM
(#38099314)
The "stay mashed" property is by design for these types of earplugs because they are meant to go right into the ear canal. The idea is you mash them (well, carefully roll and compress) then insert them while still mashed, holding them in as they slowly re-expand.
But this is, of course, to ensure protection in the case of dangerously high sound pressure levels. Cutting them would also compromise them in this regard. Perhaps different if you are using them to block out low noises for sleep.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051U7W32
I re-use the same set, washing them when I take a shower. I bought the above set of 50 years ago and still have many left.
A couple of tricks I use with these:
- I cut about 1/4" off the small end. If I don't, the earplug starts to hurt my ear if I wear it a lot, I think because it goes too far into my ear.
- before using a new earplug, I wash it several times with bar soap. There is something in a new ear plug that makes it stay mashed. Maybe it suppresses more noise with that, but it also makes it hard to fit for me. I keep washing it until it is springy. This is a one-time thing with a new ear plug.