Is the popular sleep aid “white noise” fake science or real scam?

"My eyes were as big as bells, and I tossed and turned until dawn"... What kind of pain is it to toss and turn in sleep, unable to fall asleep?

It's probably: lie on the bed, and then 👇👇

There are as many as 300 million people in my country who suffer from this sleep disorder. According to a sleep survey report released by the China Sleep Research Society, in 2020, the overall sleep time of the entire population was delayed by 2 to 3 hours, including:

More than 3/4 of people fall asleep after 23:00 at night;

Nearly one-third of people stay up until after 1 a.m.

Correspondingly, the number of searches for sleep problems has also increased by 43%. Every late night, most insomniacs are probably searching for "how to fall asleep" skillfully on their mobile phones.

Not only that, they also tried various methods to improve sleep: wearing eye masks, plugging earplugs, drinking milk, smelling fragrances, buying sleep monitors...

Against this background, sleep-aid products called “white noise” have also begun to become popular.

Listen! The sound of falling rain, gentle waves, the crackling of burning wood... the sound of wind, rain, and reading, all of which are pleasant to your ears. Waves of sleepiness come over you, and you finally fall asleep successfully.

What is the magic of white noise in helping you fall asleep?

It is composed of 20-2000 Hz sounds that can be perceived by the human ear. The brain will resonate with this monotonous and regular sound, putting the brain in a quiet and relatively inactive state, causing people to feel tired and sleepy until they fall asleep.

It's not just sounds, all monotonous and stereotyped activities can easily cause the brain to produce fatigue reactions. For example, when you can't sleep, you count sheep and fall asleep while counting. It's the same principle.

At the same time, white noise can also cover up those sounds that disturb your sleep, such as your partner's snoring, the sound of traffic outside the window, and the sharp chirping of cicadas...

Falling asleep to white noise has become a sleeping habit for many young people today. Just searching for "white noise" on NetEase Cloud Music, you can find nearly 500 playlists, each of which has millions or tens of millions of plays.

When searching for sleep aid software in mobile app stores, you can also see that white noise searches dominate, with several apps having over 10 million installs. Even white noise apps for infants and young children have 320,000 installs.

What’s even more exaggerated is that there is a “white noise sleep device” specifically for sale on Taobao, which costs as much as 2,000 yuan. Its function is to cover up external noise and play white noise.

White noise is so popular because it is exactly what everyone expects: to have a good sleep after dragging a tired body off work, after every sleepless night, or when facing a crying child.

However, the facts may disappoint you.

Currently, only some studies have shown that white noise can shorten the time it takes subjects to fall asleep.

But it may bring more problems:

Will make you more tired the more you sleep:

In 2020, the latest research results published by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine showed that if you are continuously exposed to noise, your auditory system is likely to not get a rest. The inner ear converts sound signals into nerve signals and sends them to the brain for analysis. The brain needs to remain active throughout the process.

The result is that the more you sleep, the more tired you feel. When you wake up the next day, you will feel sluggish, have difficulty concentrating, and your mood will be affected.

Source: University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

In addition, excessively loud white noise may damage hearing and cognitive function, mask tinnitus, and in severe cases, damage heart health.

Will affect the language ability of infants and young children:

Nowadays, many mothers regard white noise as a "magic weapon for soothing babies", but a study published in Pediatrics in 2014 pointed out that if babies are exposed to white noise for a long time, it may mask normal auditory input such as language, thereby affecting the development of the baby's language ability.

Therefore, even if it is used at a low volume and at a long distance (>2m), it is not recommended to play it for babies frequently or for a long time.

To mask life alert information:

The crying of children, the sound of smoke alarms, the sound of burglar alarms... these urgent and important sounds are very likely to be covered up by the sound of white noise. If this really happens, the consequences will be disastrous.

Damage to the ears:

Putting aside white noise, wearing earplugs or headphones for a long time while sleeping will increase the risk of external auditory canal inflammation and even damage hearing.

Finally, and more importantly, playing white noise gives you another reason to touch your phone before bed: you clearly want to help you sleep, but end up playing with it until two or three in the morning without realizing it.

For insomniacs, perhaps the only thing keeping you awake is your phone. Putting your phone aside is also a way to fall asleep quickly.

Source: Youlai Healthy Life