Earasers Earplugs — Wondering About the Occlusion Effect & Flat Frequency Response

Hello, I am planning on purchasing these earplugs:

https://www.amazon.com/Earasers-Hi-Fi-Fidelity-Earplugs-Small/dp/B01L4LKQIE

I have a couple questions about them before I make the investment.

First, does anyone know if the occlusion effect can be dangerous? I'm going to a party in a couple of days and its likely that I will have to raise my voice for others to hear me. With the occlusion effect, could talking loud to be heard over loud music for a couple hours be dangerous? What if I have to sneeze while wearing the earplugs?

Second, I'm a little bit confused with the flat frequency response they are talking about. If you look on the third image for the product, it shows the reduction in decibels for each specific frequency range. I'm a little concerned looking on the very low bass end to see it only reduces the sound by less than 3 decibels. Won't this mean that for loud music (which is what I'm mainly going to be using this for) the high frequencies will be reduced appropriately while the bass is still booming like crazy and hurting my ears just as much?

On their website they have this image:



It appears that the standard (which is the only one I can get before an event that I have to go to soon) just barely reduces the decibels along most of the frequency range. It might be enough for someone who doesn't have tinnitus yet, but for us with damaged ears a mere 4 decibels difference for most of the frequency spectrum probably isn't enough. Am I missing something? Based on the reviews people have given about these earplugs it seems like they should be good enough for people with tinnitus, but this chart and the list of decibel reduction across different frequencies is puzzling me as to how this could be enough protection.

Anyone have experience with these? Is it really capable of taking a 95 decibel loud music/restaurant environment down to something that's comfortable for us?

I'm also worried about these getting stuck in my ears. Would having very short finger nails make it difficult to remove these from the short piece sticking out? Do any of you use earplugs that use that method of retrieval and have you ever had issues with them getting stuck? The last thing I would want was getting some new earplugs stuck in my ears during a party or at a restaurant.

Thanks in advance for the responses.

 

After seeing this post, I bought a pair and I really like them. I can wear them all day and still talk to people with no issues. They take the edge of loud noises for sure while barely losing any speech. I wouldn't replace more generic silicone earplugs with these in places like concerts, loud bars etc, but if you are worried of sudden loud motorcycles, a moderate resteraunt etc, these are great and very unique.

Regarding occlusion effect, there's hardly any, at least compared to when you wear other earplugs.

 

The -19 dB pair are only 5 NRR, so while they will definitely take the edge off, they will not be very good protection in loud environments.

They do make two stronger filters: -26 dB(~13 NRR) and -31 dB(16 NRR).

Out of all of the earplugs I have tried so far (and I've tried many) these are my favorite. I even like these better than my custom Westone molds. Though I feel the Westone filters are better, the Earasers are not bad and they create a much better seal as well being practically invisible.

I use the -19 dB filters when I'm doing light stuff around the house or am in a less risky environment but would like a little protection. I use the -26 dB filters most often and foam earplugs +/- ear muffs for truly loud situations, such as running the air compressor, vacuuming, etc.

For restaurant environments and above, I would use least the -26 dB filters as it's probably the most protection you can have while still being able to hold a conversation.

Occlusion on these aren't great, but are better than any other off-the-shelf earplug I have tried. The trick is to find the size in which you can get them deep into the ear canal while maintaining a good seal.

Be careful inserting and removing these as the filter can get stuck under the fingernail and create a really loud snapping sound. This happens to me at least once a day no matter how careful I try to be and is always worrisome.