Originally Posted by Moderator2
A business associate of fifteen years recommended some $24.22 Sony ear buds. He has a pair of the Shure's for home, but did not want to travel with them.
His bottom line feeling, save your money and buy the Sony's. The specific model is Sony MDR-EX51LP Fontopia Headphones (I ordered some on Amazon, but they haven't arrived yet).
The Sony earbuds might give ok audio quality, but they don't seal into the ear and hence don't have the sound isolation performance of the Shures. Of course that also means they won't have the OP's problem of creating a pressure zone inside the ear.
But I use the Shures for the noise isolation properties while flying and will continue to use them rather than move to non-isolating ear buds like the Sony's.
The yellow foam sleeves supplied in the Shure Fit Kit may breath more than the plastic sleeves with a good seal.