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White noise as sleep aid may do more harm than good, say scientists

theguardian.com

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Re: White noise as sleep aid may do more harm than good, say scientists

#21

Post by burntoutfire »

donatj wrote: post #10

My wife can’t sleep without a fan running. This has been a point of contention since early into ours relationship, as I still after 7+ years find I have much more restful sleep with it off.

I have a tinnitus, so I have a fan running in every room of my apartment to (partially) cover it with a white noise. I live alone right now but I wonder how many women, if they were to live with me (in a relationship), would be ok with it.

BTW the biggest win in getting a good sleep for me has been making sure my bedroom is properly ventilated, so that I have low levels of CO2. Since I started doing that, my sleeping issues have been reduced to practically nothing - i.e. I almost never wake up feeling drowsy, which was something that happened to me a couple days a month before I started monitoring CO2.

Re: White noise as sleep aid may do more harm than good, say scientists

#22

Post by webwanderings »

donatj wrote: post #10

My wife can’t sleep without a fan running. This has been a point of contention since early into ours relationship, as I still after 7+ years find I have much more restful sleep with it off.

Had the same problem. Bought a radio which runs all night not connected to any channel. Got used to it myself. She sleeps fine, winter or summer.

Re: White noise as sleep aid may do more harm than good, say scientists

#23

Post by mattgreenrocks »

burntoutfire wrote: post #21
donatj wrote: post #10

My wife can’t sleep without a fan running. This has been a point of contention since early into ours relationship, as I still after 7+ years find I have much more restful sleep with it off.

I have a tinnitus, so I have a fan running in every room of my apartment to (partially) cover it with a white noise. I live alone right now but I wonder how many women, if they were to live with me (in a relationship), would be ok with it. BTW the biggest win in getting a good sleep for me has been making sure my bedroom is properly ventilated, so that I have low levels of CO2. Since I started doing that, my sleeping…

I’ve never heard about CO2 contributing to sleep issues. What did you do to diagnose and remediate this?

Re: White noise as sleep aid may do more harm than good, say scientists

#25

Post by bookofjoe »

davidmurdoch wrote: post #8
graeme wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I wonder, can others not hear their pulse through their pillow when in a dead quiet room? That’s called pulsatile tinnitus. I used to hear silence, then after a jaw injury I started hearing my pulse and eventually ringing. But no normally you wouldn’t.

TIL! My jaw is almost never relaxed, and I clench my teeth together when I sleep. Interesting correlation.

This company:

https://jsdentallab.com/collections/guards

makes pricey but very effective and comfortable mouthpieces for wearing at night while sleeping and/or during the day. They look exactly like the ones some NFL players use. I love mine. If I'd used one before discovering them three years ago at age 69, I wouldn't now be getting a mouthful of astronomically expensive ($6k apiece for extraction/bone graft/Ti screw placement/tooth) dental implants.

My qualification: retired neurosurgical anesthesiologist

Re: White noise as sleep aid may do more harm than good, say scientists

#26

Post by fooblat »

This article is garbage.

Nowhere in it does it substantiate the claim in the title. The best you get is this speculation from a "scientist" presenting no evidence:

    You probably want to have a period where the auditory system can wind down, regenerate and prepare for the next wake period.
Nothing to see here.

Re: White noise as sleep aid may do more harm than good, say scientists

#27

Post by bookofjoe »

Reason077 wrote: post #18
bookofjoe wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Headphones designed for sleep https://dubslabs.com/

Yes, there are lots of “sleep headphones” like these. But they are not noise cancelling.

Good point. I'm surprised they don't offer a noise-canceling option.

Re: White noise as sleep aid may do more harm than good, say scientists

#28

Post by Fargren »

hoka-one-one wrote: post #12
davidmurdoch wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TIL! My jaw is almost never relaxed, and I clench my teeth together when I sleep. Interesting correlation.

You're supposed to clench your teeth together when you sleep. What's the alternative? Hanging your mouth open?

Lips closed, teeth unclenched. That's how I sleep anyways, as far as I can tell.

Re: White noise as sleep aid may do more harm than good, say scientists

#29

Post by mavsman »

barkingcat wrote: post #11
davidmurdoch wrote: post #3

> It is an active process, which generates metabolites, some of which have been shown to be harmful to the inner ear. You probably want to have a period where the auditory system can wind down, regenerate and prepare for the next wake period. Something like 30% of people suffer from tinnitus. Falling asleep with a loud ringing is hard, and for those suffering it's not like we get an auditory break anyway. I wonder, c…

of course, the easiest way to resolve both issues is to have a timer, or hook it up to one of those body motion sensors. Once the person has gone to sleep, turn off the noise generators, allowing 1) the person to fall asleep, and 2) after the systems have turned off, to allow regeneration without noise.

I've thought this for a very long time. Now that we have tiny technology that can check your heart rate and fit around your wrist or inside your ear canal, I'm not quite sure why this isn't a feature. It would be easy to implement but be a huge marketing draw.

Re: White noise as sleep aid may do more harm than good, say scientists

#30

Post by amelius »

Reason077 wrote: post #17
Terretta wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not that hard to find: https://www.bose.com/en_us/products/wellness/noise_masking_s... https://www.bose.com/en_us/better_with_bose/better-sleep-is-... https://www.trustedreviews.com/news/bose-sleepbuds-2-feature...

These are not (active) noise cancelling!

Perhaps try noise-cancelling speakers instead of headphones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_M6G0gsTtmY

https://www.silentium.com/

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