June 24, 2026 • 32 mins
White noise might be the most famous sleep sound, but it’s not the only one. This week, Hari and Dr. Priyanka explore the world of noise colors, including white, pink, brown, blue, and green noise. They break down how different sound frequencies affect the brain, what the research says about sleep, focus, ADHD, and tinnitus, and why some people find certain sounds calming while others can’t stand them. Plus, Priyanka shares the story of a rare ear condition that temporarily affected her hearing and changed the way she thinks about sound.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This podcast is for information purposes only and should not
be considered professional medical advice. She looks inside my ear
and she's like, it looks horrible. You need to go
see someone right now.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Except Prianca apparently, who has the ears of a dog. Yes,
my ear drum was damaged. And then I became a
normal human.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
I'm doctor preuncle Wally, and this is health stuff. Hey, hey, hey, Prianca,
how's it going?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Good? Funny to see you here.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Of all the gin joins. Okay, so you know you
live in New York City or actually Brooklyn?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Sure?
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Sure, And we know New York is notorious for its noise.
It's a noisy city. I once saw this thing like
a therapist was talking about, Like what is the number
one thing that people in New York talk to their
therapist about?
Speaker 3 (01:03):
And it's the noise?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Is that right?
Speaker 3 (01:06):
I don't know, it was just something I saw on TV.
But does the noise bother you?
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Like?
Speaker 3 (01:12):
What is that like for you?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I don't know how noise sensitive I am, but I
definitely know that I like, like, I've lived in a
relatively quiet neighborhood the whole time I've lived in Brooklyn.
Like I chose a neighborhood that I figured would like
make it easier for me to go to sleep, where
I could go out do stuff. And then when i'm home,
I'm home. I live near Park Slope, if that means
(01:34):
anything to anybody, a lot of parents and kids. And
I know that New York is such a busy, bustling,
loud city. It's nice to have a place where you
can put your head down and forget it for a second.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
When I was in college, I was trying to figure
out where to go for med school and what to do.
I took a trip to visit my cousin in Manhattan
for a couple of days, and there's a large amount
of psychics on the streets of New York, or at
least there was at the bar that we were at,
(02:10):
and she was doing tarot and I sit down and
she was like, Okay, what's the issue you want to
work on. I was like, actually, I'm not sure. Should
I stay in California or you know, New York seems
like a great place, like maybe I should move here.
And she's like okay. So she rolls out the cards
and then the major card that she rolls out is
a picture of a man being stabbed with a thousand
(02:32):
Oh my god, Oh my god. And then she's like,
you should not move to New York.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Do not do it.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
I was like, oh, okay, well I ended up not
moving because things were just easier in California. But I
distinctly remember that and now looking back, like bringing it
to this conversation, I am really noise sensitive. Like I
can hear things that are very far away, you know,
like cell phone ringing quietly in the next room. I'll
(03:05):
tell my friend, oh, your cell phone's ringing, and they'll
be like what and it is, you know, Like I
have like supersonic hearing, so I hear everything. So I'm
super sensitive to noise. So I can imagine, you know,
the times I've visited New York, like I've stayed for
a couple of days, like, yeah, it's definitely really noisy,
Like I wear ear plugs and stuff.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
It's always funny when there are people that move into
a building or move in from New York and they
complain about the noise, and I'm like, you move to
New York. You actively chose to leave your midwestern town
to move to New York. You can't be upset about
the noise. This comes with the environment totally. I mean,
it is the sign of life in a city. That's
(03:48):
like what the noise represents. So right now, do you
ever listen to white noise or you have a white
noise machine? Only when I'm watching c Span, am I right?
Only when I'm watching Congress?
Speaker 3 (04:03):
I know, seriously, Oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I've used white noise a little bit during the periods
I have struggled sleeping, and definitely when I had a
you know, when my five year old was a baby,
like white noise helped a lot getting him to sleep.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Okay, yeah, so you know, today we're going to talk
about not just white noise, but there's something called noise colors,
which we will break down that noises as interpreted by
sound waves can have different colors. And just a caveat
the research on noise colors and the health impacts of
(04:41):
that is it's very very new, early research. Many of
the studies are really really small. So I think it's
a fun topic to talk about. And it's also important
to take this episode with a grain of salt, because
if you're having real sleep problems, there's definitely not enough
evidence to show that like a white noise machine is
(05:01):
going to like cure that.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
And if you're going around asking for an orange noise machine,
I don't know if that's going to be available yet.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Yeah, I've never really been a white noise machine person.
