Gyroscope Labs / Sleep
Sleeping with earplugs
Earplugs may reduce noise-related sleep disruption, especially in loud environments, but trials range from clear subjective benefits to no measurable effect.
The idea
Sound can trigger brief arousals even when you do not remember waking. Comfortable earplugs lower the sound level reaching the ear and may reduce those interruptions in a city bedroom, shared room, or other noisy setting.
The benefit depends on the noise and the fit. Earplugs cannot remove vibration, may not block every frequency, and can become disruptive if they hurt or loosen. Most controlled studies were performed in intensive-care units, so ordinary bedrooms may not produce the same effect.
What the studies show
In a 107-patient randomized intensive-care trial, earplugs alone produced no significant difference in sleep quality, overnight melatonin, relaxation, or vital signs compared with usual care.
Among 136 intensive-care patients, nighttime earplugs reduced the hazard of confusion to 0.47 compared with usual care, and users reported better sleep after the initial night.
In a 64-patient trial combining earplugs with an eye mask, deep sleep made up 21% of sleep versus 11% with usual care; among people who kept the earplugs in all night, deep sleep lasted 74 versus 31 minutes.
In 84 coronary intensive-care patients, combined earplugs and eye masks increased the intervention group's sleep-quality score from 40.11 to 72.07, compared with 44.07 to 47.04 under routine care.
The studies make noise reduction plausible, but the strongest results often combine earplugs with an eye mask. Earplugs alone did not help in the largest recent trial listed here.
How to do it
- 1Choose comfortable earplugs intended for sleep and follow their fitting instructions. Comfort is essential for keeping them in overnight.
- 2Put them in before bed each night. Noise-canceling headphones are an alternative, but they may come off and can require sleeping on your back.
- 3Keep the room and any white-noise source unchanged. Record whether either plug came out or caused soreness.
- 4Track sleep and heart rate. Noise reduction acts on the same night, so compare repeated noisy nights rather than waiting for a cumulative effect.
A poor seal can make the test look ineffective, while a painful fit can make sleep worse. Replace damaged or dirty plugs according to the product instructions.
Setup
- Get soft earplugs intended for sleep, choosing a shape that remains comfortable in your usual sleep position.
- Practice the product's fitting method while awake and make sure both sides feel secure without pain.
- Test whether you can still notice your alarm and essential household alerts before the first night.
- On the first night, insert clean plugs before bed and record any soreness, loosening, or plug that comes out.
Under $20 A small generic pack is enough to test fit and repeat the habit across the experiment.
How hard is it
The nightly effort is low, but getting a reliable seal and comfortable fit takes care. Consistency is easy once the plugs fit, although side pressure or unfamiliar quiet can require an adjustment period.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Low-cost and portable noise reduction.
- Acts on the same night with no loading period.
- Easy to remove if comfort becomes worse.
- Useful for testing whether intermittent bedroom noise matters.
Cons
- Fit can be painful, inconsistent, or prone to falling out.
- May reduce awareness of alarms or other important sounds.
- Evidence comes mostly from intensive-care settings.
- Positive trials often combined earplugs with an eye mask.
Frequently asked questions
Do earplugs improve sleep?
They may help when noise is the real disturbance, but the evidence is mixed. A randomized intensive-care trial found no significant improvement from earplugs alone, so quiet bedrooms may have even less room to improve. Lin, International Journal of Nursing Practice, 2022
Can I sleep with earplugs every night?
Use the product's cleaning and replacement instructions, and stop if the fit causes pain or persistent irritation. Nightly use is only useful when the plugs remain comfortable and do not create a new source of waking.
Will I still hear my alarm?
Do not assume that you will. Test your actual alarm and any essential alerts while awake with the plugs fitted before relying on them overnight.
Which type of earplug is best for side sleepers?
There is no single best material for every ear. Choose a low-profile plug intended for sleep, then judge seal and pressure in your normal side-sleeping position.
Why do my earplugs fall out?
The shape may not match your ear, or the fitting method may not be creating a secure seal. Recheck the instructions rather than pushing a painful plug deeper.
Should I add an eye mask too?
Only if you want to test a combined intervention. A trial of both tools found more deep sleep among people who kept the plugs in, but it took place in intensive care and did not isolate an ordinary-bedroom earplug effect. Demoule, Critical Care, 2017
Measuring whether it works on you
Gyroscope Labs runs the earplugs habit as a tracked experiment against your own baseline. It compares your Sleep Score, HRV, and resting heart rate with the period before the experiment.
Sleep Score is 0–100 and is built from HRV, resting heart rate, and sleep duration, each scored against your own history. Note the noise level and whether both plugs stayed in, since quiet and loud nights are not equivalent tests.
Reviews from Gyroscope members
Member ratings for this experiment (rating, ease, and effect) will appear here soon.
Test it on yourself
Pick the earplugs habit, run it for a set period, and Gyroscope measures the change in your actual metrics before the experiment versus during it.
- Sleep Score
- HRV
- resting heart rate
- sleep duration
- mood
- energy
- Sleep Score on earplug nights vs off nights
- sleep duration on noisy nights with plugs vs noisy nights without them
- energy after nights both plugs stayed in vs incomplete nights