One of SenseHaven.com's readers sent in a question asking if I knew of any noise isolation/reduction products that a person can wear when sleeping - like earmuffs. Now let me preface my discoveries with: I am very familiar with earmuff products that have speakers in them. I got my first pair back in the early '80s, not for any sound masking purpose, but just because it was a techie novelty item that caught my interest. They had purple fake fur on them and I used to wear them all the time while listening to my walkman at the bus stop. The problem with those were that the headband connecting piece was so flimsy, that it wound up breaking after several months of heavy use, the sound quality was "eh," but most importantly, they were corded, which is not something you want to wear when sleeping. When I started my search yesterday, I found a lot of bulky earmuff devices that were wireless, but they were akin to the type of headphones that airline workers wear (even the kinds that were covered by soft materials). I couldn't imagine trying to wear them while sleeping. But I did find two other solutions that seemed to be more plausible sleep aid products for misophonia sufferers: speaker pillows, and something called "SleepPhones."
As far as speaker pillows...I remembered that a couple of months ago I wrote something in a blog comment reply about finding a sound masking noise generator with an earphone jack that works with speaker pillows, something I never heard of before but realized that I hadn't looked into what kind of speaker pillows are out there; so, I took this as an opportunity to investigate a little further... I'm very excited about what I found!
I came across a fleece headband product with speakers in it that completely covers both ears snugly called "SleepPhones." (I love how they call the devices "pajamas for your ears.") They also have a lightweight fabric version, for people who think the fleece might get too warm. It comes in wired and wireless, although it looks like their "systems" collection - that comes with CD's of various sleep aid sounds - is only with the corded product. They even have a stuffed lamb that can hold an MP3 player to help kiddies sleep.
On a side note, I did also come across a NY Times article called, "Noise-Canceling Devices for a Good Night's Sleep." Although it was written in 2011, there is a lot of information about various apps, in-ear and stand-alone devices. I found one device a potential solution for daily use by misophonia sufferers. It combines an earplug with a white noise generator called "SnoreMasker Pro Deluxe." Although it is expensive compared to generic earplugs or earbud headphones ($399), it's certainly less expensive than some of the noise generating ear devices, one of which was quoted to me at $1,800 ($900 per ear).
Pleasant dreams everyone! May your days and nights be trigger-free! :-)