Nothing ruins your sleep more than an annoying noise that simply won’t go away. It taps into your brain, keeping your consciousness reeled in and preventing you from going to “Lala land” – regardless of your efforts to fall asleep.
If there’s noise, the slightest change of frequency will just wake you up and reel you back into consciousness. However, with the right sounds, you may end up sleeping like a baby throughout the entire night.
There are basically two types of noises, and each of them can either help or disrupt your sleeping process. Today, we will present these noises. We will see what kind of sounds can help you sleep better. We will also reveal the sounds that can result in sleeping disorders and have a negative effect on your overall health.
White Noise
White noise is a sound signal that remains linear. The range of the frequencies is between 40 Hz and 60 Hz. It has no dynamics, no changes, and doesn’t exceed the frequency limits. Because of its linearity, people find this sound soothing and perfect when they need to meditate or sleep.
How White Noise Affects Us
Some people claim that they can sleep without any difficulty as long as something is producing white noise. White noise can be associated with continuous rain, waves breaking or a wind continuously blowing. It is a type of sound that can easily be set in the environment you sleep in.
This type of noise can help you camouflage other noises that happen in the environment. White noise blocks sound that distracts you from sleeping.
The director of Northwest Hospital Sleep Center in Seattle, Ralph Pascualy, states that white noise helps you deal with random noises. Random sounds are dynamic and can go from low to high frequencies in an instant. It is why white noise, being linear and constant, can soften those changing frequencies.
Some examples of random or black noises are:- a car alarm sets off, a dog starting barking, a car drives on the street, or somebody slams the door.
How To Use White Noise
There are many sites on the Internet or even machines called white noise generators that you can set to produce white noise while you sleep. Even David N. Neubauer, a sleep expert states that he cannot sleep without having his fan on. Some prefer listening to their fridge or air conditioner while others are lucky and live near the sea or jungle.
You can use white noise in other ways. Some people use white noise because there is too much silence and they cannot sleep. It can also help you sleep faster if you have tinnitus or if you always stay awake for a good hour or so for having random thoughts.
Random Noise or Black Noise
You may call random noise black noise because these sounds are not soothing or linear and they are disruptive. Black noise is the most annoying when we are in the early stages of sleep. This type of noise can even wake you up from a deep sleep, and you will have a hard time falling asleep again.
The reason why we are so responsive to this type of noise is that our brain continues to intercept and process any sound. If people are affected by this kind of noise every night, and they cannot get the recommended hours of sleep, they can risk developing heart disease, diabetes, heart stroke, etc.
Luckily, you can diminish the effects of black noise by using a source of white noise. Besides the natural sources, you can also purchase devices that are specially designed to create white noise. They are easy to find and come at an affordable price. Hope that helped.
Image source: Pixabay