There was only one time in my life when the
white noise machine really really did help me. And I
went to the UK to do a multiple week clowning
course and I was staying in You've lived in the UK.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Right, Like, yeah, I lived in London for a little bit.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
So I was in Kensington and the airbnb I was
at was like it was on like the busiest road
of Kensington, and no matter what you could do, there
was just street noise, like buses rolling down the street,
cars honking. It was just NonStop and it was very
chaotic sounding. So I was like, oh my god, I
(05:57):
won't be able to sleep. So I remember opening my
laptop and I did this for two weeks straight. I
opened my laptop, I went to YouTube and I typed
in white noise and like a twelve hour video and
basically I kept my laptop on and I kept the
volume at the highest level, and then I would just
(06:18):
sleep with my laptop blasting this white noise that was
loud enough to mask the street noise. And that's how
I slept for two weeks. And it was horrible.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Buddy, wouldn't keep you up, like the actual sound didn't
keep you up of the white noise.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Eventually, the repetitive nature of that white noise, that staticky
like sound, it just drowned out the buses.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
And that's how I slept.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Now, granted it's not that I slept beautifully for those
two weeks, but I was able to get some sleep
whereas those buses. And oh, by the way, I was
also wearing like ear plugs on top of that. Remember
I have like supersonic hearing, So with the earplugs and
then my laptop blasting the white noise, I was basically
(07:07):
in this weird cocoon in Kensington. And then I would
like wake up and go do clowning for twelve hours.
It was like a very bizarre and also rewarding experience.
But eventually I ended up dropping out of the course
because there was like a COVID outbreak and they weren't
taking the COVID precautions seriously, they were just like.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Clowning around, you know.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
So then I quit the course and then I just
hung out with my friends of the UK and so yeah,
that's my only experience with white noise.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
I mean, I'm willing to try it. I'm really curious
about this topic. Let's talk about noise colors. What are
they and can they be beneficial?
Speaker 1 (07:50):
We know about white noise, but there's actually other types
of colors out there, white, pink, brown. We're going to
talk about how many colors are there and their difference
and specif the differences in their sound waves because each
color is associated with distinct properties. That has some tiny
evidence around focus and its impact on sleep benefits. There's
(08:13):
actually quite a few colors that we're going to review now.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
It might sound counterintuitive that noise may help you get
better sleep, but a recent survey shows fifty two percent
of adults have tried some form of background noise to
help them sleep better. Background noise in this case isn't
the same thing as disruptive sounds, those sounds that keep
you awake. This is the kind of background noise that
can mass loud and jarring. Disruptive sounds like traffic or
(08:38):
your neighbor's lawnmower or a snoring partner. Why your neighbor's
lawn mower is going off in the middle of the night.
I can't tell you, but that's an example exactly exactly.
So noise colors are basically sound. It's different types of sound,
and the colors are attributed to how the frequencies of
(08:59):
those sounds are spread out. So when I say frequency,
frequency is a scientific unit that's measured in hurts, not
the rental car company, but the term from physics. So
hurts is a unit of frequency that basically measures the
number of cycles a wave completes in one second. So
(09:23):
high frequencies produce sounds that have shorter wavelengths, meaning that
there's more waves being completed in one second, So these
are treble sounds like the sound of a cricket chirping.
Low frequencies they produce longer wavelengths, so there's fewer waves
being completed in one second. So these are low pitched sounds,
(09:47):
like base sounds like a tuba. So the lower the number,
the lower the pitch of that sound. More after this break.
In terms of human anatomy, your cochlear is a spiral shaped,
fluid filled cavity in your inner ear, and it's responsible
(10:10):
for turning sound waves into recognizable sounds. Your ear can
only register sounds that fall within a specific range of frequencies,
except Prianca apparently, who has the ears of a dog. Yes,
your ear can only register sounds that fall within a
specific range of frequencies. Most everyday sounds we hear fall
within the range of two hundred and fifty to six
(10:32):
thousand hertz, but the full range of sounds of person
without hearing loss can detect ranges from twenty to twenty
thousand herts.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Yeah, so I have a story about this, speaking of
you know, my hearing. So, when I was in residency,
I once got this really rare illness in my ear drum.
