I just want to throw out that in ear ear plugs, applied correctly, are the reason I can sleep in a multi-person appt in SF. Serious, probably best qol improvement I’ve made
Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)
101–110 of 531 posts
Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)
#102Anecdata but I recently got headphones with noise cancelling and my quality of life shot through the roof. According to my smartwatch, my heart rate is lower and stress levels are down. Unfortunately, I have to take my headphones off to go to sleep and I'm immediately reminded of the shoddy fridge in my apartment, vent noises, and my neighbor who doesn't realize it's 11:30 PM.
Earplugs can help if you want something less bulky when you sleep
My quality of sleep shot through the roof when I started sleeping with earplugs many years ago. Much deeper sleep. Now, I can't fall asleep without them.
I have an unproven theory in my head that shutting off my hearing while I sleep, quiets my subconscious and even when I'm asleep, my ears are still working so this helps another part of my brain rest as well.
Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)
#103This is one of the things I struggle with the most in life. I feel like most people don't seem to care about noise pollution and zero care is put into designing living spaces or cities to minimize it. I've moved into apartments and nearly cried because I realized that there was some noise pollution that wasn't apparent when I visited it (e.g. a water boiler that ran constantly at night, road noise during the day, etc…
After months of being effectively homeless I moved in to a new place 3 weeks ago. There's this stupid air ventilation system making noise 24/7 and it's already driving me up the walls, and that's with the windows closed. It's like having a car idle outside your house all day and night. Because it's newly built I couldn't have a viewing; normally I would have just passed, but I was kinda desperate. Been trying to contact them about it for 3 weeks too.
At this rate I'd rather lose the deposit than live here for a full year. Road noise a silent hum is fine, but constant "brrrr" is just ... ugh ...
Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
> When earbuds came on the market I switched to active noise cancelling headphones and earbuds several years ago (2015-ish) primarily because they enable me to keep volume at like 20% and still get the benefits of sound isolation. It's been a huge revolution for me personally. Running for 2 hours used to give me an ear-ache. Now it's perfect. The improvement in comfort from music-at-the-office is even bigger. 8 hours…
I hope you aren't running with ear plugs and noise cancelling headphones or have some dedicated safe place to run.
Keep it to a reasonable volume, keep your head on a swivel, wear your PT belt and you’ll be fine. Deaf and hard of hearing folks aren’t getting mowed down in droves.
Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
I had this "conversation" with my neighbor (it was more like me being yelled at) It kind of blew my mind they didnt care about noise interruptions at all hours and told me its my problem. Like maybe if you got a full night of sleep you wouldn't be so angry? I guess this study supports that. The noise in my current apartment is endless, car alarms, screaming and crying kids along with their loud toys, idling cars, the…
> instruments being practiced As a musician... although I understand that, in the end, instrument practice is still noise, it hurts to see this listed among the rest of your items. Last year, I had to move out of an apartment complex because our neighbors would not tolerate even 30 minutes of practice a day (in spite of the ~2 daily hours of lawn care racket, but whatever) and complained to building management. I get…
My issue with my current neighbor (which is why i listed it) is mostly being woken up by the playing. I sleep late on weekends, I guess he wants to practice at 9am on a saturday for a few hours. Its the first thing I hear, he wakes me up, then im stuck listening as i try to get up and out of the apartment. Its also random playing in duration and time. Sometimes I think hes finally done then i get shocked by some loud scales or a random burst. Ideally I would just know how much he wants to practice and when. I'm sure we could figure out a schedule or something. I also offered to split the cost of some sound dampening thing for his saxaphone.
I like to think I'm reasonable and I understand that compromises need to be made for people in our unfortunately crappy apartments. I don't think its fair for me to try to shut down someones practicing. I get people do what they want to do. It sounds like to me likely your neighbor was unreasonable.
Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)
#106Anecdata but I recently got headphones with noise cancelling and my quality of life shot through the roof. According to my smartwatch, my heart rate is lower and stress levels are down. Unfortunately, I have to take my headphones off to go to sleep and I'm immediately reminded of the shoddy fridge in my apartment, vent noises, and my neighbor who doesn't realize it's 11:30 PM.
I have yet to find noise cancelling headphones that don't give me 'stuffy ear' feeling.
Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)
#107> One of the few countries I've been to that takes noise pollution seriously is Switzerland
Not in my experience. From my rented flat overlooking Geneva, when I was working there as a consultant, I used to get the (happy) screams of the kids in the school next door, the thump of heavy metal from the next flat, the whine of aircraft coming in to the airport and the clank of rubbish going down the waste disposal system.
All in all, I would rate it noisier than my flat in Wood Green, North London.
Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
I had this problem before and a handnote to the neighbor did the trick. It turns out they were keeping their dog crate next to the window for entertainment, but in reality it was stressing the dog out, because he could see all the people walking past on the sidewalk. They relocated the crate and the problem was solved. And if direct engagement leads you nowhere then I would reach out to the landlord.
> dog crate sorry, what is that?
A little home for your dog within your home. It helps them feel secure and that they have a space that is their own.
Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)
#109I recently worked through a bout of stress induced sleep onset insomnia, which my sleep psych suspects was triggered by a series of sleep interruptions over 3 years from horrendous neighbors in the last few years (a party that started at 3 am apparently was what broke the camels back) It took me a month of CBT to break the back of it, and everything is (mostly) back to normal now, but it just blows my mind how insens…
Call me an authoritarian, but 'bad apartment etiquette' is one area where I wish there was a social credit score to impact.
Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)
#110This is one of the things I struggle with the most in life. I feel like most people don't seem to care about noise pollution and zero care is put into designing living spaces or cities to minimize it. I've moved into apartments and nearly cried because I realized that there was some noise pollution that wasn't apparent when I visited it (e.g. a water boiler that ran constantly at night, road noise during the day, etc…
I found Iceland to be very quiet as well. Likely since there's so few people to make noise in the first place.