I have slept with earplugs and an eye mask for years. Started when my husband snored. BF also snores. I live in the country and used to have two dogs-- they would smell some creature outside at night and erupt into furious barking. The earplugs help. Now I use them for napping and even when I sleep alone (my bf and I live together part time). The earplugs are fantastic on airplanes-- you can still hear the announcements perfectly, but all of the engine noise is cut out.
Here are tips: get the foam rubber earplugs-- NOT the hard silicone ones that are like jellybeans. You squish them down and stick them in your ears and they expand, and you can hear the volume on the outside world going down. I also use them when working in noisy offices.
The eye mask is a bit more of a challenge. Go to Bed Bath & Beyond and look for brightly colored ones made of thin foam, that are curved sort of like goggles. These work well. Also the "Bucky" ones that are filled with buckwheat-- they're expensive: about $25.
You can DEFINITELY get used to them. With them you can get really DEEP sleep. Our bedrooms are so light nowadays, what with ambient light, digital readouts, etc., that we do not get total darkness. Your body (eyes) need TOTAL darkness in order to make melatonin, the hormone that lets you have deep sleep.
There was someone on here who wasn't getting good sleep...I think it was Happy Giant's wife... anyway, you want an eye mask that gives you TOTAL DARKNESS, so try it on. They have elastic straps that are fastened with velcro for a snug fit. It will give you a crease in your hair in the morning (sort of like Hat Hair without the hat).
These two things-- foam earplugs, eye mask-- can increase the quality of sleep (and thus of Life) tremendously.