It's called bullismeringitis. Bullismeringitis is basically my ear drum got inflamed.
I got this viral infection, and as a result of
(11:02):
the viral infection, I got these blisters on my ear drum.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Yeah, And I.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Woke up one morning and all of a sudden, I
couldn't hear, and a bunch of liquid like came out
of my ear. So one of the blisters popped basically
on its own.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Yeah. It was like so painful.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
It was on your ear drum.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Yeah, on my ear drumb.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Oh god.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
So, miringitis is the medical term for inflammation of the
ear drum, and bullis is the medical term for blister.
So it was blistering inflammation of the inner drum or bullismringitis.
Very rare, and so I went to work that day
and I couldn't hear out of my right ear. I
(11:49):
was like completely unable to hear. And I asked one
of my resident colleagues. I was like, hey, I woke
up this morning. I can't hear out of my right ear.
And this was like in between patients, by the way,
Like I was like, can you look inside my ear?
And she looks inside my ear and she's like it
looks horrible. Like you need to go see someone right now.
(12:14):
So I went to the E and T at lunchtime
and he looks in my ear and he's like, oh, yeah,
you have bullismaringitis. And he tested my hearing and I
was like, I can't hear out of this ear. And
then he's like, Okay, I'm not gonna lie. You still
passed your hearing test. Like your hearing has been a
lot better than a lot of the doctors like that,
(12:35):
Like I see, so like just chill. But what happened
is because my hearing range was so sensitive. Basically, when
I got the injury, it fell to basically, I guess,
a normal type of range, but for me that was
almost it was like being hard of hearing. So it
was it was the drop in quality that like really
(12:57):
affected me.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
It took me a couple of weeks.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Eventually my hearing came back to normal, but they ended
up like presenting my case in front of the grand
rounds and everything because it was super rare, and you know,
it was like one of those things in medicine, like
you don't want to be that rare case, you know
what I mean. So anyways, yeah, every day sound Wait.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Was that just an excuse to talk about like your
superpower as you're hearing?
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Wait?
Speaker 3 (13:22):
What's no that that's like this like I'm the victim.
Here are you?
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Like my ear drum was damaged and then I became
a normal human.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Okay, I can see how that would come across that way,
but it was a horrible experience. I was like examining
the patient. He was like, oh, sorry, you'll have to
speak up. I'm hard of hearing, and I was like
I am too, I understand it. Yeah, So if anyone
out there has ever gotten bulletmaringitis, like, please know that
I feel your pain.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Anyway, so the hurts ranges from twenty to twenty thousand
unless you have some other weird issues. Right now, Decibels
when you say, like, what's the decibel level of something?
Decibels measure how loud something is. So normal conversation like
what we're having right now would be around fifty five
to sixty five decibels. There are apps. There are decibel
(14:15):
apps that you can even download. They're not super accurate
because it depends on how good your phone's microphone is,
but you can still pull out the app. Sometimes, let's
say you're at a coffee shop and suddenly some construction
goes on and there's, you know, like a jackhammer going off.
You could pull out your decibel meter on your phone
(14:35):
and get a general sense of how loud the sound
is based off of that. I've definitely used that in
the past with prior BED partners to prove to them
that they snore by using the decibel meter.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
No, just kidding, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
When you have a sound wave that's basically a vibration
that that's not visible, and it travels through any substance,
whether it's air or water or solid. So sound waves
are vibrations, and if a sound is really loud, it
has high energy, and if it's a soft sound, it's
(15:17):
a very low vibration, low energy.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
And your ear, specifically the cochlea, turns sound waves into
the sounds you recognize. We use color as a shortcut
to describe how sound is structured. So when we say
something is white noise, obviously everyone's not seeing the color
white when they hear the sound. It's a shortcut to
describe what it is we're experiencing. Each color sounds differently
(15:41):
and may affect your brain and body in different ways,
just like how different frequencies of light are characterized as colors,
such as blue light from digital devices, sound gets a
color assigned to it based on that sound's energy distribution
across this frequency spectrum, different noise colors correspond onto varying
frequency intensities.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Yeah, so basically the takeaway is that each type of
color noise has a very unique and specific frequency distribution.
