Q.
Hello, I live in a 1958 constructed apartment building. There is no real sound barrier with the apartment above. I can actually hear a "fart." The problem is that she has dogs - and one bark and I'm awake.
Has there not been something devised that is an actual ear muff device that can be worn while sleeping without all the bulk? Noise reduction that is higher than those foam ear plugs which one can only purchase at 33 decibels. Why can't there be higher foam decibel ear foam protection or something to put over the ears.
I am not interested in ear buds unless they block noise. White noise in my ear - I don't believe I could adapt to that. I need Q-U-I-E-T!
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A.First off, let's look at why earplug noise blocking tops out at 33 decibels. The primary pathway for noise to enter your ear, where it is detected, is via the airway in the ear canal. NRR 33 means that the airway has been completely blocked to all sound. With NRR 33 hearing protection, sound waves can no longer travel through your ear canal to reach your ear drum. The sound blocking is total.
So why, then, can you sometimes still hear with NRR 33 ear plugs in your ears? Well, the ear canal isn't the only path sound waves can take to reach your inner ear. With your ears fully blocked, you can still hear because sound travels to your inner ear via the secondary pathway, the bones in your head. This is called bone conduction, and it's why you cannot get much better than NRR 33 protection from noise.
Now, you can still add muffs over ear plugs and get to about 35-36 NRR total, but unfortunately, that is impractical for your purposes here. No one has yet invented a feasible ear muff for sleeping, to our knowledge. And in this case, unfortunately, even wearing an earmuff over your ear plugs probably will not help you. Wearing ear muffs over ear plugs is called the dual protection method, and it is highly advised for extreme high-noise situations, such as firing at an indoor gun range. However, in your case, the neighbor's dog likely is not barking loud enough to overcome your ear plugs' noise blocking and make dual protection advised. When it comes to dealing with your noisy neighbors, bone conduction is the most likely culprit for why you can still hear the dog barking with your ears blocked, and you unfortunately can't get around that with a higher NRR.
What you want is Q-U-I-E-T - I get it. That's the dream, right? But unfortunately, with the bones in your skull working against your ability to get a good night's sleep, a reasonable simulation of silence will be the best we can do. That is to say, the best solution will most likely turn out to be a combination of ear plugs and a masking sound such as white noise. Disliking the white noise sound is not at all uncommon; the trick is simply to get adjusted to the sound, so your brain will completely ignore it. And this happens automatically with time.
Here is what I would suggest. Find a way to generate a masking sound. You can download a white noise app for free and play it through your phone via a Bluetooth speaker to get better quality sound, or buy a white noise machines, or even tune an AM radio off-station so it generates static - this is all white noise. Whichever sound you choose, turn up the masking sound volume until it masks/covers the noises that are bothering you, like that barking dog. Then add ear plugs to reduce the total volume of all sounds you can hear. The masking sound will be much less present. Along with the masking sound, the plugs will also reduce the annoying sound, with the rest of it masked so you hear little of it - or none of it at all.
The upshot? The combination of a masking noise and ear plugs lets you stop hearing noises that hearing protection alone cannot block out.
What I have found is that a modest level of masking sound raises the threshold of my hearing so that small noises in the night do not wake me nearly as easily. I promise you will quickly get used to the masking sound. Playing it loudly and pairing it with ear plugs is your best bet to block out the barking - but even a little masking noise at night will help greatly. And your brain will start filtering it out in no time.
Here you will find several quality white noise machines. And try our assortment packs to find your most comfortable and effective ear plugs.
Until next time, be safe and do the right thing.
Tom Bergman, Vice President
Ear Plug Superstore
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