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Key Takeaways
A passive earplug rated SNR 24 dB makes chewing roughly 22 dB quieter in the band where most of it sits, and a little more on the crunch. Chewing at 45 dB lands at about 21 to 23 dB: quieter, not silent.
Sit beside the loudest eater rather than opposite them, ideally at the end of the table or close to a source of background sound, such as music or the kitchen.
Put them in for the eating phase of a meal you have chosen, then take them out for conversation, between courses and afterwards. NHS guidance advises against wearing earplugs all the time.
Often, yes. Music, a radio or an extractor fan raises the general noise level in the room, so individual mouth sounds stand out less against it.
Your GP is the starting point and can refer you to audiology or psychology services. Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust also publishes clear information on misophonia.
Usually not. A flush-fitting earplug with no protruding stem is hard to spot, especially from across a table or under hair. Taking them out between courses also means they are only in for part of the meal.
Your own chewing can sound louder with earplugs in, because sealing the ear canal boosts bone-conducted sound below 500 Hz by 10 to 20 dB. A deeper, correctly sized fit makes this less noticeable.
Yes. Put them in when the food arrives and take them out to order, pay and chat. A keyring case keeps them with you, and a corner or end seat helps too.
Break the day into eating phases, wear earplugs for the courses only, and plan breaks such as washing up or a walk. Avoid wearing them all day, stop if you feel pain or itching, and speak to your GP if mealtimes are getting harder.
Earplugs for chewing sounds come up in our inbox most often in late autumn, just before the long family meals begin. Crunching, slurping and lip smacking can take over an evening, and people tell us the same thing: “I’d wear earplugs at dinner, but I’d feel awkward.”
Lots of people find this hard. In a UK representative study, 18.4% of adults met the threshold for significant misophonia-related difficulty, yet only 13.6% knew the word (Vitoratou et al., PLOS ONE, 2023).
At Bollsen, we make reusable silicone earplugs trusted by 1,000,000+ people, and we would rather you used them well than all the time. This page is the mealtime part of our wider guide to earplugs for misophonia: where to sit, what background sound does, when the earplugs go in and when they come out.
Why does the sound of someone eating bother me so much?
A strong reaction to chewing is one of the most common forms of misophonia, where certain everyday sounds trigger anger, disgust or a need to get away, and brain imaging suggests the reaction is about how a sound is processed rather than how loud it is.
In a 2017 study from Newcastle University and UCL, eating and breathing sounds produced heightened activity in the anterior insular cortex of people with misophonia compared with a control group (Kumar et al., Current Biology, 2017). The Oxford Health NHS misophonia page describes it as an extreme emotional reaction to certain everyday sounds and lists eating sounds as the first trigger group.
Misophonia has no stand-alone diagnostic code, and nobody needs a label to find chewing hard to sit with. If it is affecting your meals, relationships or work, talk to your GP, who can refer you to audiology or psychology services. If you want the acoustics, our guide covers what frequency chewing sounds sit at in more detail.
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Earplugs do not block chewing completely; a passive earplug rated SNR 24 dB makes it roughly 22 dB quieter in the 125 to 500 Hz band where chewing sits, and more on the crunch, so the sound is still there but much softer.
Chewing at the table usually measures about 40 to 65 dB at one metre. Most of its energy sits between 125 and 500 Hz, with crunch transients reaching up to 2 to 4 kHz. Our Life+ earplugs, tested to EN 352-2, lower sound by an average of 21.8 to 23.1 dB across 125 to 500 Hz and by 28.4 to 29.3 dB at 2 to 4 kHz. Attenuation rises with frequency.
What does that mean at dinner? Chewing at 45 dB lands at about 21 to 23 dB, and a 60 dB conversation lands at about 36 to 40 dB. A voice stays audible because it is loud, not because a filter passes it. Quieter, not silent.
Where should I sit?
Sit beside the loudest eater rather than directly opposite them, because facing someone puts their mouth in your line of sight and their chewing straight towards you.
An end seat means fewer people near you and an easy way out. If the kitchen is open-plan or music is playing, sit closer to that side. Choose it before everyone sits down.
Does background music help?
Background music, a radio or an extractor fan raises the general noise floor of a room, so a crunch or a slurp no longer stands out against near-silence.
A silent dining room is the hardest setting, because every mouth sound has nothing to hide behind. Quiet instrumental music is enough, and asking the host for it is far easier than asking someone to chew differently.
