Dangerous Product
===== RE: the Orange "Permanent Deaf-Maker" Ear Plugs AKA "Let's go to the ER at 5am" Plugs =====<br />I put the orange plugs in and went to sleep.<br /><br />At 4am I woke up with pain in my left ear. I remove the right plug and try to remove the left plug, but the clear plastic nib comes out and leaves the plug in my ear.<br /><br />For the next hour I try to pull the plug out but I can't. It's painful and I'm worried I need to go to an emergency room. Without the clear plastic nib it's impossible to grab onto. I try tweezers, but I can't get a grip.<br /><br />At 5am, I wake up my neighbor and ask them for help. He tries the tweezers but it doesn't work. We decide to gently insert a wooden toothpick into the hole where the clear plastic nib used to be, and after about 30 minutes of very careful jiggling, we get it out.<br /><br />I cry.<br /><br />My neighbor consoles me. We go to bed. I can't sleep, my adrenaline has been activated. I normally wake up at 9am, so I lost 5 hours of sleep that night.<br /><br />This is DANGEROUS and should never be sold to consumers.<br /><br />===== RE: The Gummy Silicone Earplugs =====<br />These are the most usable, but they worry me. They aren't effective unless the gummy part extends into the ear canal, which you're not supposed to do based on the directions, but if you do this it forms a vacuum seal and does pretty good at keeping sound out.<br /><br />The issue is that if you so much as tap your ear, you'll feel it on your ear drums because of the seal. You have to be VERY VERY VERY careful when you pull these out or you'll rupture your eardrums.<br /><br />If you put them in like you're supposed to, just covering the outside of the ear canal, they let almost all of the sound in still. They can't be used safely, in my opinion, and I recommend NOT using them in an unsafe way just to get them to work. I was desperate and so I did it the unsafe way, but don't do what I did.<br /><br />===== RE: The other earplugs =====<br />The grey bomb-shaped ear plugs were not effective at all for me, they sat in my ear and let all the sound in still. They have clear plastic fins on them to pull them out, and although mine didn't break like the orange earplugs did, I would still be afraid of them being a safety hazard if they did break.<br /><br />The blue christmas-tree shaped earplugs seem the safest, they are all one piece of rubber and so it seems like a very low risk of breaking, and you can safely insert them and they seem to work. The only issue is they're not really meant to block sound so much as reduce volume, so I can still hear snoring, construction work, etc. Plus, they have a long piece that sticks out and prevents you from putting your ears on your pillow comfortably. If you sleep on your back, or you don't use them for sleeping, they would be fine. I'd recommend this pair to you if you just need to reduce noise and not block it out completely and don't sleep on your side.<br /><br />===== Quick Summary =====<br />Except for the blue christmas tree shaped earplugs, I would recommend you just throw these ear plugs in the trash so you don't hurt yourself.
Rating: 1 stars