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The Effect of Noise on Sleep

empirical.health

181–190 of 202 posts

Re: The Effect of Noise on Sleep

#181
post #67

I’ve spent years “fixing” my sleep. Things I recommend: * a sleep tracker. I love AutoSleep - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/autosleep-track-sleep-on-watch... * Any kind of white noise. I use an air purifier at home, and a little pocket size white noise machine when I travel. * find and eliminate any noises in your home. Computers, fridges, squeaky doors, etc. * find and eliminate any lights. Especially stupid power a…

I've also been doing small improvements to my sleep over the years and share some of your recommendations! What's worked best for me have been: 1. Good mattress and pillow (this is a 101 kind of thing). 2. Having the right temperature (same as above). 3. White noise. I also use a white noise machine and the White Noise app on iOS (which I bought for like $1 years ago and still use it). Ironically, I don't use white n…

> Ironically, I don't use white noise but brown noise, which is slightly more soothing to me

In case you or others didn't know, iOS has a built in noise generator with different presets under the accessibility options. Sometimes I use it with AirPods and active noise cancellation and it pretty much guarantees I can get a solid block of sleep, at least as long as the batteries last in one go.

The feature is called "Background Sounds"

Re: The Effect of Noise on Sleep

#182
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These custom earplugs are the most comfortable I've ever worn: https://www.elacin.com/your-perfect-fit/leisure/relax-sleep/

Nice. Which model do you use? And do they sell them in the U.S.? Not that I would mind making a trip overseas and getting away from the insanity here for a little while, but it adds to the cost.

I have the "Relax & Sleep" pair. I got mine from a Finnish reseller, and thought they were a global company but they seem to list only European locations. I believe thomann.de delivers to the U.S., but that's little help since the point of these would be to get them made individually.

I would assume that your local audiologist or music instrument store will know what the U.S. equivalent to these is. It seems to me that Elacin's biggest market is musicians who want a comfortable pair of earplugs with a flat frequency response.

Re: The Effect of Noise on Sleep

#183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Foam are significantly less comfortable for side sleeping and block less noise than Silicone (Mack's) which still come in large sets for well under $1/pair.

I don't know about the 1100 but I have another model (ear classic), just simple foam earplugs, of the same manufacturer. Having gone through many different foam, silicon etc plugs from the pharmacy and grocery shop, the 3M are undeniably the best I've ever had. No pain from the foam expanding bigger than the ear canal (although it's initially bigger), no itching from sweat etc, no pressure on the eardrum when side-sl…

I use EAR Classics too. I sleep on a dense pillow, so when there's some noise outside/near the apartment I lay down on the side and put in the earplug into the "top" ear so that the other/bottom ear is then blocked by the pillow. If I change my position during sleep, the noise is usually gone by then (also I tend to be bothered less by noise if I'm already asleep). This is because for some reason I generally sleep better when my ears aren't covered.

Re: The Effect of Noise on Sleep

#184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ear plugs! https://acscustom.com/uk/products/other-products/sleep-sound

Unfortunately, ear plugs would not help against low frequency bass noise, which this noise typically is.

Ear plugs should reduce intensity of sounds across the board. Yes, they’re less effective against low frequency noise, but reducing the intensity any amount goes a long way – the logarithmic scale is real!

I also personally find high frequency noise to be more disruptive: a car speeding by making wind noise is a lot worse than a large truck rumbling by slowly. Lower frequency is lower energy, after all

Re: The Effect of Noise on Sleep

#185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish there were an expert or researcher interested in these areas: residential buildings, shops, parks, churches, and schools. You mean an expert in acoustics related to those areas? There are lots of experts and researchers. Take a look at the Acoustical Society of America, the Institute of Noise Control Engineering, and Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation for starters. Penn State, Unive…

Oh, but I'm in Singapore.

That might make you want to look at that list of organizations and then seek similar organizations or schools in Singapore, if you didn't already try. Good luck with the hum.

Re: The Effect of Noise on Sleep

#186
I haven’t seen it mentioned, but a few extra sleep hacks I have learned: - I use the chili-sleep to control temperature. - I use sleep headphones to drift to sleep to a story. If I wake up ruminating, I turn the headphones back on and it helps break the cycle. - Sleep socks. I sleep with socks on.

Re: The Effect of Noise on Sleep

#187
post #67

I’ve spent years “fixing” my sleep. Things I recommend: * a sleep tracker. I love AutoSleep - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/autosleep-track-sleep-on-watch... * Any kind of white noise. I use an air purifier at home, and a little pocket size white noise machine when I travel. * find and eliminate any noises in your home. Computers, fridges, squeaky doors, etc. * find and eliminate any lights. Especially stupid power a…

I've also been doing small improvements to my sleep over the years and share some of your recommendations! What's worked best for me have been: 1. Good mattress and pillow (this is a 101 kind of thing). 2. Having the right temperature (same as above). 3. White noise. I also use a white noise machine and the White Noise app on iOS (which I bought for like $1 years ago and still use it). Ironically, I don't use white n…

What is the purpose of hearing the white noise? Is it to shield from other sounds? Or to distract from thinking? Are you focussing on it or not?

Re: The Effect of Noise on Sleep

#188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, the best way to cure this is "don't live underneath other people".

I second this. If you really have to live in a flat, top floor is always the superior option.

Not unless you live in a country like Germany where AC is the devil and the top floor is always incredibly hot.

Re: The Effect of Noise on Sleep

#189
post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The utility of having a backup beeper or any noise making device on that site is thus zero. This strikes me as an odd take, maybe from someone who has never worked on a construction site. Our auditory sense is more than just a binary “present/not present” detection. We can sense distance and direction. Just because there is a backup beeper somewhere on site does not mean there is no value to any other auditory sign…

You just believe you can sense the direction of loud noises in urban environments. Our nervous system has no "404 not found" for positional awareness. Even after severe head trauma, you have a sense of position for everything. It's so wrong as to be useless, but you have it. Ask anyone who's been at a shooting in a city. Everyone gives a different answer for where the shooter was at. It's such a severe issue the US A…

As the other poster mentioned, the characteristics of sound matter. That’s why the report of a firearm is a bad example.

But there are more commonplace examples. Older phone ringtones are often hard for people to locate, but nearly everybody can pinpoint the sound of a dropped coin. Sound perception is more complex than just perception of pressure levels. To the point above, you wouldn’t confuse a car honking in front of you with one behind you even in the presence of ambiguous ambient noise.

Re: The Effect of Noise on Sleep

#190
post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and this is how societal progress slowly crawls to a halt.

Moving fast and breaking things has a place. It’s just an error to think it applies to everything. There’s a reason why it’s usually relegated to relatively low-risk applications. I doubt you’d advocate an avionics engineer to take the same attitude.

You're the only one who said break things
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