Are there noise cancelling headphones for people sleeping through a night of loud noise, disturbances and a partner snoring? Yes, there is.
Noise cancelling headphones are a must have for any traveler. They can not only help you sleep on an airplane, but also at home when pesky pets and kids keep us all awake with their noise!
Noise-canceling earphones let people enjoy the silence while sleeping in loud and noisy environments without disturbing others or disrupting one’s own restful slumber.
Do noise Cancelling headphones block out snoring?
To answer the question whether noise cancelling heapdhones do really block out the snore sounds by a snoring partner, we conducted a study.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of active noise canceling (ANC) technology on sleep in snorers.
METHODS: We conducted a randomized crossover trial with two interventions. A total of 12 participants with moderate to severe snoring completed the study with no significant difference in baseline scores on waking sleepiness, overall quality of life, or partner dissatisfaction between study arms.
RESULTS: The standard deviation for delta wave activity was lower for those wearing ANC than without ANC (P = 0.002). Mean duration and severity index were also significantly lower during nights when noise-canceling headsets were worn (P = 0.02). There is a small but statistically significant improvement after wearing active noise canceling headsets around the ears.
Noise-cancelling headphones make it easier to sleep in a noisy room.
The surround sound created by noise cancelling headphones is very soothing and can help block out other sounds too. It has been shown that when people wear a pair of these, they are less likely to wake up during the night. These are also recommended for travelers to use on long car and plane journeys as well as for shift workers to create their own personal audio cocoon from the daytime city din.
Noise cancellation reduces external ambient noise with active computerized frequencies so you can work or sleep without neighbors or traffic waking you up; though keep in noise isolation in mind if your partner needs a nap or heavy reading time within earshot of you
But we need to be clear about what these devices do really do.
Noise cancelling headphones do not block out snoring. They create a buffer between you, the snorer, and the outside noise so that it is easier to sleep through their sounds.
Check: Noise Cancelling headphones for Sensory overload
If your partner is an especially heavy sleeper, this could work for you. You might also want to see if they have any allergies or sinus congestion causing them to snore more than usual and try treating those things first before experimenting with noise cancelling headphones as a sleep aid solution.
Is it OK to sleep with earplugs every night?
There are no clear guidelines on how often earplugs should be used.
They can save your ears from loud noises below the noise level of 85 decibels; however, using them every night to manage noisy sleepers (or even partner snoring) may lead to a habituation effect so that your body will need these plugs more and more often as it tries desperately to tune out the constant rush of sound around you.
The disadvantage is obviously battery life or loss of another pair if you don’t have spares for travel.
If one has an underlying hearing problem like tinnitus, it’s usually recommended they wear them for 30 minutes each hour while awake in order to help keep sounds quieter than normal volume levels during the night.
Related: Best Noise cancelling headphones for working out.