They might be a step up over my foam earplugs, but they still made my ears feel full and, sometimes, too muffled. With a fit optimised for children, the Calmer Kids' soft silicon construction will fit perfectly in smaller ears without disrupting their usual routine or cause worry about them falling out. However, when I took them out, the fan I was working next to sounded extremely loud, as did the muffled stamping from my neighbours in the flat above. Made from flexible silicone, Loop Quiet is great for improving sleep, enhancing focus and general noise sensitivity, with unmatched comfort day and night.

Its discreet design means they can wear Calmer Kids without feeling self-conscious about having them in their ears. They can be worn anywhere including at school, in the playground, travelling, watching television or on the games console without reducing their awareness of the environment. The Loop Experience earplugs work by ‘plugging’ your ear canal partially closed with a soft tip – this is the similar kind of design you’d find in other high-fidelity earplugs. As you can see, the blue area shows a reduction in unwanted energy (distortion) between the frequencies of roughly 2 kHz - 8 kHz when Calmer is worn.That means that loud firework shows become the loudness level of a dyson vacuum, or a running dishwasher. The Calmer earplugs by Flare Audio, for example, claim to “minimise stressful sounds”, allowing you to “focus on important ones. Its discreet design means children can wear Calmer Kids without feeling self-conscious about having them in their ears. I have been getting ads lately for earplugs that soften sound for people who struggle with sensory issues.

However, unlike the Calmer earplugs, these do feel more like regular foam earplugs – a plus for blocking out sounds, not so great if you don’t like that stuffed ear feeling.So, whether you’ve got tiny ears or need something slightly larger, you can adjust your ear tips to fit you perfectly. They reduce the stress response to annoying noises such as busy places, classrooms, playgrounds, eating and chewing, electric buzz, cutlery, ticking/tapping and gaming and calms their environment in a subtle, but potentially life-changing way. I still don’t quite understand how these work, but they sure do help me not be as overwhelmed by noise around me. They’re equally comfortable, and, while they don’t reduce overall volume, they significantly soften the blow.