Seating and background sound are also how to block out chewing sounds without earplugs. Some meals need nothing more.
How do you use earplugs for chewing sounds through a meal?
Use earplugs for the eating phase of a meal you have picked in advance, and take them out for conversation, between courses and once the plates are cleared. The table below breaks a typical meal into phases.
| Meal phase | What to do | Earplugs |
|---|---|---|
| Arriving, drinks, chat | Choose your seat, ask for background music | Out |
| Starter and main course | Eat, listen, let the table talk | In |
| Between courses | Join the conversation, help clear plates, take a short break | Out |
| Pudding | Your call; crunchy toppings bring back 2 to 4 kHz transients | In or out |
| Coffee, cheese and crackers | Stay for a while, step away if the crunching builds | Out once you leave the table |
For the “in” phases, our Life+ passive SNR 24 dB reusable silicone earplug (£29.95) is rated H 24, M 21 and L 19, and is German-tested and independently certified. It is a patented conical two-lamella design in hypoallergenic silicone, lasts up to 100 uses (about 30p a use) and washes in water and mild soap. Two packs cost £44.95, UK delivery is free on orders over £35, and every order has a 40-day money-back guarantee.
If you are still comparing materials and ratings, our guide on how to choose earplugs for misophonia sets out the criteria one by one.
Do I take them out to talk?
You can follow most table conversation with a 24 dB earplug in, but taking them out when the talking starts keeps you part of the meal and keeps wear time short.
A good rhythm is in when the food arrives and out when the cutlery goes down. Slip them into the case each time, not onto a napkin.
When to take them out. Take them out after the eating phase, every time. The NHS hyperacusis page advises not to wear earplugs or ear muffs all the time, because this could make you more sensitive to noise, though short-term use may help in very noisy environments. Stop if you feel pain or itching, and speak to your GP if you find yourself reaching for them at every meal. Our hub explains when to wear earplugs and when to take them out across the rest of the day.
Will people notice I’m wearing them at dinner?
Most people at the table will not notice, because Life+ sits flush in the ear with no protruding stem, only a small removal tab, and hair or a side-on seat hides it further.
One thing will change: your own chewing. With the ear canal sealed, bone-conducted sound below 500 Hz can seem 10 to 20 dB louder, which is why you hear your own chewing with earplugs in. A deeper, correctly sized seal makes this less noticeable, and our AI ear measurement from two photos chooses the Life+ size for you. Our guide explains why you hear your own chewing with earplugs in, and what helps.
How do you handle family meals?
Family meals are often the hardest, because the reaction tends to be stronger to people close to you, and the same table comes round every evening.
Explain it once, when you are calm and nobody is eating, not mid-meal. Keep it short and practical: what you find hard, and what you will do about it, such as choosing a seat or wearing earplugs for the main course. Our guide on how to explain trigger sounds to family, friends and colleagues has scripts you can adapt.
If a teenager at home is the one who finds dinner hard, Life+ is suitable from age 12, and our guide to teenagers and trigger sounds covers school and home. If the problem comes at night, such as a partner snacking in bed, see our guide to misophonia and sleep.
Can I wear earplugs in a restaurant?
Yes, and restaurants and pubs are often easier than a home dining room, because the room’s own background noise already masks a lot of chewing.
Ask for a corner or end seat, and keep the aluminium case on your keyring so the earplugs are always with you. One tip we hear often is to keep them on hand at all times, “because a snack bag can open anywhere”. Put them in when the food arrives and take them out to order, to pay or to chat once the plates have gone.
How do I get through Christmas dinner?
Think of Christmas dinner as a series of short eating phases rather than one long meal, with earplugs in for each course and out in between.
Christmas is harder than a normal Sunday roast because eating barely stops: nibbles, the main event, pudding, then cheese, crackers and chocolates into the evening. Plan the night before: pick your seat, ask the host for music, and agree a moment to step out, such as washing up or a walk.
Leave the grazing in the afternoon to the others if you can. Wearing earplugs from noon to midnight is exactly the all-day wear the NHS advises against.
Earplugs for chewing sounds are one tool among several. A good seat and some background sound do much of the work, and the earplugs cover the courses themselves. Speak to your GP if mealtimes keep getting harder. When you are ready, find your earplugs and try them risk-free with our 40-day money-back guarantee.
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.