Is It Safe To Sleep With Noise Canceling Headphones: Honest Pros and Cons
Enough sleep is something it seems like everyone is searching for, and no one can quite achieve. A high-quality set of noise-canceling headphones can help, but are they safe to sleep in? Whether your significant other snores or you live too close to a highway or train tracks, there are plenty of reasons why you might want noise-canceling headphones. Unfortunately, wanting something and asking whether it’s good for you are not the same thing. While there are a couple of potential issues with sleeping in your noise-canceling headphones, they are easily solved. Moreover, getting rid of distractions while you sleep is healthy and beneficial. I’ll share everything you need to know, how to find the ideal set of noise-canceling headphones for sleeping and how to work around the cons as well.
Is it safe to sleep with noise-canceling headphones? It is safe to sleep with noise-canceling headphones. More importantly, it can help you get better rest, which will do more than leave you feeling refreshed. Over time, getting proper sleep can positively affect your stress level, focus, and blood pressure, plus decrease your chances of a heart attack.
Are Noise Cancelling Headphones Safe For Sleep
When you’re struggling to sleep through the night, a pair of noise-canceling headphones is a safe and effective way to increase your rest. By blocking out some or all of the background noise that may be troubling you, your mind is more prepared for rest. Since it doesn’t have to process those noisy neighbors or city noises, you can relax and drift right off without worries.
According to Dr. Andrew Weil, “Actually, noise-canceling headphones can be beneficial, since both loud noises and constant low-level noise can lead to health problems. Acute loud noises can damage hearing, interfere with sleep, raise blood pressure and stress levels, and cause headaches.” People exposed to constant noise are more likely to suffer from stress and heart conditions. It’s easy to see why sleeping in peace can be a significant boon to your health and overall wellbeing.
Even children in loud environments show more cortisol. This stress hormone isn’t good for anyone, regardless of their age. Not only are noise-canceling headphones perfectly safe for sleep, but wearing them is beneficial while you are awake.
Types of Noise Cancelling Headphones
There are three different types of noise-canceling headphones. The differences mostly relate to how and where they are worn. In-ear headphones or earbuds go inside the ear canal, meanwhile on-ear outside. Finally, over-ear headphones surround the entire ear creating a seal around it without actually pressing on the ear itself.
Especially if you have ear tubes or other aural health concerns, over-ear noise-canceling headphones are likely to be the best choice. Most people find the full-ear surrounding style most comfortable anyhow. However, for those who struggle to keep a headset in place, a better fit might be the ear-bud style or even a combination of the two.
In addition to the shape and fit of your noise-canceling headset, there are two sub-categories. Inactive noise canceling is a simple buffer between your head and the noise outside. Like earplugs, these help reduce the effects of outside noise in the form of a barrier to diffuse the sound waves.
Passive headphones tend to be bulkier. The size can mean that this style has more weight and is less comfortable to wear while sleeping in bed at night. Still, they work well enough for sitting in an airplane.
Active noise-canceling headphones, on the other hand, produce a countermeasure to cancel the sound wave. By sensing noise and making an exactly opposite noise, this is called 180° out of phase. In short, these headphones reduce the sound reaching your ears by stopping it. Better still, this style is often sleeker and lighter to wear.
You will need to recharge active NC headphones for them to work. Fortunately, most last eight to thirty hours on a single charge. Plus, less weight and smaller size make this variety much easier to wear while sleeping.
Try a set of over-the-ear Mpow Active Noise Cancelling Headphones from Amazon to get an excellent night’s rest. Not only will these last up to forty-five hours on a single charge, but they also weigh in at a mere seven-point two ounces. That’s very light. Best of all, they are compatible with Android and iOS smartphones and, MP3-4, iPods, PCs, Bluetooth TVs, tablets, and other Bluetooth-enabled devices. To read the impressive reviews, click here.
How Good Are Noise Canceling Headphones
Now that you know it’s safe to wear noise-canceling headphones to sleep, the question is, are they effective? Naturally, if you already own a set for daytime use, then you know the answer is a resounding yes. Nevertheless, let’s look at just how effective passive and active versions are for helping you sleep.
