Loop Experience Plus Earplugs: My Honest Experience Using Them With Meniere's Disease

If you've just been diagnosed with Meniere's disease, you're probably already noticing that certain sounds feel unbearable in a way they never used to. Loud restaurants, pubs, gigs, even a busy family dinner with everyone talking at once - it can all feel like too much.

I bought my first pair of Loop earplugs Experience Plus back in 2023, not long after my own diagnosis.  They genuinely changed how confident I felt going out. In this post I want to talk you through what they are, how many decibels they actually cut, and where they've helped me most - particularly at loud events and around a table full of people talking over each other.

What are Loop Experience Plus earplugs?

Loop Experience Plus are reusable earplugs designed to lower the volume of everything around you without making it sound muffled or far away. They're not the foam plugs you might be picturing, the chunky orange ones that turn every sound into a dull mumble.

Loop's design uses an acoustic filter that reduces sound evenly across frequencies, so conversations and music still sound clear, just quieter.

I'd already been using a different brand of earplugs before these. They were silicone and did lower the decibels. But they kept slipping out of my ears and, honestly, I thought they looked pretty ugly.

I wasn't sure I'd like the Loop earplugs when I first tried them, but I did, straight away. Not only did they calm everything down immediately, they actually looked good too.

They come as a small circular piece that sits in the outer ear, with soft silicone or foam tips in different sizes so you can find a comfortable fit. The Plus version (mine, from 2023) included an extra accessory called the Loop Mute, a small insert you can pop in or out depending on how much noise reduction you want at any given moment.

How many decibels do they actually block?

This is usually the first thing people want to know, and fair enough, because the actual number matters when you're trying to protect an ear that's already struggling.

The original Loop Experience Plus has a noise reduction rating of 18 decibels (SNR), with an NRR of 7. Insert the Loop Mute filter and you get an extra 5 decibels of reduction on top of that.

To put that into perspective, NHS guidance on noise and hearing treats sustained exposure above 85 decibels as a risk to hearing over time. A loud pub or restaurant can easily hit 90 decibels or more once everyone starts talking. Cutting that down by 18-23 decibels can be the difference between leaving an event with your ears ringing and tender, or walking out feeling like you actually coped.

For someone living with Meniere's like me, that decibel reduction can feel huge. The first time I wore them was in a pub. I popped them in and the room went from feeling overwhelming and unbearable to manageable. From that moment on, I tried to never leave the house without them.

Why loud noise is such a problem with Meniere's Disease

If you're newly diagnosed, you might be wondering why sound specifically seems to set you off more than it used to, or why a noisy room leaves you feeling rough for the rest of the day. You're not imagining it.

The NHS explains that Menière’s disease is a rare inner ear condition that affects your balance and hearing, and that symptoms come and go, starting suddenly and lasting anywhere from a few minutes to 24 hours.

Sound sensitivity is incredibly common alongside this, partly because the inner ear is already under pressure from fluid build-up, and loud or sudden noise can tip things over the edge.

It's worth saying clearly here: symptoms with Menière's can fluctuate day to day, and that's completely normal with this condition. For some people, a noisy room is only a problem on bad days.

My own experience has been different. Busy, noisy rooms have bothered me consistently, and actually did long before I even knew anything was wrong with my ears. Whichever pattern fits you, it doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong.

Common fears when you're newly diagnosed

A lot of the messages I get from people early in their diagnosis, circle around the same worries:

• "Will I have to avoid pubs, gigs and restaurants forever?"

• "Is wearing earplugs going to make me look or feel different in front of people?"

• "What if I have an attack while I'm out and people don't understand what's happening?"

• "Will this get worse no matter what I do?"

I want to be honest with you, none of these worries are silly, and I had every single one of them myself. Earplugs aren't a cure and they won't stop an attack from happening. But they take one major trigger, loud and chaotic noise, and make it manageable, which for me meant I stopped avoiding social situations altogether.

My experience using them at loud events

Anyone who knows me well knows that live music has been a huge part of my adult life. I've been to over a hundred concerts, and probably more local gigs than I could count.

I've stood next to amp stacks, guitars and drums for most of my adult life. These days I'm also around motorbikes, motorbike tracks and motorbike festivals. Loud events are something I never wanted to give up, Menière's or not.

The first time I wore my Loop earplugs to a concert, I was slightly apprehensive. Would they affect the sound quality? Would the vocals end up muffled? I needn't have worried. Everything sounded exactly the same. The only difference was that I didn't get the familiar uncomfortable build-up in my ears, and afterwards I didn't get the extra three days of tinnitus on top of my everyday Meniere's tinnitus.

