Sleeping
Concerts
Motorcycle
Swimming
Work
Kids
On stage
In the studio
Rehearsals
Writing music
Mixing at home
Daily commute
Long journeys
Listening at home⏱️ Estimated reading time: 13 min
On this page: Overview
Key Takeaways
No. Researchers Elaine and Arthur Aron describe high sensory processing sensitivity as an innate personality trait found in roughly one in five people. It sits on a continuum and is not a diagnosis.
Aron’s early estimate was 15 to 20% of people. A 2018 study of 906 adults that she co-authored placed 31% in a high-sensitivity group, 40% in the middle and 29% in a low group.
No earplug changes how sensitive you are. It lowers the exposure. A passive SNR 24 dB earplug such as Life+ brings a 90 dB room down to roughly 66 dB at the ear.
Put them in just before a loud stretch starts, like a busy shop or a station platform, and take them out when it ends. Quiet rooms and one-to-one conversations are better without them.
The NHS advises against wearing earplugs or ear muffs all the time, because this could make you more sensitive to noise. Wear them for the loud bits of the day.
A soft, reusable silicone earplug that fits flush and blocks a moderate amount of sound. Life+ is passive SNR 24 dB, made of hypoallergenic natural silicone and is also sold with AI ear measurement from two photos.
Earplugs for highly sensitive people work best as one small part of a routine, not as a fix for who you are. People who identify with the trait often say that sounds which seem small to others feel big to them, like a till that won’t stop beeping or a neighbour’s television through the wall. By late afternoon, everything can arrive loud, fast and all at once.
At Bollsen, we make reusable silicone earplugs (German-tested, independently certified 24 dB) trusted by 1,000,000+ people. This guide is for readers who already know they notice more than most and want a practical plan for the noisy parts of the day. It sits inside our wider guide to earplugs for noise sensitivity, which covers the full range of everyday places.
One thing to say up front: no earplug changes how sensitive you are. A good pair lowers the exposure, so you still hear the world, just quieter, and keep more energy for the parts of the day you care about.
What does being a highly sensitive person actually mean?
A highly sensitive person (HSP) is someone high in sensory processing sensitivity, a personality trait first mapped by psychologists Elaine and Arthur Aron, who estimated it in roughly 15 to 20% of people and built the 27-item HSP Scale across seven studies.
The original paper, Aron and Aron’s 1997 study of sensory processing sensitivity, found the trait was distinct from introversion and from emotional reactivity. A 2014 brain-imaging study co-authored by Aron describes it in “roughly 20% of humans and over 100 other species”. So you’re in large company.
The number shifts with how you draw the line. A 2018 study of 906 adults placed 31% in a high-sensitivity group, 40% in the middle and 29% low, and concluded that sensitivity runs along a continuum. It is a trait you sit somewhere on, not a label you either have or don’t.
Being highly sensitive isn’t something to correct, and plenty of people value the depth and detail it brings. A lot of input for a long time simply costs more energy. If you’re curious about the wider science of why everyday sound can feel louder than it should, our explainer covers it. This guide stays with the trait and the routine.
Music SoundPRO★ 4.8 · 514 reviews
Watersafe+★ 4.8 · 684 reviews
Life+★ 4.7 · 3,700 reviewsLife+★ 4.7 · 3,700 reviewsMusic SoundPRO★ 4.8 · 514 reviewsWatersafe+★ 4.8 · 684 reviewsLife+★ 4.7 · 3,700 reviewsWhy does sound take up so much room in a sensitive person’s day?
For a highly sensitive person, sound is one input among several, adding up alongside bright light, crowds, smells, hunger, tiredness and time spent somewhere new or chaotic, and it tends to stand out because it’s the one input you can’t simply look away from.
You can close your eyes on a train, but not your ears. A supermarket with harsh lighting is tiring, but a supermarket with harsh lighting, a tannoy, a beeping till and a toddler in full voice is the one that sends you home early with half the list.
Earplugs earn a limited place here. They do nothing about the lights or the crowd, but they lower the sound share of the overload, and some days that’s the difference between finishing the errand and abandoning it.
What can earplugs change, and what can’t they?
No earplug changes how sensitive you are. It lowers the exposure. Our Life+ earplugs are passive, rated SNR 24 dB (H 24, M 21, L 19), so a 90 dB room reaches the ear at roughly 66 dB, and every 10 dB lower sounds roughly half as loud.
The reduction isn’t the same at every pitch. It sits around 22 dB in the lows and mids and climbs to 35 dB at 8 kHz, as our independent EN 352-2 lab results show, so hiss and clatter fade the most and low rumble a little less.
Voices get quieter too, so expect to lean in a little during a conversation. Loud sounds, such as an alarm, a platform announcement or someone calling your name across a room, stay audible because they are loud. You hear the world, just at a lower volume.
What earplugs can’t touch is the rest of the load, or the trait itself. They’re a tool for the loud stretches, and they work best alongside the small non-sound habits below.
How do you build a routine around the loud bits?
A workable earplug routine for a highly sensitive person rests on two habits: put the earplugs in just before a loud stretch starts, and take them out as soon as it ends. If you wait until you feel frazzled, much of the energy has already gone.