For those who prefer low-tech passive headphones, you’ll be happy to know that all that bulk certainly does the job. Merely by adding the proper padding in NC headphones, you can reduce the outside noise level by up to twenty decibels. To put that in perspective, a whisper is about thirty decibels, while a loud conversation is around sixty, and a standard motorcycle engine is typically around ninety-five decibels.
Sustained noise over eighty-five decibels can damage your hearing. Thus, even a twenty-decibel reduction can mean the difference between permanent hearing loss and saving your ears if your sleep environment is deafening. NIHL (noise-induced hearing loss) is no joke. At just a hundred and twenty decibels, you can have instant damage.
Why upgrade to active NC headphones? Well, they reduce noise by thirty to forty decibels. That’s more than enough for most people to get a superb night’s rest in (almost) any situation. That means a sound that would cause permanent damage without headphones is not loud enough to cause damage even if it’s sustained over a long period. Most noises less powerful than a stun grenade (one-hundred-seventy-decibels) should be bearable with active noise-canceling headphones.
Ear Plugs Are Not Better
You may find yourself wondering if a small set of earplugs wouldn’t be better. Unfortunately, though earplugs are valuable in their own time and place, they are not a better solution for a quiet night’s sleep. Not only do most earplugs reduce sound less effectively, but there are also more alarming downsides to their use.
For example, earplugs can cause discomfort, and if you roll onto your side in your sleep, they can even cause damage in extreme cases. Furthermore, earplugs aren’t typically washable. This leads to problems with waste. Not only will you spend money on replacements, but they add up in landfills as well.
Sadly, impacted ear wax can result from plugs, and that can cause a lot of pain and discomfort. Not to mention that you could end up needing to see an ear, nose, and throat specialist to deal with that waxy blockage. Additionally, earplugs can cause bacterial infections if you re-use them.
Get a high-quality set of SuperEQ Active Noise Cancelling Headphones to block the sound out instead. These stylish and breathable, active noise-canceling headphones have an ultra-fast and stable connection within thirty-three feet of your connected Bluetooth device. Moreover, they can connect to multiple devices, and they have high fidelity stereo sound with deep bass for when you want to replace the noise instead of merely canceling it out. Have Amazon ship to your door by clicking here.
The Downsides of Noise Canceling Headphones
Every product has its flaws, and noise-canceling headphones are no exception even though they’re generally safe. There are a few potential issues. Fortunately, all of them are easily resolved with common sense solutions.
First, since these are designed to cancel noise, there can be minor issues associated with lessening your hearing ability. You may miss an alarm going off or not hear other important noises such as a child crying as easily. For the first issue, a Bluetooth NC headset paired with a smartphone alarm would easily resolve the issue.
Another consideration is that noise these headphones only offer relative safety because Bluetooth volume is up to you. While it can be delightful to fall asleep to your favorite books on tape or music, any sound at high volumes will damage your hearing. As you can see, that has little to do with the headphones’ effectiveness and everything to do with how you use additional features.
Getting used to wearing headphones to bed can be a minor challenge. It’s not uncommon for some sleepers to have a harder time getting the rest they need initially due to the unusual sensation. Likewise, you can bump a headset off if you’re a restless sleeper.
Finding your fit is vital. A headset that squeezes until it causes headaches will not help you sleep. Regrettably, a too-lose set also won’t help because they will fall off and thus be useless to you. Moreover, you could roll over them, causing discomfort or breaking the headset in your sleep.
Upgrade to a VOUO Bluetooth Sleep Headphones With Mask and block the light along with the noise for a superb night’s rest. Not only are these ergonomic, but the cover is a hundred percent cotton. Plus, you can sleep worry-free with free lifetime technical support, and the Amazon 30-days money-back plan included. Learn more by clicking here.
Final Thoughts
If you’ve never slept in noise-canceling headphones, then you’ll be surprised at how much difference they can make. A good night’s rest is more important than most people realize. Quiet sleep can help you stay healthy and perform better at work and in your day-to-day life.
Although there can be an adjustment period, for most people, it’s relatively minimal. The other downsides to noise-canceling headphones are simple to workaround. With a little effort and the right fit, you’ll be sleeping like a baby in no time.
Everyone should have noise-canceling headphones. Even if you don’t need them at home, taking them with you when you travel can be a real brain-saver when it comes to keeping a regular sleep schedule.