Why don't snoring earplugs actually stop snoring noise completely?
The answer to this question can be summed up in two simple words... bone conduction. Bone conduction is such an efficient means of sound transmission, that elite military organizations all over the world use bone conduction as a highly efficient means of voice communication. Coincidentally, human voice frequency ranges share the same range with snoring frequencies. Most people are unaware of the fact that earplugs and noise canceling headphones for that matter are powerless against bone conducted sound transmission. So snoring earplugs, being restricted to only intercepting direct air transmitted sound, cannot stop snoring noises from reaching the inner ear.
In fact up to 50% of the snoring sound you actually hear is transmitted through your skull and jaw bones. Another contributing factor, which actually worsens the effect, is the fact that the person who is snoring may be laying in the same bed with you, which actually assists the sound vibrations in reaching their final destination. A surprising amount of sound is actually carried through the mattress and pillow, depending upon the materials involved. The prevailing frequencies which constitute most common snoring reside around the 160 Hz range, which travels through solid matter like bone very efficiently. So even if it were possible, which it is not, to purchase earplugs that would stop snoring sounds which travel through air with 100% efficiency, you would still hear the snoring! The sad fact is that there never has been and never will be snoring earplugs that stop snoring sounds from reaching your inner ear. If you are satisfied with reducing the volume of the snoring and don't find it necessary to be able to completely ignore it, snoring earplugs may be an alternative for you.
The only way to beat this bone conduction phenomenon is by gently keeping the inner ear busy with a whole new category of elite hybrid snore masking sounds that have been gaining so much popularity over recent years. These hybrid masking sounds interfere with both air and bone transmitted snoring sounds, so that the listener doesn't hear the snoring turning on and off. These custom profile snore masking sounds are actually quite soothing and relaxing as well. The only choice of available masking sounds previously was white noise, which you may know is not a very efficient snore masker. If you have been trying to use snoring earplugs to stop snoring from keeping you awake without much success, these new custom-made snore masking sounds may be just the answer you've been looking for.
