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On this page: Overview
Key Takeaways
Plan the day, not just the kit: a seat away from the kitchen and printer, timed focus blocks, and meetings and lunch without earplugs. Earplugs are one tool inside that plan.
One focus block of 45 to 90 minutes at a time, then out for calls, meetings and breaks. NHS guidance cautions against wearing earplugs all the time, and you should stop if they cause pain or itching.
Every sound gets quieter, not silent. Chewing at about 45 dB lands at roughly 21 to 23 dB, and a 60 dB voice at about 36 to 40 dB.
Yes. Under the Equality Act 2010, employers must consider reasonable adjustments for disabled workers, and you can make a request in writing. It is a request, not a guarantee, and the employer decides what is reasonable.
When trigger sounds affect your work, sleep or relationships, or you want earplugs in all day. A GP can refer you on.
Plan the day instead of reacting to each sound. Sit away from the kitchen and printer, wear earplugs for 45 to 90 minute focus blocks, take them out for calls and meetings, and ask for a reasonable adjustment if that is not enough.
In most offices, yes, for focus work, as long as you can still hear alarms. If your workplace discourages it, you can ask for permission as a reasonable adjustment.
They can be one you ask for. Under the Equality Act 2010, employers must consider reasonable adjustments for disabled workers, but whether misophonia meets the definition depends on its effect on you, and your employer decides what is reasonable.
A flush-fitting earplug with no stem, like Life+, is hard to spot across a table. Even so, the better habit is to take earplugs out for meetings and calls, so you hear every speaker clearly.
That is your choice. Telling your manager is usually the first step to any adjustment, and a short, factual description plus one specific request tends to work best. See our guide on how to explain trigger sounds to family, friends and colleagues.
Misophonia at work rarely announces itself with something loud. It is the keyboard two desks along, a pen clicked through a whole meeting, or a colleague eating crisps at their desk at 11 o’clock. If certain sounds bother you more than they seem to bother anyone else, an open office can become eight hours of waiting for the next one.
It is more common than most offices realise. A representative UK study found that 18.4 % of adults experience misophonia at a level that causes significant burden, while most had never heard the word (Vitoratou et al., PLOS ONE, 2023). A common way people describe the desk-lunch problem is simple: put something in their ears, or move to another space until the meal is over.
At Bollsen, we make reusable silicone earplugs trusted by 1,000,000+ people, and our wider guide covers earplugs for misophonia in everyday life. This one is about the working day: where to sit, when earplugs go in and come out, and how to raise a reasonable adjustment in the UK.
Which sounds at work tend to set off misophonia?
The usual office trigger sounds are typing and keyboard tapping (around 2–4 kHz), pen clicking (about 4 kHz), eating and chewing at desks (mostly 125–500 Hz), sniffing and throat clearing, all at a modest 40–60 dB from a metre away.
None of these is loud by workplace standards, which is partly why they are hard to explain. The Oxford Health NHS psychological information centre notes that a reaction can happen even when a sound is very quiet, and groups common triggers into eating sounds, nose and throat sounds, and repetitive sounds such as keyboard tapping. Our trigger-sounds guide shows what frequency typing and pen clicks sit at, and what that means for an earplug.
Desk eating is the easiest trigger to plan for, because it keeps to a timetable. The late-morning snack and the lunch hour come round every day, so decide in advance: earplugs in, or a walk to another room, until the eating stops. Our guide to earplugs for chewing sounds at a shared table works the same way.
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Life+★ 4.7 · 3,700 reviewsLife+★ 4.7 · 3,700 reviewsMusic SoundPRO★ 4.8 · 514 reviewsWatersafe+★ 4.8 · 684 reviewsLife+★ 4.7 · 3,700 reviewsWhat does a working day look like when trigger sounds are around?
A workable day alternates 45–90 minute focus blocks with earplugs in and stretches without them, so calls, meetings and lunch happen with open ears and the quiet stays your choice. Use the table as a starting point and move the times to fit your diary.
| Time | What is happening | Earplugs | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arrival | Pick a seat away from the kitchen, printer and snack drawer; back to the wall if you can | Out | Free, and it shapes the rest of the day |
| Morning focus block | Deep work, notifications off | In, 45–90 minutes | Typing and pen clicks are quieter |
| Calls and meetings | Video calls, stand-ups, one-to-ones | Out | You need to hear every speaker; a sealed ear makes your own voice boom |
| Lunch window | Others eat at their desks | In, or leave the room | The day’s most predictable trigger |
| Afternoon focus block | Second piece of deep work | In, 45–90 minutes | One block, then a proper break |
| End of day | Email, planning, chat with colleagues | Out | Back to normal sound levels |
So why not leave them in all day? The NHS guidance on hyperacusis advises against wearing earplugs or ear muffs all the time, because this could make you more sensitive to noise, and it lists misophonia as a type of hearing sensitivity. Our guide on when to wear earplugs and when to take them out sets out the full routine. Stop straight away if an earplug causes pain or itching.
