[levymetal]

After using foam earplugs daily for 5 years my inner ears became very sensitive to the point that plugs caused extreme pain.

After a bit of research I found these https://www.happyearsearplugs.com/

These don’t go into the ear as far so aren’t painful. I feel the reduction in noise isn’t as good, but the frequency response is much more even. I wear these under noise cancelling headphones to watch TV and listen to music in total isolation. You do lose a bit of fidelity but it’s still very liveable.

Also, I get about 6 months to a year out of each pair which is less wasteful than foam earplugs.