Poll: Do You Wear Earplugs at Restaurants?

Hi friends,

I’ve been feeling so supported on this forum recently, thanks again to everyone.

I’m meeting someone at a wine bar tonight and I’m pretty nervous about it. I chose a place where we can sit outside, and we will be going early so it shouldn’t be crowded.

The hostess said they will seat us somewhere far away from any music speaker and they can also turn it down. They don’t play loud music anyway. It’s a pretty quiet, chill place.

If anyone have any experience with eating out post acoustic trauma and can offer me tips I would appreciate it.

I feel like I should keep my earplugs in to be safe, but eating with earplugs can be uncomfortable.

Can I damage my ears by eating with earplugs in? I’ve tried to Google this but to no avail. What do you all do?

Thanks!
S

 

Hey, I eat in earplugs all the time. The occlusion does make hearing the conversation a bit more difficult (I also have hearing loss), but it has never impacted my tinnitus. Just don’t get anything too crunchy and you should be fine.

Have fun tonight

 

I have done that. You will not hurt your hearing, but you should not eat anything crunchy with earplugs on...

Anyway, if you go to a quiet place and sit outside (and there's not traffic around) you should be fine without earplugs.

Enjoy!

 

Typically I just take one of those 3M soft earplugs and cut into 2. It gives me good protection but I can still hear.

 

I love loud restaurants. It's one of the few places my tinnitus is masked.

 

@makeyourownluck, @Juan, @David S, thank you! I went, and everything seems to be fine. My left ear felt a little sore that night but I think it was more from talking so much with earplugs in? I'm not sure, sometimes earplugs make my ears tender. Anyway, thanks again for the quick feedback

S

 

I have custom-made musician's earplugs with various filters. Some filters are 15 dB some are 25 dB and then the unattenuated one where it’s just a clear plastic filter.

I usually go with my 15 dB or 25 dB when I’m out. I also have a decibel meter on my phone and although I don’t think that’s always accurate, I try to gauge how loud things are. But I also try really hard not to overprotect as to to not give myself hyperacusis. I think we need to just assess how loud things are. If you’re raising your voice to be heard or you’re having trouble hearing people, it’s definitely too loud.

I am always very excited when I go someplace and it’s not very populated and I can actually have dinner without my earplugs in.

 

@Forever hopeful - thank you for the feedback! I have been debating custom made earplugs. Do you find them to be better than foam? How is the process of getting them fitted?

 

Get musician's earplugs if you plan to wear them when at restaurants etc where you will be in conversation.

Musician's earplugs usually come with attenuators so you can reduce the dB, so you can still hear but the volume is dropped.

I use Alpine MusicSafe Classic - they come with two sets of attenuators (filters) for two different levels of attenuation.

Bought mine many years ago, two sets, one as a spare, never had to use the spare yet, very durable earplugs.

 

Could you hear the other person well while wearing foam earplugs? Did you cut the earplug in half?

 

I tend to wear my 20 dB earplugs the most when out at pubs/restaurants where the decibels start creeping up when more people arrive as the night goes on. They cut out a lot of noise but eating anything crunchy with them in is usually out of the question (so no crisps for me)

 

Yes I could hear the other person and no I did not cut the earplugs in half. This was a while ago so I can’t remember exactly but I think I pulled them out so they were only partially in. Honestly the whole experience was a little stressful because I kept being afraid some loud sound was going to happen, so I didn’t go out to eat for quite some time after that.

 

If it feels loud, I wear earplugs. But I don't wear them while eating.

 

Are there people here who have to handle business meetings in restaurants? How do you handle dinners with clients? I always try to choose quieter restaurants (luckily nearly no restaurant here has any kind of music) but when there are lots of people, it can sometimes get loud. I found some black foam earplugs now on Amazon and will try to cut off a bit so that they are invisible.

The orange ones are so easy to see from the side.

How do you guys manage?

 

Hello @SaraK18, to desensitise over the past two years, I have used specially made ACS musician's earplugs.

Highly recommended x

How's your hyperacusis? I do hope it’s better x

 

I always carry at least one pair of foam earplugs with me. At the rate I lose things, I have never gone for the most pricey custom ones. I find foam ones to be great. So, when things get loud I plug them in. Here in Spain restaurants are above the average loud place so you'll find me there chewing stuff and pretending I'm following the conversation.

 

Earasers. Invisible, about 10 dB reduction. Low occlusion effect for me.

 

I think I already bought Earasers once but they always stick out...

Foam earplugs have always been best for me but I need to cut them a bit and then I am afraid that I can't pull them out anymore

 

Where are you from in Spain? I am also from south Spain. Don't you have hyperacusis? I do have severe reactive tinnitus and mild hyperacusis. I avoid any loud spaces, like restaurants etc. It is a struggle.

 

I will look into those for myself. So far I have been using Mack’s tan foam earplugs but I would like to start trying to desensitize.

The hyperacusis is much better although I’m still not living as free as I was before this injury. All of my socializing is controlled, and mostly in my own home lol.

So grateful for the recovery I have made so far. I’ve also started working with a therapist to do a version of CBT and EMDR around the sound injury. My ears are not fully recovered yet but I know there is a psychological component at this point. So I’m trying to heal all aspects of this as fast as I can. I hope you’re doing well too.

 

I notice when I wear half of a foam earplug, I can often get my distortion squeak happening from my own voice’s volume, thanks to the occlusion. So it felt like I was improving one situation and making another worse.

Maybe if they stuck out for you, they were too big? Sometimes they start to come out from chewing, but that is an easy fix. I could almost push mine into my eardrum if I wanted.

Did yours have the little handle?

 

Yes, they had the little handle and that one always stood out. When I insert foam earplugs, they are invisible from the front but the orange color is pretty obvious from the side. I’ll try now black foam earplugs and cut them a bit.

I never notice occlusion with foam earplugs, on the contrary, it feels like they dampen my voice more. So I can wear them comfortably for a long time (until my ears get sore and a bit itchy, then I take them out for a break).

 

It really depends on the particular restaurant. Local restaurants to me are usually pretty moderate volume as I live in a smaller town. When I would travel to SF, LA, etc., they were usually MUCH louder. One I was at had a lot of drunk people and it was like 90 dB (according to my phone dB reader). The pasta was great but the ambience got rambunctious (also patrons almost got in a verbal argument over the volume).

I would say if you're in a more metropolitan area, yes, wear earplugs. I always bring a pair of earplugs with me just in case. There has been times I've excused myself to the bathroom if I didn't feel comfy with the volume and just inserted the earplugs there privately.