Sleep is one of the most important things for our health, but it can be really hard to get a good night’s sleep when there’s noise around us.
Whether it’s our noisy neighbors, busy streets, or just the sound of our own thoughts, noise can keep us up at night and make it difficult to get the rest we need.
According to the report of The National Sleep Foundation, exposure to noise is linked with sleep disturbances, including trouble falling asleep and waking up during the night.
In fact, noise pollution is one of the most common complaints that people have about their sleep.
It means that if you’re struggling to sleep, you’re not alone. Because more than 30 percent of Americans complain about noise when trying to sleep, resulting in less than seven hours of sleep a night.
But what can you do to block out noise and get the rest you need? That’s why you need to read this complete article. Because in this article I have covered 7 Easy ways how to block out noise without earplugs.
Also, I have shared some health-related issues that may impact on your health very badly
So Let’s Get Started!
Table of Contents
4 Health Problems Due To Lack Of Sleep (Too Much Noise!)
Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. But it can be impacted due to lack of sleep. So here are some health problems that can be caused by too much noise!
- Stress & Anxiety: One of the most common effects of noise pollution is stress and anxiety. When you’re constantly bombarded with noise, your body releases the stress hormone cortisol. This can lead to symptoms like headache, high blood pressure, and a racing heart.
- Memory Problems: Studies have shown that exposure to noise can lead to memory problems and cognitive decline. This is because noise pollution can damage the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for memory and learning.
- Hearing Loss: Noise pollution can cause hearing loss, both temporary and permanent. When you’re exposed to loud noise for a long period of time, it can damage the delicate hair cells in your ear, leading to hearing loss.
- Heart Attack: According to a study, people who live in areas with high levels of traffic noise are at an increased risk of a heart attack. This is because noise pollution can raise blood pressure and increase your heart rate.
You may be surprised to know that noise pollution is a serious health hazard. It can cause a range of health problems, from stroke to diabetes also. So, if you’re being exposed to too much noise, it’s important to take steps to protect your health.
7 Ways On How To Block Out Noise Without Earplugs while sleeping
Noise can be a major issue when trying to get a good night’s sleep. Whether it’s the sound of your partner snoring noise can prevent you from falling asleep and staying asleep. Here are seven ways to block out noise without earplugs while sleeping.
1. Cover your Ear with Earmuff
It is obvious that if you are struggling with noise then the best part to find an alternative of earplugs that should work around the ear only and the best possible alternative is the Earmuffs. It can be used for multipurpose as loud hearing protection and for warmth ear.
It is a great solution like, it not only help you to cover ear only but if you buy a sleeping mask with earmuff can black out the light of the room for you while you are sleeping.
If the noise is louder than what you expected then it matters the quality of the earmuff, so make sure to buy one which is denser in quality as the soundwaves absorbed more by the denser quality soft materials.
Make sure to have an earmuff that covers your ear from all around the corner as a small leak from any side will not be efficient enough to overcome the noise.
Earmuff can be of different qualities like few made for sleeping comfort like thick and soft and easy to stretchable and efficient enough to prevent noise pass through it here are a few worth checking SoundProof Soft Earmuff(Amazon)
If looking for the best collection of earmuffs then check our detailed review guide on the best noise cancelling Earmuffs.
2. Use Noise Cancelling Headphones
Noise-canceling headphones are the other best alternative to use in place of earplugs as they use active noise-canceling features to block out noise and are different from passive noise-canceling sources.
If you wonder how such noise-canceling headphone works then here is a small idea for you as noise is the soundwaves which have their own wave pattern and noise-canceling headphone capture those surrounding soundwaves and create the opposite frame of the wave pattern.
So when such noise comes close to the eardrum will be overlapped by the opposite pattern soundwaves created by the headphone and cancel that out and as a result, you can only enjoy the music you want.
Using such headphones you can hear pleasant music kind of meditation or something which feel you better while sleeping and headphone will parallelly canceling all noise coming close to the ear.
Well, noise-canceling headphone works well if you are dealing with some specific kind of sound only but it is very hard to deal with people chattering so make sure to find the best Noise-canceling headphone (Amazon) which are having good user feedback.
While referring to Wikipedia, over the past few years, the use of noise-canceling headphones has been increased as the best part of sleeping aid and you can go with both active and passive noise-canceling headphones.
3. Listen to the White Noise on Speaker or Headphone
I am not sure how many of you are aware of white noise but it is something that is used by most people as this is easy to generate and the most pleasant noise.
White noise is the combination of thousands of frequencies together and that is why it can be used to mask the other soundwaves coming from any source.
Have you heard the noise generated from the fan that is quite close to white noise and while you are standing close to the river, or sea or hearing the voice coming from the trees, air, and rain all are part of white noise?
All this noise is never annoying and if you found any other sound in the middle of that you will feel all those masked or rejected by white noise.
Hence you can either listen to this white noise using the headphone or can play in speaker close to your sleep and you will definitely feel something pleasant.
To get white noise, you have multiple ways either play in youtube or download the mobile app for free and plug that to the headphone and cover your ear or play in the loudspeaker.
4. Cover the Window or Door with Soundproof Curtains
If you are struggling from the outside noise such as traffic or any type of machinery running close to your house or close neighbor running louder music close to your room wall.
In that case, the only big source through which soundwaves can come through is the windows and door because of different reasons and once it comes in, got amplify due to reflecting from different hard surfaces.