It means that they each sound different and as a result,
they're going to have a different effect on our ears,
our brains, our bodies, and we can identify them quite
(16:24):
quickly and easily by assigning them colors. Here's the thing
about using these different types of noises, because sometimes we're
going through life and there's a lot of external disruptions,
maybe literal external noises, but sometimes our internal thoughts can
be also very disruptive, and our brains could use a
(16:46):
little bit of a distraction from these disruptions, and so
different types of noises can, in theory, mask those distractions
with more pleasant sounds or more useful sounds, and the
result is that it can improve our ability to focus
on a task or to fall asleep.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
So it can help quiet mental chatter by giving your
brain something steady to focus on, something consistent. Your body
has an arousal threshold, however, meaning certain sounds or sensations
will wake you up. A consistent sound can keep you
below that threshold by smoothing out interruptions for focus. It
can reduce distractions and make it easier to stay on task.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
So we're all familiar with white noise because they sell
us lots of white noise machines and stuff like that.
But what is happening on an actual frequency level. So
white noise is basically when all the frequencies are present,
and they're all present at an equal level. So when
(17:49):
you take all of the frequencies of sound and you
play them all at the same time, it creates this
white noise that sounds like static.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Or a fan.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Meanwhile, pink noise is softer and more balanced, with less harsh,
high pitched sound. It's like you know rain or waves
that kind of consistent up and down but never getting
too high or too low.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Yeah, And I think the key difference between white noise
and pink noise is that both play all frequencies.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
But while white noise treats all.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Frequencies as equal, pink noise gives more power to the
lower or deeper sounds and less power to the higher
or sharper sounds. And that's why it leads to like
a softer, almost more calming sound. Then there's these other
lesser known colors. Brown noise is another type of noise.
(18:43):
Brown noise is a much deeper, kind of base heavy
type of noise, so the lower frequencies, so this is
like the sound of a strong wind blowing or the
sound of a rumbling thunder, which wh is very calming.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
If you've ever heard it, is thunder calming.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
I think if it's like a low rumble, not not like,
oh it's six feet away from you, that is not coming,
but like if it's.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
Like in the distance.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Oh, I mean like just talking about it, I'm like
getting these like chill summer bag like just like far
away thunder in the distance that's like quietly rumbling.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
I think that is very like calming to me.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
I don't know why that does not seem calming to me.
I don't know why. Maybe I need to go out more.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Now.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Medically, white noise is the most studied, but again the
studies are very small, and they've done a lot of
studies for sleep and noise environments. What's interesting in terms
of the studies comparing white noise and pink noise is
that only thirty three percent of the white noise studies
(19:56):
found that they were positive for sleep, whereas eighty one
percent of the pink noise studies reported positive sleep outcomes.
And this was in a twenty twenty two systemic review.
The overall evidence quality is isabeth low for both, but
there seems to be slightly more evidence that pink noise
is a little bit better when it comes to sleeping.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
We're going to take a short break. Stay with us.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Brown noise is actually trending, It's increasing its popularity. It
may help with relaxation, focus or tinatus in some cases.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
Is it tentatists?
Speaker 2 (20:37):
I pronounced that right now?
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Yeah, I mean I've heard tinadus or tonight itis. It's interchangeable.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Do you have have you ever experienced this or do
you have tintadas?
Speaker 2 (20:46):
I don't think so. I don't think i've ever heard
I've heard it described, I don't think I've ever had it.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
So I've experienced tintadus at random times. It's so I
can't quite figure out when or how or where it'll happen.
And it's very interesting. It's just like this very static,
low pitch sort of tone and then it'll like just
go away. It's maybe it's one of the consequences of
(21:12):
having supersonic hearing that then you just get tendatus as well.
One of the things about tendus is that it's really
hard to treat, like there's not really a treatment for it.
So you know the fact that brown noise could potentially
have some benefit to it. All you're really doing is
distracting the brain from the tenadus so that they'll focus
(21:32):
on a different kind of noise. So it's not getting
to the root cause it's just offering a band aid
solution or something, which there's no harm to band aids.
But I think I just want to say, you know,
from a medical perspective, it's really important to understand that
the research on noise colors is one hundred percent not
fully established.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
Very early.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Like I said earlier, there's some studies to show that
white noise can help you fall asleep out and longer,
but then there's other studies that discount that. There's a
little bit of evidence showing that white noise could help
people focus who have ADHD, but then there's studies to
show that that's not true. You know, could this be
(22:16):
placebo possibly. I think what's really important is, again, if
someone has sleep issues, there's definitely a lot more evidence
for other treatments, like we've talked on a previous episode,
cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, like that is a very
well established treatment for sleep issues. And I definitely don't
(22:38):
want to give the impression that like, oh, buy a
white noise machine, and all of your problems will go away.
