Earplugs that don't make eating sound louder?

July 3, 2023 7:43 AM

I have hyperacusis, so I wear construction earmuffs and/or earplugs often. One thing I hate about them is how they make eating noises sound louder. I'm wondering if there's a solution that doesn't - or better yet, that muffles eating noises. Sometimes I find myself wanting chips or an apple, but deciding not to because it's going to be such a loud experience.
posted by wheatlets to Food & Drink (10 answers total)

My understanding (I am not an audiologist, etc) is that eating noises are partially conducted via your bones, rather than through free air. If you muffle all the sounds being transmitted to your ears via the motion of air, that seems likely to make the bone-conducted noises relatively louder, which matches how you describe your experience.

Is white noise (or other less objectionable sound) via earbuds/earphones an option, or is that also unpleasant?
posted by Alterscape at 7:48 AM on July 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

Earplugs that completely block sound will make eating sounds even louder than normal for both physical and sensory reasons so you want to look into ones that allow some sound in. I have pretty bad tinnitus so I hate using full blocking earplugs like the cheap foam ones.

I've seen a lot of recommendations for the Loop Experience earplugs for partial blocking but haven't tried them myself. I use a pair of musician-focused earplugs that aren't available right now but if you search Amazon for Musician Earplugs there are a few types. You could also look into active noise cancelling headphones as those won't increase the internal sound resonance. And if you really need it you can then run some soft white noise into the headphones from your phone, I do this to sleep around others.
posted by JZig at 7:57 AM on July 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Unfortunately drowning out the noise won't work, because I'm usually wearing them to drown out something white noise-y like my air conditioner or outdoor traffic noise. Musician's ear plugs may work, although I wasn't impressed with either the Loops or Earasers. I do plan to look into noise canceling headphones, but I am a bit wary as cheap active noise canceling has made me nauseous and disoriented before.
posted by wheatlets at 8:01 AM on July 3, 2023

Would it help to listen to music or a podcast while eating? I'm not sure if low volume sounds would trigger your hyperacusis, but it may be enough to distract from the sound of chewing while also actively blocking environmental noise.
posted by willnot at 11:36 AM on July 3, 2023

Response by poster: Sorry to threadsit, last reply - I want to clarify that the only solutions that will work involve removing sound, not adding sound. Living in the city, I’m subjected to noise far above my threshold almost constantly, so I’m hoping to find a way to relax and eat in silence.
posted by wheatlets at 1:34 PM on July 3, 2023

There’s no set of earmuffs that will tune out the sound of your eating, because that sound isn’t coming through your ears. As mentioned above, it’s being conducted through your skull.

Ironically the reason you’re probably noticing it is because all the external sounds are gone. It hasn’t gotten any louder than before, but it’s the only sound left for your brain to focus on. To change the effect you’ll have to take off the earmuffs.

I realize this wasn’t the answer you wanted, sorry.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 6:07 PM on July 3, 2023 [5 favorites]

The only thing that I've found that doesn't "amplify" eating noises (or my own voice, ugh) is noise-cancelling earbuds [I haven't really tried over-the-ear noise-cancelling headphones while eating]. I have a pair of Apple AirPod Pro's that can be set in noise cancellation mode without having any other sound playing through them.

The downside is that my anatomy is such that the chewing motion sometimes makes earbuds work their way loose. :/
posted by heatherlogan at 7:22 PM on July 3, 2023

I can report that over ear noise canceling headphones do nothing for this problem. They use external microphones to monitor and cancel noises. I’m not sure why noise canceling earbuds would work, but I have never used them.
posted by Bottlecap at 1:46 AM on July 4, 2023

Best answer: Sorry, no, this is how earplugs work - the more external sound you block, the more internal sound you will get via bone conduction. I use custom-fitted earplugs from an audiologists which fit perfectly and block nearly all external sound. They are the best you can buy, hands down. And when I wear them, I can hear everything my body does like it's through a loudspeaker - I can hear my own breath. It's a special kind of solitude.
posted by epanalepsis at 4:08 PM on July 4, 2023

All noise-cancelling earbuds are not equal... I have the original Bose QuietComfort Bluetooth earbuds, and if I eat something crunchy while I'm using them in full noise-cancelling mode, I really know about it.

(I'm curious about AirPods now.)
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 7:15 AM on July 5, 2023