Any advice on ear defenders to block out sound?

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Hello, I have problems with extreme anxiety around noise - the people I live with have the TV on very loud 24/7 (well it sounds horribly loud to me, although they seem to be deafer) which makes me cry as it becomes painful, and I have realised that when I have my earplugs in I am so much calmer and have less panic attacks. However having ear plugs in most of the time isn't very comfortable, and I also worry about potentially damaging my ear by pushing them into my ear canal all the time, as the only earplugs that seem to work and are re-useable are sponge ones. I wondered whether any of you have a recommendation of an alternative?

I have some ear defenders made for people working on a building site, however they hurt my head after around ten minutes and get very hot as they are very tight in order to block out the sound. I'm not sure if it is possible to have such successful sound blockage without the tightness but I thought I'd ask. I've noticed some online that claim to do things like reduce sound yet amplify certain sounds, so you can still hear conversation. They are very expensive and since it is people talking on the TV I am having a problem with, I worry they wouldn't be effective in reducing that.

I like Mack's ultra NRR 32 db. They are comfortable enough to sleep in. 100 pack for nine bucks on amazon.

Dear Gizalba,

If you have enough money you could also consider buying re-usable custom made ear plugs such as for instance ACS PRO. They will make a mold of your ears and you will get plugs that fit exactly. From what I've heard, these are supposed to be very comfortable. I have not yet tested them myself, but I have ordered such a pair of ear plugs (or actually a local equivalent of these). They also have a filter with flat frequency response (attenuates all sounds equally) which can be replaced in order to change the noise reduction.

I also believe they have re-usable ear plugs wich are not custom made but with a similar kind of filter. I think they are a lot cheaper. Of course they are still much more expensive than ear plugs which are not re-usable or only re-usable a few times, but then again, you only buy them once.

You could also consider noise cancelling headphones but these are also expensive. Most noise cancelling headphones are also not quite as good at attenuating voices as other background noise. But perhaps it could be an alternative to ear plugs if you do not want to use ear plugs all the time. You could also have a look at my responses in this thread.

I hope you find this helpful. Kind regards.

I use old, cheap(some Esperanza junk for 29PLN/approx 10$) noise canceling headphones that broken some time ago. Sound from one ear disappeared back then so I cut off the cables and use the headphones as ear defenders now. They are comfortable enough to wear for long time(not perfect but way more comfortable than earplugs or the builder ear defenders that I tried using before) and they are foldable too so they easily fit in my bag.

They don't cancel many noises but lower the volume of surroundings so they may be just what you are looking for if the TV is simply too loud and you want to tune the painful sound volume down while still being able to hear the TV.

Bose Quietcomfort 25is really for music listening. They are light and pleasant to wear and provides effective protection against disturbing noise, - though not protection like earguards for workers.
The problem is the price.
Otherwise there are earguards for hunters, like 3M, Peltor. They leave weak sounds audible and close in case of noise, so fast, that they can mute a gunshot.

i have custom 'musician' defenders.
These are indeed made to custom-fit your ears, and they have changeable strength filters.
The advantage is that they reduce all sounds by an equal percentage, so it doesn't change perception, but just lowers the overall volume

I have a pair too with minus 15 dB. Just hate wearing them. Foam feels better, but I´d love a pair of Bose.

Thanks for the replies!