More on ear plugs and teeny weeny ear canals

My quest for a pair of comfortable, well-fitting ear plugs continues. That's a picture of my latest attempt to safeguard my hearing. They’re called "SilentEars," small, cute and colorful little buds with a yellow flower-like base. They actually look like they’d be fun to wear. The Ear Plug *Super* Store website claims that the SilentEars are the “highest rated reusable ear plugs currently made anywhere in the world.”

I will never be able to test those claims. Even though I bought the smallest size available, the little blue and yellow plugs do not fit! The blue bulbous tip goes inside my ear only a little bit. I can force them in some more but could never get them in all the way—and trying to makes my ears revolt. I’m at my wit’s end. I had hoped to avoid going to an audiologist for custom plugs. Well, looks like such a visit is in store for next season.

I can make do ‘til the end of this season with the cheap, spongy/foamy things I buy at the drugstore, which come about a dozen per box. Been wondering if plain old cotton balls would work. I can’t imagine cotton balls being that effective but they have to be better than nothing and probably as effective as the spongy ones. At times, the little buggers just work their way out of my ears and land somewhere inside my helmet. I go through these plugs fast because they can also pop out like minature missiles whenever I take off my helmet. And, I don’t believe that the five second rule about food dropped on the ground applies to dropped ear plugs. When they hit the ground, I imagine microscopic germs instantly landing all over them, rendering them too gross to touch. I can replace plugs two or three times before I make it home from a 100 miler.

Persistently sore ears and ear plugs in assorted shapes, colors and sizes is all I now possess to show for my pursuit of the perfect plug. I’m open to other suggestions before I go the doctor route.