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The Effect of Noise on Sleep

empirical.health

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Re: The Effect of Noise on Sleep

#51

Post by brandonb »

bumby wrote: post #46
brandonb wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

#1 is a great idea for follow-up -- looking at variance, 90th percentile vs median, and so on. There's probably some very salient measure of sleep-affecting noise that we can derive from the data. On the accuracy of sleep metrics, when Apple Watch makes an error, it tends to misclassify deep or REM sleep as core (light) sleep, or waking as light sleep. It's relatively rare to misclassify deep or REM sleep as awake, o…

Thanks! That’s great information. Do you have any data on how that performance compares to medical-grade devices?

The confusion matrix linked above compares the Apple Watch to polysomnography equipment (which is the medical device used in a sleep lab). It doesn't _quite_ answer your question, since we're assuming the polysomnography equipment is ground truth, but it at least gives an idea of the discordance between a consumer device and a medical device.

Re: The Effect of Noise on Sleep

#52

Post by Anechoic »

FYI, there's been tons of research of the effects of noise on sleep from different sources. There have been studies ranging from in-lab experiments, to in-home experiments with artificial and natural sources. If you're interested, some resources:

Institute of Noise Control Engineering Digital library: https://www.inceusa.org/publications/ince-digital-library/ (papers older than 10 years old are available free)

Federal Interagency Committee on Aviation Noise: https://fican1.wordpress.com/findings/ (focuses on aviation noise)

Acoustical Society of America Lay Language Papers: https://acoustics.org/lay-language-papers/ (search for "sleep" -- the ASA has a full library of more detailed research but the documents cost money unless you're an ASA member)

World Health Organization guidelines on noise - https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/343936/WHO-EURO-... (doesn't get into specifics on research on sleep, but does refer recommended limits to sleep disturbance)

NIH has done a bunch of research on sleep disturbance from noise, you would need to search through their library

edit (one more): TRB/National Academies https://nap.nationalacademies.org/search/?rpp=20&ft=1&term=n...

A lot of the stuff that posters are asking for have in fact been done, it just takes some digging through the research sites to find them. There's a lot of variation in the data, the hypothesis is that sleep sensitivity varies a lot based on various physical factors (age being a big one).

Re: The Effect of Noise on Sleep

#53

Post by Magi604 »

My apartment is along a corridor that is frequented by emergency vehicles, so sirens are frequent during normal sleep hours, and my apartment windows face the sunrise. I've adopted a number of things over the years to combat all of this:

- Blackout curtains

- Earplugs

- White noise maker (just an air purifier but it does the same thing)

- 3mg Melatonin

Re: The Effect of Noise on Sleep

#54

Post by hn_throw2025 »

mmahemoff wrote: post #44

I wish someone could solve the problem at the receiver end, i.e., invent noise-cancelling headphones/earplugs that actually cancel noise as effectively as eye-masks cancel light. In addition to sleep needs, the world has gotten noisier now that people are habitually using speakerphones in public in the most obnoxious ways.

I used to use mouldable silicone ear plugs :

https://bioears.co.uk/products/bioears-ear-plugs

Very effective, but eventually they made me just focus on my tinnitus.

I now live in a quieter place and use some white noise from a speaker - ocean sounds.

Re: The Effect of Noise on Sleep

#55

Post by plorkyeran »

rickydroll wrote: post #40
ay wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try “3M earplugs yellow” on amazon. They are pretty much fully immersed in the ear (for me), and the insulation is very good. The pressure - yeah it took maybe a few days to get used to, but… The effects for me (living in Brussels city centre, so quite noisy - police, ambulance, sometimes loud tourists past midnight, and a bit of construction at 6am nearby to keep it real :-) ) were very pronounced: From needing 9 ho…

I've tried the squishy foam earplugs, and they always fall out. Other suggestions, such as silicone and custom earplugs, are something I'm going to try. Let's see if they help. However, what destroys my sleep is the light from early morning, streetlights, and the neighbor's porch light. Unfortunately, our bedroom faces southeast and features French doors that open onto an east-facing three-season porch, allowing sunl…

Have you tried a blackout sleep mask? I had to try a few to find one which consistently stays in place overnight and doesn't put any pressure on my eyes, but once I found one it solved all light-related problems for me.

Re: The Effect of Noise on Sleep

#56

Post by uludag »

I've been using earplugs practically every night for the past three years and I can't recommend them enough. While the particular kind I use (Mack's ultra soft) don't block out all the noise, there is a wide variety of noises that used to wake me up which don't anymore. If you haven't tried them I would highly recommend giving sleeping with earplugs a shot. It only takes a few days or so to get used to them.

In terms of downsides, only once in the past three years did I get some earwax clogged in some part of my ear which was easy to remove with some special spray (went to urgent care). Also, I have a very hard time sleeping without them anymore so I always make sure to have a pair at hand. Also, you may have to experiment with various brands and types as some brands are really uncomfortable and hurt my ear.

Re: The Effect of Noise on Sleep

#57

Post by alexyaseen »

conradev wrote: post #28

A lot of folks are talking about the “consistency” of a sound (constant white noise vs random sounds) and its volume, but I feel like the nature of the sound matters a lot more. I’ll respond much differently to my bedroom door opening or a voice speaking than I do a bus outside. It reminds me of the anecdote where human researchers rang bells near bears (human sounds) and the bears didn’t care, but if they broke a la…

why don't more hotels seem to understand this? so often I find that even nice hotels have very minimal background noise but poor soundproofing of the doors. so hallway noise disrupts sleep so much

Re: The Effect of Noise on Sleep

#58

Post by octo888 »

uludag wrote: post #56

I've been using earplugs practically every night for the past three years and I can't recommend them enough. While the particular kind I use (Mack's ultra soft) don't block out all the noise, there is a wide variety of noises that used to wake me up which don't anymore. If you haven't tried them I would highly recommend giving sleeping with earplugs a shot. It only takes a few days or so to get used to them. In terms…

3M 1100 work great for me. You can get a box of 200 pairs

Unfortunately they changed a bit the past few years to be slightly less comfortable but I still find them the best overall

Re: The Effect of Noise on Sleep

#59

Post by uludag »

maerF0x0 wrote: post #26
proee wrote: post #5

So just use some good quality earplugs?

thoughts on the safety of that wrt firealarms / home security? Also similarly for parents? (kids/baby crying) I've mostly been YOLOing it so far, but worry that once I'm not single (no kids) it won't be acceptable.

Having been using earplugs sleeping for the past three years, you will definitely hear things like alarms. Even our babies crying will consistently wake me up. With our baby, when it was my time to rest, having earplugs made a huge difference in terms of sleep quality.

Re: The Effect of Noise on Sleep

#60

Post by roamerz »

uludag wrote: post #56

I've been using earplugs practically every night for the past three years and I can't recommend them enough. While the particular kind I use (Mack's ultra soft) don't block out all the noise, there is a wide variety of noises that used to wake me up which don't anymore. If you haven't tried them I would highly recommend giving sleeping with earplugs a shot. It only takes a few days or so to get used to them. In terms…

That’s all great until something happens while you are sleeping that needs your attention. I’d love to be able to use something like that but being responsible for my family’s safety says I cannot.

Maybe there is room for a device that recognizes those types of sounds and maybe triggers a watch vibration would be a solution.

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