But it is interesting to just talk about the different
types of noises.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
You know, like a few of our episodes, now, it's
clear that people are desperate to sleep and they're desperate
to relax, and you know, this is just another way
we're trying to find some solutions to things that have
been plaguing as had some time.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Now.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
Yeah, yeah, I think it's also important to note like
any color spectrum. We've named a couple of colors, but
there's all sorts of noise colors, like blue noise, green noise,
violet noise. Blue noise is really higher pitched. It can
sound really sharp or intense, and it can be unpleasant
for some people.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Violet noise is also high pitched and may help with
staying alert or focusing. Green noise focuses on mid range
sounds and is often compared to natural environments. Again, it
might help with sleeper anxiety, but the research is limited.
We're just exposing you to a new idea, some new possibilities. Yeah,
and again, like this is still very experimental. I would
(23:42):
say just take it all with caution.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Now, what I can say confidently is how to practice
good noise safety habits. So, for example, when you're watching
TV or listening to music, try and keep the volume
around fifty to sixty decibels, which is equal to like
the sound of a soft shower or a fan going off.
(24:06):
If you go above seventy decibels, Number one, it could
damage you're hearing. And number two, if you're doing that
around the night time, it could disrupt your sleep.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
I wonder if I've done that just because I'll like
not blast music, but I'll put music on pretty loudly
just to get me to sleep sometimes to distract me.
And then you know, the music plays for hours as
I'm asleep, and it's not going to be It's not
like you know white noise, where it's the same repetitive
sound over and over again. We're talking about a lot
of different songs, different sounds, different volumes. So I mean,
(24:40):
I this is good to know because I feel like
I've probably done this a million times totally.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Yeah, And I think if it's possible to figure out
a way to use a timer so that the music
turns off after a half hour forty five minutes, that
would be the best thing. The other thing is if
you do have some kind of sound machine, white noise machine.
Don't keep it right next.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
To your head.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Yeah, a lot of people buy those machines when they
have babies. Don't keep it right next to the baby's head.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Headphones can work, but maybe uncomfortable or block important sounds
like alarms. This won't work for everyone, especially if you're
sensitive to sound.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Right right, If you want to experiment with the different
noise colors, you know, try different noise types, white noise
or pink noise, and then make sure you adjust the
volume really slowly to find what feels right.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
Because sometimes I get this. I don't know if other
people get this, but.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
If I am listening or if I'm in an experience
where the sound is too loud, I actually become physically warm. Really,
my body temperature goes up. Yeah, the sound sensitivity. So
actually I have some features of autism. So this is
actually an autistic feature of the sound sensitivity and the
(25:56):
intensity with which I experience it. It comes down to even
like a visceral experience. If I go to a concert.
Concerts are for me extremely intense experiences where loud music
actually raises like I feel hot, I feel flush. If
you're getting a white noise machine. Just adjust the volume
(26:16):
to what feels right for you in your body.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Be aware if you're getting used to the noise machine
and have trouble sleeping without it, because you don't want
that either. I mean that's because then you're kind of
stuck with this. Basically, it's like an addiction at that point.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
Right, Yeah, it would be like you can't sleep without it,
and then you're in a loop. It would make for
hell for traveling and stuff, because then you'd have to
carry it with you all the time. It'd be quite difficult. Now,
I want to be clear, this color noise or noise color,
it's not for everyone. You know, there are certain conditions
(26:52):
where you have noise sensitivity that is really disturbing. So
sometimes when a person gets a migraine headache, being sensitive
to noise can be one of the symptoms of the
headache issue. There's also another condition. I don't know if
you've met anyone with this, but it's called mesophonia.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
I've heard of mesophonia. What is that?
Speaker 1 (27:18):
So it's basically when a person has a extreme emotional
or psychological reaction towards like an everyday sound. So a
classic example is when a person with mesophonia hears someone
else chewing their food or smacking their lips, they experience
(27:42):
intense discomfort, sometimes even rage.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
It is wow, very upsetting to them.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Do people know what the causes are?