For the focus block itself, our page on Life+ earplugs for focus shows how a 24 dB passive earplug fits a timed concentration session at a desk. The same routine works in a library, and our guide to studying with misophonia applies it to revision and exams.
Where should you sit, and what can you change yourself?
Distance and direction matter more than people expect. A seat at the end of a bank of desks, away from the kitchen and printer and facing away from the walkway, means fewer trigger sounds reach you. It also takes visual triggers like fidgeting out of your line of sight, and no earplug can do anything about those.
When a colleague’s habit is the issue, keep the request brief and specific. “Could you eat at the kitchen table rather than here?” is far easier to say yes to than a talk about noise in general. Our guide on how to explain trigger sounds to family, friends and colleagues has short scripts for that conversation.
If the problem is general office noise rather than specific sounds, our guide to earplugs for an open-plan office covers dB levels, hot desks and etiquette. For hybrid days at home, see our guide to earplugs for working from home. For factories, workshops and sites, our hub on earplugs for work covers industrial noise and WorkPRO.
Can you ask for a reasonable adjustment for trigger sounds?
You can ask. Under the Equality Act 2010, employers in England, Scotland and Wales must make reasonable adjustments so that disabled workers, or workers with physical or mental health conditions, are not substantially disadvantaged. Whether trigger sounds meet the legal definition depends on how they affect you as an individual, and the employer decides what is reasonable.
Reasonable adjustments in the UK: the facts
The legal test. Under the Equality Act definition of disability, a disability is a physical or mental impairment with a “substantial” (more than minor or trivial) and “long-term” (12 months or more) effect on normal daily activities. Misophonia does not count automatically, and it is not ruled out either.
What an adjustment can be. Acas guidance on reasonable adjustments says adjustments are specific to the person and can cover the workplace, working arrangements and equipment. The employer pays, and it does not have to make changes that are unreasonable for the business.
How to ask. Write it down: the sounds, how they affect your work, and one or two specific changes. Access to Work and a Disability Employment Adviser at Jobcentre Plus can advise. The Equality Act does not apply in Northern Ireland, which has its own rules.
Outside the UK. In the US, the ADA covers accommodations, and the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) lists misophonia ideas.
Most common requests are cheap and practical, though outcomes vary by workplace.
| Adjustment you can ask for | What it changes | Who usually decides |
|---|---|---|
| A fixed seat away from the kitchen or printer | Fewer eating and machine sounds within a few metres | Line manager or facilities |
| Permission to wear earplugs or headphones during focus work | Lets you lower sound levels for a chosen block | Line manager, within any safety rules |
| Booking a quiet room for focus blocks | Removes most trigger sounds for set periods | Line manager or facilities |
| Eating in the kitchen rather than at desks, as a team norm | Moves the lunch-window trigger out of the work area | Team lead, by agreement |
Some employers equip a whole team instead of one person, and our page on earplugs for office workers explains business orders.
How discreet can earplugs be at a desk or in a meeting?
A flush-fitting earplug with no stem is hard to spot at a desk and close to invisible under hair. Our Life+ flush-fit reusable silicone earplug (SNR 24 dB, £29.95) uses a patented conical two-lamella design in hypoallergenic silicone, with only a small removal tab, and lasts up to 100 uses, about 30p per use. It is German-tested and independently certified at 24 dB (H 24, M 21, L 19).
Its attenuation rises with frequency, so high clicks are lowered a little more than low chewing sounds. A colleague’s voice stays audible because it is loud, not because the earplug passes one kind of sound and blocks another. Quieter, not silent.
The right size seals without pressure, so you stop fiddling. Life+ with AR KI TECH picks the size by AI ear measurement from two photos, for £44.95. For the full set of criteria, see how to choose earplugs for misophonia. If you get through a lot of pairs, the Life+ 10x Pack holds 10 pairs in one tube for £109, a sensible desk-drawer stock, and UK delivery is free over £35.
Discreet is not the same as meeting-ready, though. A sealed ear makes your own voice sound louder and quiet speakers harder to catch, so take them out before the call and put them back for the next focus block.
When is it time to talk to a GP?
See a GP if trigger sounds are affecting your work, your sleep or your relationships, or if you notice you want earplugs in all day. The NHS also advises seeing a GP if everyday noises feel too loud or painful. A GP can refer you on to audiology, ENT or psychology services.
Specialist NHS psychological services, such as the Oxford Health centre above, take misophonia referrals in some areas.
What is a good first week to try?
Start small. Move your seat, book two focus sessions a day with earplugs in, and keep them out for calls and meals. A week later you will know which sounds still cut into your day, which is exactly the request to take to your manager.
Life+ comes with our 40-day money-back guarantee if you want to try it for those blocks. If trigger sounds start shaping more than your working day, book in with your GP.
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.