

Pelayo explained, it decides that sleeping is more important. Unless your brain judges the noise as dangerous or unfamiliar, Dr. That varies from person to person and from situation to situation, he said you might be shocked into waking up if someone whispered in your ear, but be able to sleep through sirens or slamming doors if you're used to those. Pelayo explained that what white noise really affects is your "arousal threshold," or the amount of stimulation, like noise, it takes to wake you from sleep. Probably the benefit most of us associate with white noise is how effectively it blocks out other noises: the loud, sudden ones that might wake you up. "The reason that we fall asleep in monotonous environments is not because we're bored, it's because boredom or monotony implies safety." Familiar background noises, like white noise, can induce those same feelings of familiarity that tell your brain it's OK to fall asleep now because you're in a recognizable, and therefore safe, environment. That sound is an effective sleep aid, he said, because people sleep best in a place of serenity and calm. The noise itself is simply a combination of all frequencies of sound played at the same volume so that "it sounds like a din, a background noise," Dr. That comfort and familiarity is a key reason why white noise works as a sleep aid, according to Rafael Pelayo, MD, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine. I Spent $48 on a Sleep Mask, and It's Better Than Sleeping With Blackout Curtains and Earplugs

The white noise, though, seemed to absorb any small sounds that might break through the silence and made falling asleep almost effortless. Sometimes, I needed it even more in rooms that were totally silent the quiet made me even more on edge. Even when I moved to quieter rooms, and then out of college altogether, the white noise was always what made me comfortable enough to fall asleep. The machine I had then, which is the one I still use today, sounds like a mixture of waves hitting sand and a soft wind, or like a long, rising-and-falling "shhh" sound. My roommate wanted to try it, though, and within the first few weeks, we were both hooked. I fell asleep pretty easily - not always immediately, but fast enough - and thought throwing a weird, hissing machine into the mix would only make things worse. At first, I'll admit, I thought it was a little over-the-top. I've been using a white noise machine to fall asleep for five years now, ever since my freshman year of college. If you buy a product we have recommended, we may receive affiliate commission, which in turn supports our work. As POPSUGAR editors, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too.
