Earplugs. BEYOND helpful.

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I use earplugs for a few things, especially sleeping, its hard for me to get to sleep with any background noise.

I had an interesting experience many years ago, long before I knew what was going on with me. Both my ears got clogged with wax in the process of trying to clear a water blockage to the point where I was mostly deaf. I saw a doctor after a few days who cleared the blockage but those days of being mostly deaf were so peaceful. . . .

I can't use earplugs, because sticking anything in my ears, like earplugs or earbuds, hurts me a lot. Also, I don't know if my ears are oddly shaped, but earbuds and the like tend to slowly slide their way out of my ears, until they pop out.

I like to wear my AudioTechnicas to block out sound, and they put a good bit of pressure on my head, which is nice. They are too bulky to sleep with, though. I asked for this cool headband with built in speakers for my birthday so I could wrap it around my head at night and play soothing music, without anything having to be IN my hears. I didn't get them, though.

I use earplugs a lot to block out unwanted sounds, but using them too much has given me bad ears - I'm now deaf in one ear.

I would try it but I would be afraid to lose oversight of the environment, since I depend on my hearing to notice things happening around me. I don't trust people. Even if they don't f**k up on purpose, I don't want to get hurt by someone walking like an idiot past me or so.
I do use them for sleeping lately. For 30 years I 've lived in my mum's house in a quiet neighbourhood.. but now I have a girlfriend in a student appartment in a big city and that is something I had to get used to. The first time when her neighbour started playing techno music during the day, I broke up with her I go insane about certain noises.

I don't really like walking along with music or earplugs in my ears because I like to know what's going on around me when I'm out. Because I severely have object blindness, I sometimes like to hear more what's going on around me, like when I cross roads, wait in a queue in shops, and even just walking down the street. I panic if I can't hear what's going on around me.

But at the same time there are noises that I can't bear in the street, like cars bibbing, sirens rorting, kids screaming, motorbikes revving, and vans with a loud cranky engine, or sports cars with a loud motor (I know they may look nice but my ears hates the noise). I just wish there was some sort of acupuncture to stop you from jumping or becoming agitated in other ways, like when putting those wristbands around your wrists to stop you from feeling sick.

I can't stand earplugs, they make me feel like my head is under water. I wear headphones when I'm out.

Ear plugs help to keep me calm/calm me down, when I am in a noisy environment, like a Mall or maybe a restaurant with grotesque acoustics.

I always carry ear plugs with me when I leave my house.

If I am in a noisy shopping Mall and I have forgotten to bring them with me I make a dash to the nearest Pharmacy to buy some.
- I am usually breaking open the packaging as I hand over the money to an astonished cashier

I can't say that earplugs help me in other situations where I might be building up to a melt down, or having a meltdown as I've never tried.
- If my anxiety is going through the roof and there is no noise involved, I generally take some Valium, which I always carry with me

Ear plugs are great. I discovered the joy of earplugs a year or so ago after having a filthy, loud, obnoxious ogre of a roommate.

In public, I prefer using music.

In private, ear plugs and a background fan are useful.

Unexpected noise-- roommates who had guests over and were loud or snoring-- bothers me.

I once went camping with a friend who snored. I didn't get any sleep the whole night. On top of the snoring, that friend kept texting and talking on the phone at random intervals throughout the night (they were calling a dating partner). So. frickin. annoying. I was exhausted after that night. The next time the friend asked if they could stay at my house, I said no (politely). Why would I want to let them stay at my house if they're going to keep me up all night snoring, then wake me up a few times throughout the night calling their dating partner? I could deal with a guest if the guest wanted to spend the night to avoid a mildly long drive AND wanted to spend time with me. But, snoring and them talking on the phone for hours in front of me about goo-goo gaa-gaa non-sense? No, sorry. Waste of my time.

I don't mind planned noise. Large events, city streets... places where noise is supposed to happen doesn't bother me.

I have to use earplugs for sleeping. However, I had my ears syringed a few weeks ago. (not having that done again)

In public, I do prefer listening to music.

i also always have earplugs with me, or within grasp at my desk.
i have a choice of 4 types with me, depending on the situation
the ones i use the most are regular music player earbuds, the ones that let some sound in so i feel safe using them when cycling somewhere, and generally knowing what's happening (i rely on sound for most of my situational awareness).
secondly, i have noise-cancelling music player buds, which i use if the neibourghs have too loud music, or when in public transport.
aside from those, i got custom-made musician earplugs, they cancel almost all sound, but still let me hear voices, so i can still have a conversation or something when i'm in a bar or simular.
lastly, i got some of those foam industrial plugs which i wear if i want to sleep trough noise (i dont want to risk the custom plugs sleeping, they are too expencive for that)

however, even though i carry them at all times, i'm reluctant to use any that isn't the first type (regular mp3 buds), since they are uncomfortable in my ears, and i dont want to get too used to the lower sound, becouse that will only make me unable to live without them.
secondly, there is the problem that for about 10 minutes after i take out any antisound, my hearing is even better then normal, causing anxiety as well...

I often have bad sleep problems on nights when I have no sex relief and go to bed with my mind still in an active state. A year ago I went through the sleep med routine, but finally figured that a sleepless night was better than the med side effects. A few months ago my sister gave me a package of Flents Quiet Contour ear plugs and I finally got around to trying them a couple of weeks ago. These things are amazing. I have used them three times so far and each time have fallen asleep within about 15 minutes of putting them in my ears. Even the fan I keep running in my bedroom can't even begin to compare with the effectiveness of these ear plugs... and they are comfortable to wear too.

I must now update what I said above. I have now had two marginal sleep nights (4 hours of sleep each night) WITH the ear plugs so I guess multiple factors apply. I am feeling really exhausted right now so maybe I can sleep well tonight and get back in sync with myself. Notice that I said in sync with myself... there seems to be no way to get in sync with other people if I even wanted to do so.