Here are five moments that turn up in most weeks. Swap in your own.
| Moment | Typical sound | Earplugs in | Earplugs out | Non-earplug step |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Busy day of work or errands | Tills, tannoys, coffee machines, open-plan chatter | Just before the busiest shop or the loudest stretch of the day | For one-to-one conversations and quiet breaks | Five minutes outside between errands |
| Travel | Platform announcements, braking trains, engine hum, crowded concourses | On the platform or at the gate | To cross roads and at the ticket barrier | Sit away from the doors, keep a drink and snack to hand |
| Social evening | Cutlery, background music, overlapping voices | As the room fills up | To talk properly with the person beside you | Pick a corner table and agree a rough leaving time |
| Evening wind-down at home | Television, dishwasher, neighbours, street noise | While the rest of the household is still up | Once the house goes quiet | Dim the lights and put screens away an hour before bed |
| Quiet time at home | Very little | Not needed | Leave them out | Let your ears have ordinary quiet |
For a fuller, hour-by-hour version, our guide to everyday comfort when sound feels too loud lays out a whole day. If you’re still choosing a pair, what to look for in everyday earplugs compares the options by category.
What does a busy day look like with earplugs?
On a busy day, a highly sensitive person can wear earplugs in short blocks around the loudest stretches, such as the supermarket, the school gate or a packed lunch spot, and take them out in between, so the sensory load builds more slowly instead of all at once.
For the wider picture of crowded, bright, many-input places, our guide to earplugs for sensory overload looks at how the whole load adds up and where earplugs fit.
The non-sound steps count as much as the plugs. Eat before the big shop. Group the loud errands so the plugs go in once rather than five times, then leave ten quiet minutes before whatever comes next.
How do you travel more comfortably when you notice everything?
Travel stacks several loud inputs at once, from platform announcements and braking trains to engine hum and crowded concourses, so it’s an easy place to plan earplugs in advance rather than reach for them halfway through.
Put them in on the platform or at the gate, and keep the aluminium case in an outside pocket so you aren’t digging through a bag. Announcements stay audible because they’re loud, but take one plug out when you need to catch a platform change, and both out before you cross a road. For daily train, Tube and bus routes, see our piece on earplugs for commuting.
Flying adds cabin pressure to the noise, and our guide to earplugs for flying covers take-off, landing and long-haul comfort.
What does a calmer evening wind-down look like?
A calmer evening wind-down usually means lowering inputs one at a time over the last hour or two of the day, with dimmer lights, screens put away and earplugs in while the house is still noisy, so the day’s load has room to settle before bed.
Evenings out are a different shape. In a busy restaurant or pub, the clatter and overlapping voices rise as the room fills, so put the plugs in then and take them out to talk properly with the people at your table. Our guide to earplugs for restaurants, pubs and social events covers planning a night out.
Night is where many highly sensitive people notice sound most, from a partner’s breathing to a car door on the street. Because Life+ sits flush with no stem, it doesn’t press into the pillow if you sleep on your side.
For the bedroom side of things, read our guide to noise sensitivity and sleep, which covers night-time sound and sleeping positions.
Should you wear earplugs all the time?
No. The NHS page on hyperacusis and sound sensitivity advises not to wear earplugs or ear muffs all the time, because this could make you more sensitive to noise. The sensible pattern is earplugs for the loud bits and ordinary quiet for the rest.
If you’ve wondered is it bad to wear earplugs all day, the short answer is yes when they stay in through quiet hours, and no when they come out once the noise drops.
Bollsen earplugs are hearing protection and comfort products, not medical devices. See a GP if everyday sounds feel painfully loud, changed suddenly, or come with pain or discharge.
Which earplugs suit a highly sensitive person?
A highly sensitive person usually gets on best with a soft, reusable silicone earplug that fits flush, blocks a moderate amount of sound rather than everything, and is comfortable to put in and take out several times a day.
Our Life+ passive SNR 24 dB reusable silicone earplugs (£29.95) are made of hypoallergenic natural silicone with a conical two-lamella shape and no stem, so they seal without deep pressure. Each pair lasts up to 100 uses, about 30p a use, and comes in an aluminium case on a keyring.
A common complaint about foam plugs is that they block well but leave ears sore after a few hours. Silicone doesn’t expand inside the ear canal, which suits on-and-off wear across a day.
If you’re unsure about size, Life+ also comes with AI ear measurement from two photos (£44.95), so the pair that arrives matches your ears. Free UK delivery starts at £35, which a two-pair order at £44.95 clears and a single £29.95 pack doesn’t, and every order comes with a 40-day money-back guarantee.
Where should you start?
Pick one loud moment you know is coming this week, maybe the Saturday shop or the Monday train. Put the earplugs in before it begins, take them out when it ends, and notice how much energy you have left.
Being highly sensitive is a common trait. Earplugs won’t change it, and they don’t need to. They lower the exposure for the stretches you choose, which leaves more room for the quiet, detailed side of life. Life+ comes with a 40-day money-back guarantee, so you can try the routine risk-free.
His connection to hearing protection stems from personal experience with sound sensitivity during live events and work in noisy environments, an issue that made him more aware of the long-term risks of unmanaged noise exposure. Today, as both a communicator and a user of BOLLSEN products, he is passionate about raising awareness around the importance of proactive hearing care.
At BOLLSEN, he develops data-driven marketing campaigns, writes SEO-focused articles, and manages communication channels that connect customers with practical knowledge about hearing protection. His work ensures that BOLLSEN’s message—prioritizing health, performance, and sustainability reaches a global audience in an engaging and trustworthy way.
Passionate about writing since childhood, Timotej combines creativity with a strong analytical approach, continuously testing new ideas in digital marketing, performance advertising, and social media. He believes in learning through innovation and collaboration, balancing leadership with openness to new perspectives.
Beyond his professional role, Timotej is committed to a healthy lifestyle and finds inspiration in fitness, sports, and quality time with friends. His personal passion for well-being aligns with BOLLSEN’s core values, making his work not only a career but also a cause he deeply believes in.