TOP 5 Airplane Ear Plugs for Flying

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. If you click on the link and purchase the item, we may receive an affiliate commission, at no extra cost to you. Learn more



You may not realize this but surveys have shown that as much as 30 percent of fliers feel ear pain due to changes in air pressure, and the percentage of sufferers increase dramatically if they suffer from allergies or fly with a cold or flu. Commercial passenger planes are pressurized to minimize the effects of changing altitudes, but your ears still experience changes in pressure during take offs and landings.

Another important reason for which more and more people start to wear earplugs when flying is the noise level. Revving airplane engines, screaming kids, someone snoring loud while you’re trying to take a nap….sounds familiar? Yep, we bet it does, so why not to use a pair of good airplane ear plugs next time? They’re small, they’re light and they provide perfect hearing protection to keep you and your ears in peace (and health).

Best Airplane Ear Plugs for Flying Pressure & Comfort

Since it so happens that we travel a lot, we decided to review a bunch of different products while up there on a long-haul flight from Heathrow to SFO. Without any further ado, these are the best airplane ear plugs for flying we’ve found:

PictureModelNoise Reduction Made for Pressure Changes ?Our Rating
EarPlanes Ear Plugs 1 Pair (Pack of 5)Original EarPlanes®20 dByes5.0
Alpine Flyfit Ear PlugsAlpine Flyfit Ear Plugs11dByes4.9
Flents Flite Mate Pressure Reducing Ear Plugs - flight ear plugs (Pack...Flents Flite Mate22 dByes4.9
Lewis N. Clark Comfortable Noise Cancelling Ear Plugs for Airplane,...Lewis N. Clark Pressure Reducing Ear Plugs22dByes4.5
Mack's Pillow Soft Silicone Earplugs, Value Pack – The Original...Macks Pillow Soft Silicone20 dBno4.1

Why Earplugs Help To Keep Flying Pressure Even

Under normal circumstances, pressure on both sides of the eardrums is kept equal due to the air flowing through the Eustachian tube that connects the throat with the inner ear. But colds and allergies can change the normal balance. A cold can cause the membranes inside the ear to become swollen, blocking the Eustachian tube. Then, due to unequal pressure, the eardrum can become stretched causing pain and discomfort as the inner ear does not have time to keep up with the fast moving pressure changes.

Airplane ear plugs for flying can effectively help to keep the pressure even in your ears by simply restricting the flow of air to the eardrum. This gives the inner ear more time to compensate and adjust for changes in pressure. For ear plugs to work best, it is important to ensure they are properly sealed in the ear canal. Even the tiniest gaps can cause the ear plug to let too much air move past it, resulting in ear pain.

For best results, insert the ear plugs for flying before taking off and leave them inserted until the airplane has reached cruising altitude. Many passengers find that wearing ear plugs during the flight help with the aircraft noise as well as the pressure changes making for a more enjoyable flying experience. Don’t forget that if you take out the ear plugs during the flight to insert them again before landing.

Airplane Ear Plugs – Our Top Picks:

Alpine Flyfit Ear Plugs

Alpine Flyfit Ear Plugs
What we really like about Flyfit is that guys at Alpine really did develop ear plugs designed specifically for the flying comfort. Alpine’s ear plugs do marevelous job: not only they effectively decrease the pressure on the ear drums during take-off and landing but they also provide a decent level of noise protection of 11dB. To be fair, that’s not the highest NRR (noise reduction ratio) available but hey, these are airplane ear plugs – not the ones you’d use when sleeping next to a snoring partner, so we don’t expect NRR to be in the upper 20s.

Instead, Alpine earplugs for flying provide maximum comfort due to the thermoplastic material they’re made of. When inserted, the material gently moulds to the ear canal (thanks to the warmth of your body) and few minutes later you don’t rember you’re actually wearing earplugs. Where to buy them? Here’s the direct link to the Alpine Flyfit on Amazon.

Flents Flite Mate Pressure Reducing Ear Plugs

Flents Flite Mate Pressure Reducing Ear Plugs - flight ear plugs (Pack...

click to learn more (Amazon link)

Not matter if you cruising in the B-737 at the 35.000 ft altitude or drive in the hilly or mountain areas – the Flite Mate earplugs, made by Flents, have been designed to help your ears handle pressure changes wherever you are. Unlike other ear plugs for flying, those are super comfortable and recommended if your ears are very sensitive to changing pressure. The NRR of 22 provides a decent noise reduction – enough to block the typical background noise while in the airplane. It’s also worth to note that those are re-usable ear plugs. They’re washable, so it’s easy to clean them up (some users recommend cleaning with rubbing alcohol for reuse – just a friendly tip).

Many users recently reported that Flents Flite Mate are not easy to be found in stores. Where to buy them then? We recommend getting them from Amazon.

EarPlanes Ear Plugs for Airplane Travel

EarPlanes Ear Plugs 1 Pair (Pack of 5)

click to read more on Amazon

You may have heard about Earplanes before. These disposable, hypoallergenic earplugs are one of the most popular travel earplugs that thousands of customers use every day. Made from latex-free soft silicone, Earplanes feature what manufacturer calls a “CeramX filter”. It helps to relieve air pressure discomfort by filtering and regulating air pressure and all what we can say is that it really works (we tested ourselves).

Although EarPlanes Ear Plugs are advertised as disposable ear plugs for flying, they can be worn for more than one flight without noticable change in performance (if cleaned and stored properly). Overall, EarPlanes are high quality airplane ear plugs that we can wholeheartedly recommend. Buy them on Amazon, here’s a link to the product page.

What About the Baby Ear Plugs for Flying?

Ever wondered why babies and small children cry when a plane takes off and lands? Well, it’s because the Eustachian tubes on small children are very narrow, restricting the amount of air flowing in the ear thus not allowing the ear time to compensate for the pressure changes.

If you are flying with your children, make sure they also wear ear plugs. There are several products available on the market which have been developed with kids and babies in mind:

PictureClick to View on Amazon
Original Child EarPlanes by Cirrus Healthcare Ear Plugs Airplane...Original EarPlanes® for Children
Flents Kids Silicone Ear Plugs, 6 Pairs - Pack of 2Flents Seal-Rite for Kids
Macks Moldable Silicone Ear Plugs, Kids Size, 6 Pair 6 Count (Pack of...Macks Ear Plugs for Kids

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. If you click on the link and purchase the item, we may receive an affiliate commission, at no extra cost to you. Learn more


Last update on 2024-03-27 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

4 Comments

Click here to post a comment

  • Having read this I believed it was rather informative.
    I appreciate you spending some time and energy to put this
    information together. I once again find myself spending a lot of time both reading
    and posting comments. But so what, it was still worthwhile!

  • Thanks for this information. this give some relief for my next flight.
    I will try one of this brand, I feel extreme pain while flight take-off and lands, I feel like my head and ear will blow.

    Hopefully this will help me, with finger-cross.

    Thanks
    Barman