Speaker 1 (27:49):
The cause is not fully established. They think it has
something to do with the processing network in the brain,
but they've had a couple of theories, and they think
it could be genetic, could be just the way someone's
nervous system is wired. There could be many causes.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
So in summary, when we're talking about sleep, noise colors white, pink,
brown appear to help sleep primarily because they mask disruptive
sounds like traffic or maybe a snoring partner. With a
consistent neutral audio background, they may work by reducing brain
activity and triggering the parasympathetic nervous system for relaxation. But
(28:27):
again we've said this a few times. Studies are still ongoing.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
And then when it comes for something like tinatus, right,
noise colors and noise machines they can help with tinadus
because basically it's acting like a mask, right. It's a
distraction from the contrast between the sound and the tinadus
and the outside environment. So it's just this sort of
consistent background sound that makes your brain think that the
(28:52):
tinatus is less bothersome and it'll focus on it less,
even though it never actually goes away.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Certain noise colors may potentially help for ADHD by providing
consistent background sound that sound and mostly theory at this
point mass distractions and stimulates the brain to improve focus.
The initial research suggests this is because it triggers a
boost in dopamine levels through auditory stimulation.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Yeah, and again, the studies for ADHD and noise colors
are really small. They're mostly exploratory in nature. There haven't
been large, randomized controlled trials yet.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
But if you.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Want to get down with some different colored noises, there's
actually lots of noise apps out there where you can
test the noise colors, and you can find clips online
on YouTube. You can go through some established organizations the
American Tenatives Association, or this is my personal favorite, the
Misophonia Institute, and you can buy a sound machine that
(29:51):
has a lot of different sound options.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
If you're lucky to have natural sources like a water
fountain or ocean waves nearby, that's a good option to also, Oh, golf, Yeah, exactly, ocean.
I live in the middle of a city.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
It's yeah, slumming it over here at the water fountain.
So in conclusion, my my friends, different sound frequencies affect
listeners in different ways. Don't be afraid to experiment with
noise colors and just do what works for you. Everyone's
noise tolerance is different. And again, please keep in mind
(30:30):
this like research is very very early. This could all
be placebo. This all very new, I would say, even experimental.
After doing this research on noise colors, I don't think
I'm going to change my habits in any way just yet.
I've never been a noise machine person, and I think
(30:51):
I'm doing okay, So I think I'll stick.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
With what I have for now.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
I think that I'm going to name a special Brownnoise
Machine at some point.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
Nice I haven't.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
I haven't decided when, but I think Brown Noise Machine
is a pretty amazing title.
Speaker 3 (31:09):
Yeah, that's that's your next special.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
Well that's it for this week. Everybody. If you're loving
the show, follow along, leave a rating, and drop a
review wherever you listen to your podcast. Every little bit helps,
and we'd love for you to keep listening to our show,
all right, see you next week.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
Bye.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Health Stuff is a production of iHeart Podcasts. The show
is hosted by Me, doctor preancle Wally, and Harrikonnebolu. Producers
are Rebecca Eisenberg, Jenna Cagel, Christina Loranger, Maya Howard, and
Katrina Norvel. Our researcher is Maria Tremarki and our intern
is Katya Soobel Leayala. To send us a question, you
(31:53):
can email us a voice memo at health Stuff podcast
at gmail dot com. Thanks so much for listening.
This podcast is for information purposes only and should not
be considered professional medical advice. She looks inside my ear
and she's like, it looks horrible. You need to go
see someone right now.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Except Prianca apparently, who has the ears of a dog. Yes,
my ear drum was damaged. And then I became a
normal human.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
I'm doctor preuncle Wally, and this is health stuff. Hey, hey, hey, Prianca,
how's it going?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Good? Funny to see you here.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Of all the gin joins. Okay, so you know you
live in New York City or actually Brooklyn?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Sure?
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Sure, And we know New York is notorious for its noise.
It's a noisy city. I once saw this thing like
a therapist was talking about, Like what is the number
one thing that people in New York talk to their
therapist about?
Speaker 3 (01:03):
And it's the noise?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Is that right?
Speaker 3 (01:06):
I don't know, it was just something I saw on TV.
But does the noise bother you?
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Like?
Speaker 3 (01:12):
What is that like for you?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I don't know how noise sensitive I am, but I
definitely know that I like, like, I've lived in a
relatively quiet neighborhood the whole time I've lived in Brooklyn.
