Inside Feature: White Noise for Snoring

In the third and final installment of our 2010 Mother's Day information series, we take a closer look at the most heavy-duty solution for snoring out there: white noise. As you ladies know, snoring is serious business, and you may have already tried white noise to block it out -- without success. Here's the inside scoop, moms: a white noise machine alone isn't enough for the most extreme snoring. We take you inside the world of white noise for snoring so you can learn how to fight the loudest, most obnoxious, sleep-stealing snoring out there.

Inside Feature: White Noise for Snoring

If you've tried breathing strips, nasal sprays, ear plugs, and everything else you you can to find a way to sleep with a snoring bed partner -- and nothing has worked for you -- then it's high time to try white noise. You're overdue. Here's why.

Your husband's snoring, if it is extreme could actually be as loud as 90 dB at times. That's almost three times as loud as normal conversation -- no wonder you're missing sleep! And if this is the kind of snoring you're dealing with, it's no surprise that even the best of ear plugs isn't providing you with peace.

Now, white noise works by blocking out the noises you're hearing with smooth, featureless noise of equal volume that your brain can easily filter out. Like the hum of an air conditioner in the background, your mind eventually stops processing the white noise altogether -- and with it, any other noises you're hearing, like snoring. But to block out 90 dB of snoring, you need 90 dB of white noise; that's a lot of noise! In fact, that much white noise for eight hours a night could seriously damage your hearing. So what do you do?

The answer: you pull out the big guns. Combine white noise and ear plugs to knock out that snoring and sleep like a baby without damaging your hearing for the sake of peaceful slumber. Here's what you do.

Go ahead and crank your white noise up until it's the same volume as that snoring (up to 90 dB in extreme cases). Now it'll be pretty loud in your bedroom -- and that's when you put your ear plugs in. The very best earplugs have a noise reduction rating (NRR) of 33. That will reduce the level of the sound you're hearing to about 57 dB. That's quieter than normal conversation. And here's where the magic happens: of the noise that makes it through your ear plugs, all you'll hear is the white noise, at a volume similar to that of a box fan running in your bedroom.

And there you have it, the key to white noise for snoring: Ear plugs + white noise = safe, effective relief from snoring.

One more important thing: your snoring bed partner will also need a set of ear plugs if you've got your white noise cranked up to a high volume, as again, even white noise can damage your hearing if it's played as loudly as we've been talking about here. So not only do you need earplugs, but so does your husband, in order to make this solution safe for both of you.

But since the snoring is his fault to begin with, he should be willing to wear some nice soft ear plugs so that you can get your much-needed sleep, right?

And if he won't wear ear plugs (a small sacrifice in the name of getting the rest you need!), you might just want to make him sleep somewhere else. Or you can get yourself a set of comfy custom molded earphones, plug them into your white noise machine, and get the effect of noise-isolating ear plugs and white noise all in one, without your husband hearing a thing.

One last note: this strategy will work great for the next-door neighbor who plays the TV all night or moves furniture around on your ceiling until the wee small hours. But be careful that you do not use this strategy when you have sounds you need to hear because you will very likely hear NOTHING -- not kids in the other room, not people knocking on the door, not even that snoring -- except the soothing, comfortable masking sound as you sleep blissfully through the night, every night.

And that concludes our informational Mother's Day article series. From all of us at Ear Plug Superstore, we hope your Mother's Day is warm, relaxing, and restful. Being a mom is hard work, so we hope our advice helps you get your hard-earned beauty sleep -- you deserve it, moms!

Until next time, be safe and do the right thing.

Comments

[Sam wants cures for snoring]

An interesting topic and discussion for people to ponder. Nicely outlined.

[stop snoring naturally]

Great solution.

Even though your sleeping partner's snoring sound
can't wake you up, it actually increases your blood pressure.

So, don't ignore it guys