How Can Pink Noise Help You Sleep Better?

A good night’s sleep is important for maintaining good health throughout your entire life. Consistently waking up feeling rested and refreshed can impact everything from your physical and mental health to your overall happiness. For many, achieving a restful night of sleep can be difficult. In the United States alone, more than 40 million people are living with a diagnosed sleep disorder, and many more remain undiagnosed. 

At Advanced Sleep Medicine Services, we pay a lot of attention to those with sleep disorders, like sleep apnea. But what about their bed partners? Snoring and sleep apnea can be very disruptive to the otherwise healthy partner. That’s where pink noise may come in.

Most people have heard that white noise can help you sleep better. White noise is basically background noise that helps break up the silence of the room and helps your mind calm down and relax so that you can sleep. Even when you are sound asleep, your brain is still awake and processing noise. Sudden noises, like your partner’s snoring or the creak of a bed, constantly interrupt your sleep and keep your brain on alert. White noise masks and muffles these sounds, creating a more consistent—and ambient background, helping you sleep more soundly. 

Although white noise is helpful for sleep, another type of noise has been getting a lot of attention lately and that is pink noise. In fact, pink noise has been found to be even more beneficial than white noise when it comes to sleep. 

What is Pink Noise? 

White noise is a term that most people have heard of. This refers to sound that is produced when the sounds of different frequencies are combined, such as the buzz of a radio station or the static of a TV. On the other hand, pink noise, consists of a perfectly consistent frequency, like rain falling on the sidewalk. The reason that it is called pink is because light that has a similar power spectrum would appear to be pink. 

How Does Pink Noise Affect Sleep? 

Research conducted by Jue Zhang, Ph.D., an associate professor at China’s Peking University, studied how exposure to pink noise would affect people’s sleep. Zhang and his team recruited 50 people for the study. Participants were either exposed to no noise or pink noise during daytime naps and nighttime sleep. Their brain activity was monitored to see how pink noise affected the brain. Based on the results of the study, stable, restful sleep increased more than 23 percent among the night time sleepers exposed to pink noise. It increased more than 45 percent in nappers. More than 75 percent of the participants reported better sleep when exposed to pink noise. 

According to Zhang, sound plays a large role in brain wave synchronization and brain activity while you are asleep. The steady, rhythmic pink noise regulates and slows your brain waves. This noise causes a very deep, restful sleep. 

How Can I Experience the Benefits of Pink Noise? 

A new product, called SoundOff is a patented small, in-ear headphone set with adjustable ear loops that can be worn at night. It is promoted as the only noise masking earbuds that use pink nose to calm the sleeping brain and improve sleep quality.You can learn more about SoundOff and read reviews of people who have tried the device to mask their bed partner’s snoring on their website here (this is not an affiliate link).

In addition to trying out SoundOff’s new earphones , how can you experience the benefits of pink noise to help you sleep better? Here are some tips: 

• Fans that produce a steady, uninterrupted sound
• Devices that imitate falling rain or produce a sound like a gentle breeze through the trees
• Apps that play pink noise through your cell phone or computer speakers
• Listen to 10 hours of pink noise here on Youtube

It is evident that pink noise can help one have a better night’s sleep; however, if you’re concerned that you or a loved one may suffer from a sleep disorder like sleep apnea, you should get help. Take our easy 2 minute online sleepiness quiz and share the results with your doctor.

Take the sleepiness quiz

Sources:

• http://www2.coe.pku.edu.cn/tpic/201282213140529.pdf
• http://www.prevention.com/health/sleep-energy/how-pink-noise-makes-better-sleep
• http://www.livescience.com/38464-what-is-pink-noise.html 

Other posts you may find interesting:

• So What if I Snore? The Link between Snoring and Sleep Apnea
• Which Doctor Should I Talk to About My Sleep Problems?
• Sleeping Outside and Camping with CPAP
• Why Women with Sleep Apnea are Overlooked