Loop designed the Experience Plus specifically for this kind of use. They market them for concerts, festivals and live events because the filter lets you still hear the music with clarity, just at a safer volume, rather than blocking it out entirely the way foam plugs do.

For anyone with Menière's, this matters because total silence isn't actually the goal. You still want to hear your friends, enjoy the band, follow what's going on. You just don't want the noise hitting your inner ear at full force for hours on end.

Using them around a table with friends and family

This is the one people don't expect. You'd think earplugs are just for gigs and concerts, but actually I find them just as useful sitting in a busy restaurant or around a packed table at a family gathering.

Keeping up with conversation has always been hard for me once there's more than one person talking. Even at home, I have to turn the TV down so it's not blaring in the background. As soon as more than one conversation starts up around me, I can feel my body tensing.

I remember a family meal with around eight of us at the table. The first time I wore my Loop earplugs there, it made a huge difference. They cut out the background noise so I could actually pick up what people were saying to me. Without them, I'd just watch lips moving and have no idea what was being said.

The general issue is that restaurants and group settings layer multiple sounds on top of each other: cutlery, background music, several conversations, maybe a TV in the corner. None of it is individually as loud as a concert, but it adds up, and for an inner ear that's already inflamed or under pressure, that constant low hum of noise can be just as draining as one loud event.

Wearing the Experience Plus in these settings takes the edge off without you having to explain to anyone why you're wearing them, because they're genuinely discreet.

Since wearing Loop earplugs, I've had so many people ask me where I bought them, from strangers at concerts and festivals to a lady serving me in a shop at the NEC, who asked because her sister is neurodivergent and she wondered if they might help her too. I think people notice because they actually look good. Mine are silver with the black Mute insert, and I'm genuinely happy for people to see me wearing them.

Are they comfortable enough to wear for hours?

If I'm at a motorbike festival or a track day, I'll wear mine all day, often more than six hours.

I find them really comfortable now, though I do have tiny inner ears, so I had a slight comfort issue to begin with. I reached out to Loop directly and they told me I could buy the tips for much smaller ears, which I did, and that made a huge difference.

Loop includes multiple sizes of both silicone and foam tips in the box precisely because ear shapes vary so much, and getting the right size genuinely changes how comfortable and effective they are. Tips that are too small won't seal properly, so you lose a chunk of that noise reduction. Tips that are too big will feel uncomfortable within the hour.

I did end up buying the silicone XXS tips separately to get the extra comfortable fit I needed.

Loop Experience Plus vs Experience Plus 2

Since I bought mine in 2023, Loop has released the Experience 2 Plus, which has slightly different specs. Here's roughly how they compare:

• Loop Experience Plus (original): 18dB SNR noise reduction, NRR of 7, plus an additional 5dB with the Loop Mute filter inserted.

• Loop Experience 2 Plus: 17dB SNR noise reduction, with an additional 3dB available using the updated Mute accessory, alongside redesigned ear tips for a more secure fit.

  
  

Both versions do the same essential job: lowering noise while keeping sound clear rather than muffled. If you're buying new now, you'll most likely be offered the 2 Plus version, and from what I've read, the core experience is very similar to mine, just with some comfort tweaks.

Small wins that made a big difference

Looking back at the small, practical changes that actually helped me feel more in control early on:

• Keeping a pair in my bag or pocket at all times, so I'm never caught out by an unexpectedly loud venue

• Popping them in before I even feel overwhelmed, rather than waiting until the noise has already started affecting me

• Using the Mute filter on the loudest nights and leaving it out for quieter ones. Though, because of my Meniere's, I actually leave the Mute filter in more often than most people probably need to. It's just the right level of reduction for my comfort.

• Not feeling like I have to explain or justify wearing them to anyone, because they're subtle enough that most people don't even notice

None of these are huge, life-changing steps. But when you're newly diagnosed, it's often the small, practical wins that start to rebuild your confidence.

Where to Buy Loop Experience Plus

You can browse the full range on the official Loop Earplugs website.

Health Disclaimer

This article is for informational purposes only and based on personal experience. It does not replace medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your diet, medications, treatment plan or start any kind of exercise regime.

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Hi, I'm Sally - a Nutritional Therapist and chronic illness blogger who has been living with Menière's disease, TMJ Disorder and Degenerative Disc Disease for over twenty years. I write about the real experience of managing these conditions day to day, blending personal insight with nutritional and lifestyle knowledge. I hope something here helps you feel a little less alone.