To overcome those echos, make sure to cover door or windows with soundproof curtains, as curtains are quite effective in absorbing most of the soundwaves.
Curtains could be of different types as there are few which really help block out the room not only from noise or echoes but from daylight as if you are struggling daylight coming early morning to your sleeping bed.
To learn more about how to block out noise using the best soundproof curtains here is all you must learn in detail.
Having a curtain that covers the door or windows will minimize the direct connection of soundwaves to the hard surface and absorb more which in result only a few soundwaves reflections.
But if you are sharing common drywall in between your and neighbor house then it is better to work on soundproofing a wall the results will be amazing.
5. Surround your bed with acoustic blankets
This solution looks a bit odd and you can go with this if your roommate feels comfortable with this approach but here the point is to separate yourself from all the major sound sources around you.
You can create a canopy but the ordinary cloth used in the canopy will not gonna work hence to add some additional layer on that you can have a soundproof blanket surrounding to your bed.
Well, the soundproof blanket is made of two layers where its topmost layer allows soundwaves to pass through with less reflection and the middle layer is very dense and made of cotton, a vinyl kind of material that traps the soundwaves and absorbs around 80% of the soundwaves.
You need to cover this all-around your bed from top to bottom for minimum space left to soundwaves coming in.
Well if struggling from the soundwaves coming close to the neighbor then you can hang around the door, windows or wall. Which could be temporary fitting while you trying to sleep.
Here is all you have to learn more about How soundproof blankets are best for soundproofing for great experiences.
6. Cover the floor with Acoustic carpet or the walls with Foams
I imagine this solution looks easy to implement if your room is empty enough which in result more and more echoes then go with this solution first.
Let’s say while your roommate chatting on the phone even that noise will disturb you because of no source of soundwaves absorption.
If the room is empty with some soft materials such as the couch, cushion, curtains, Almira full of cloth then the noise will amplify much more after reflection from hard surfaces like walls, floor, and ceiling.
Hence you can purchase a carpet that is thick enough to cover the ground and absorb the soundwaves coming close to it and to overcome reflection from the walls can go with acoustic foams available in varieties of colors.
To get the best ideas on what type of acoustic foams should be used to handle what type of noise here is all you must know on is soundproof foams really works and how?
Carpets and Acoustic foams you can set near door or window as it has the ability to absorb the most of the soundwaves coming just after passing through the door or windows.
Well, Door and Windows are the major sources and that is why it is highly recommended to fix them first as here is the best suggestion for you on how to soundproof a Door and How to soundproof a window.
7. Other Alternative Solutions
If you are really keen to learn how to block out noise without earplugs then the living area where you sleep will always matter a lot, as it could be a private room or you sharing with your roommate.
Here are our top 7 tips on how to soundproof a room at least at first level to make sure you stop the noise coming from the outer side of the room including the echoes generated within the room.
Another alternative you can try by creating a room within a room wherein one try we created a canopy for a temporary solution if you are with your roommate.
But if having a private space and don’t want to move out of your bed from that place you can go with Room under the room where some advanced DIY skills need to learn or can ask any sound expert company to do that for you which could be bit expensive.
You can use the same earplug but make sure it will be clean enough every day or can create every day some cotton balls wrapped in plastic wrap as an alternative to earplugs, here is how to make earplugs.
There are few other things far better than just adding gadgets or sources around you sleep such as deep breathing, meditation and keep yourself away from the noisy world here are few things to learn on how to sleep well in noisy surroundings.
Wrap Up On How To Block Out Noise Without Earplugs
Well, most of the above suggestions are quite effective in terms of how to block out the noise without earplugs and keep your sleep very pleasant but the ultimate reduction in noise level will totally depend on the loudness of the noise.
If struggling with your roommate, make sure to be aware him the problem you are facing while sleeping due to the noise he is making maybe he can help you to overcome that.
Focus on meditation, cover your sleeping area with soundproofing materials, fill the holes and gaps from where noise is coming into the room and make sure to avoid the earplugs as the reasons you are already aware of.
The cheapest solution is to listen to the white noise either in the speaker or headphones or purchase the earmuffs for a few bucks.
If you have tried any of the above ways make sure to share your experiences as it could help our reader to get more ideas on what is working effectively and what is not.
FAQ: How To Block Out Noise Without Earplugs
Blocking Out the noise without earplugs is quite difficult. That’s why many people just like you have lots of questions. That can be solved easily. So I have provided some of them in this article to provide appropriate answers.
Q1. Should You Use Earplugs Or Other Devices For Sound Blocking?
Ans: Earplug is a great way to block out all the noise, but there are some downsides to using this. Using Earplugs for several hours can give cause different problems, such as itching, discomfort, ear infections as well as hearing loss, and that’s why you should use other alternatives instead of earplugs.
Q2. Which Alternative Is Most Effective for Sound Blocking Besides Earplugs?
Ans: Several gadgets you can use instead of earplugs, such as a white noise machine, noise-canceling headphones, and ear muffs. These gadgets are very cheap and can block out noise effectively.
Q3. What Gadget Can Block Noise When Sleeping Apart Earplugs?
Ans: You can try several things when sleeping to block out noise completely, such as sleep masks, sleep headphones, and noise-canceling earbuds. Which one is suitable among these depends on your budget, sleeping position, and noise sensitivity.