Can White Noise Be Your Sleep Saviour?
White noise. Sleep quality. REM sleep. Sleep duration. Pink, brown, & blue noise.
Sleep and I have always had a bit of an extreme relationship with each other, one may even say a love-hate one, either too much of it or barely enough. The way I fall asleep is simply not being able to stay awake any more, which once I got older, I realised that’s not how it should be or how most people fall asleep. There’s people get into bed, close their eyes and a few minutes later they’re asleep - I still don’t get how people do that but I kind of envy them… I’ve tried everything and anything in the book to help me sleep but also to improve my sleep quality. Well turns out there was something I was not aware of and introduced to less than a year ago (which I was a sceptic at first) and that is white noise.
So, let’s wind back many many months ago, I’m about to fall asleep and I’m told that the white machine sound needs to be switched on first. In all honesty, I did not know what to expect, and lo and behold, a sound that emulates that of a microwave fills the room. It was quite an annoying sound to say the least, well the days passed, and it still felt equally annoying, I still did not feel rested but kept it in the back of my mind as a possible solution.
I’d heard multiple senior colleagues comment on how using white noise helped their babies fall asleep, so surely it would work on adults too, right? Well recently, I was having trouble sleeping, and I told myself what do I have to lose, let’s give it a shot.
But first, let’s breakdown the basics and the science behind it.
So, what is white noise? 🎶
White noise contains all frequencies across the spectrum of audible sound in equal measure, and that would be from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Examples include radio / television static, vacuum, the hum of an AC - so maybe I was not that far off with the microwave relation, and yes, I know they sound far from relaxing.
But why is white noise good? Well, simply it’s able to mask other sounds out.
And I can confirm the above, living in London where there’s noise constantly, when I’d put on white noise I would barely hear anything happening outside on the road. So, those noises that could disrupt your sleep are actually masked.
More Noise Colours
Upon doing my research of white noise, I found out there’s also pink, brown, and blue noise. The graphic below explains the differences of each and how it may aid in sleep.
White, pink, and blue are for sleep, and turns out brown helps for concentration - I’ve yet to test it, so cannot comment on how efficient it is just yet…
Some people use pink noise for sleep, and that tends to be sounds resembling nature - those can be rustling leaves, gentle rain, waves crashing on the beach. It could also be the relaxing aspect of nature that contributes to the winding down to sleep. But also do note that the sounds are consistent over and over again, as opposed to being in nature where there will be variation over time.
The Science Behind White Noise
Studies are divided as to whether white noise helps adults fall asleep faster, but we’re all different and something that may work for me might not for you, and vice-versa. A 2021 study on the effect of white noise on individuals living in NYC, concluded that white noise significantly improved sleep in those complaining of difficulty sleeping due to high levels of environmental noise.1 And why is that?
Environment noise is a common source of sleep disruption, especially for those living in big cities
White noise helps to mitigate the effects of environmental noise on sleep
Some sleep promoting benefits of white noise continue after it has been stopped
A lot of research has been done on using white noise for critically ill patients in hospital. Afshar et al. looking at patients in coronary care found that using white noise of 40-50 dB for one hour during the noisiest hours of the night resulted in improved sleep and maintaining of sleep.2 The mean sleep quality score in both groups showed significant differences (p < 0.001); for the control group it worsened by a lot while for the experimental one it improved.
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Similar results were also seen by Warjri et al. and Tonna et al. on sleep quality and incidence of delirium in ICU patients, respectively. 34
Implementing White Noise
There are a few different ways you can add white noise into your nighttime routine:
Use Youtube / Spotify - there’s a plethora of white noise tracks uploaded, some of which go on and on for hours, and if not, you can just play it on repeat. Switching though tracks would kind of counteract the point of having a constant same noise.
Use an app - as there’s an app for everything out there, you bet there is one for white noise too. Headspace has a white noise feature, used by a friend and highly recommended.
Use a white noise machine - these tend to be small devices that come with a variety of different white noise sounds, so you can choose which you like, adjust the volume of it, and even set timers for how long it should go on for.
Prior to committing to buying a machine, I’d suggest using an app or Spotify. You can also connect to a speaker, or even an Alexa, so the noise is not coming from your phone which tends to be next to your head. As long as the sound source is placed at a moderate distance from your bed, in order for the sound to cover the entire room you should be good. Also, don’t have it be too loud, but loud enough to mask other noises.
There’s many people searching more and more for sleep music, white noise, and rain sounds across many platforms, with one being YouTube. Also, turns out the white noise market is worth more than $1 million…
But long story short this is the potential maximal outcome of using white noise:
Block out disruptive noises
Enhance sleep duration & depth
Improve REM sleep
Promote relaxation & sleep onset
White noise can be a game changer for many, and of course a better night’s sleep means better overall physical and mental health. Don’t get me wrong it’s not the most pleasant thing the first (many) nights, but if you live in a noise environment it definitely masks sounds. At time I can’t sleep with it, and when I have it on my mind does drift and go into overthinking, and I’ve heard that from other people too. But like a lot of things when it comes to our day-to-day life and health, with trial and error we can find what works for us and what does not.
So, the next time you find yourself tossing and turning, consider giving white noise a try. You might drift off to sleep much faster than before and into deeper sleep too, and if you don’t feel like committing to a device just yet, give the other options a go.
If you give it a try, or already do would love to hear how it is working out for you! 😴
If you’re interested in learning more about sleep, I have written another post about it.
If you want to hear a snippet of my machine, this is what it sounds like - a bit like an airplane, but do note the recording does not truly reflect how it sounds in person.
I hope you enjoyed, thank you for taking some time out of your day to read / listen to my post! See you next week! :)
Other posts you might like:
Ebben, M. R., Yan, P., & Krieger, A. C. (2021). The effects of white noise on sleep and duration in individuals living in a high noise environment in new york city. Sleep Medicine, 83, 256-259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2021.03.031
Afshar, P. F., Bahramnezhad, F., Asgari, P., & Shiri, M. M. (2016). Effect of white noise on sleep in patients admitted to a coronary care. Journal of Caring Sciences, 5(2), 103-109. https://doi.org/10.15171/jcs.2016.011
Warjri, E., et al. (2022). Impact of a white noise app on sleep quality among critically ill patients. Nursing in critical care, 27(6), 815–823. https://doi.org/10.1111/nicc.12742
Tonna, J. E. et al. (2021). The Effect of a Quality Improvement Intervention on Sleep and Delirium in Critically Ill Patients in a Surgical ICU. Chest, 160(3), 899–908. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2021.03.030
I bought a white noise machine from the baby section at Walmart a few months ago and I love it. I dont necessarily know if it helps me fall asleep quicker, but I stay asleep and definitely feel like I’m getting a deeper sleep. And if I do wake up, it’s usually pretty easy for me to fall right back asleep.
This is random, but another thing that helps me fall asleep in watching Bob Ross’s The Joy of Painting. It is just so calming to watch. I swear I’m out in less than 10 minutes. I just set a sleep timer on my TV for like an hour so it goes off on its own
So interesting. I’ve had insomnia since childhood. I take melatonin, but extreme amounts, chamomile and honey too, and still it’s tough. The weirdest thing is even when I sleep very little and feel super tired I still can’t sleep unless I take all the stuff and have some noise of the air filter.