Like I chose a neighborhood that I figured would like
make it easier for me to go to sleep, where
I could go out do stuff. And then when i'm home,
I'm home. I live near Park Slope, if that means
(01:34):
anything to anybody, a lot of parents and kids. And
I know that New York is such a busy, bustling,
loud city. It's nice to have a place where you
can put your head down and forget it for a second.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
When I was in college, I was trying to figure
out where to go for med school and what to do.
I took a trip to visit my cousin in Manhattan
for a couple of days, and there's a large amount
of psychics on the streets of New York, or at
least there was at the bar that we were at,
(02:10):
and she was doing tarot and I sit down and
she was like, Okay, what's the issue you want to
work on. I was like, actually, I'm not sure. Should
I stay in California or you know, New York seems
like a great place, like maybe I should move here.
And she's like okay. So she rolls out the cards
and then the major card that she rolls out is
a picture of a man being stabbed with a thousand
(02:32):
Oh my god, Oh my god. And then she's like,
you should not move to New York.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Do not do it.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
I was like, oh, okay, well I ended up not
moving because things were just easier in California. But I
distinctly remember that and now looking back, like bringing it
to this conversation, I am really noise sensitive. Like I
can hear things that are very far away, you know,
like cell phone ringing quietly in the next room. I'll
(03:05):
tell my friend, oh, your cell phone's ringing, and they'll
be like what and it is, you know, Like I
have like supersonic hearing, so I hear everything. So I'm
super sensitive to noise. So I can imagine, you know,
the times I've visited New York, like I've stayed for
a couple of days, like, yeah, it's definitely really noisy,
Like I wear ear plugs and stuff.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
It's always funny when there are people that move into
a building or move in from New York and they
complain about the noise, and I'm like, you move to
New York. You actively chose to leave your midwestern town
to move to New York. You can't be upset about
the noise. This comes with the environment totally. I mean,
it is the sign of life in a city. That's
(03:48):
like what the noise represents. So right now, do you
ever listen to white noise or you have a white
noise machine? Only when I'm watching c Span, am I right?
Only when I'm watching Congress?
Speaker 3 (04:03):
I know, seriously, Oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I've used white noise a little bit during the periods
I have struggled sleeping, and definitely when I had a
you know, when my five year old was a baby,
like white noise helped a lot getting him to sleep.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Okay, yeah, so you know, today we're going to talk
about not just white noise, but there's something called noise colors,
which we will break down that noises as interpreted by
sound waves can have different colors. And just a caveat
the research on noise colors and the health impacts of
(04:41):
that is it's very very new, early research. Many of
the studies are really really small. So I think it's
a fun topic to talk about. And it's also important
to take this episode with a grain of salt, because
if you're having real sleep problems, there's definitely not enough
evidence to show that like a white noise machine is
(05:01):
going to like cure that.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
And if you're going around asking for an orange noise machine,
I don't know if that's going to be available yet.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Yeah, I've never really been a white noise machine person.
There was only one time in my life when the
white noise machine really really did help me. And I
went to the UK to do a multiple week clowning
course and I was staying in You've lived in the UK.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Right, Like, yeah, I lived in London for a little bit.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
So I was in Kensington and the airbnb I was
at was like it was on like the busiest road
of Kensington, and no matter what you could do, there
was just street noise, like buses rolling down the street,
cars honking. It was just NonStop and it was very
chaotic sounding. So I was like, oh my god, I
(05:57):
won't be able to sleep. So I remember opening my
laptop and I did this for two weeks straight. I
opened my laptop, I went to YouTube and I typed
in white noise and like a twelve hour video and
basically I kept my laptop on and I kept the
volume at the highest level, and then I would just
(06:18):
sleep with my laptop blasting this white noise that was
loud enough to mask the street noise. And that's how
I slept for two weeks. And it was horrible.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Buddy, wouldn't keep you up, like the actual sound didn't
keep you up of the white noise.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Eventually, the repetitive nature of that white noise, that staticky
like sound, it just drowned out the buses.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
And that's how I slept.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Now, granted it's not that I slept beautifully for those
two weeks, but I was able to get some sleep
whereas those buses. And oh, by the way, I was
also wearing like ear plugs on top of that. Remember
I have like supersonic hearing, So with the earplugs and
then my laptop blasting the white noise, I was basically
(07:07):
in this weird cocoon in Kensington. And then I would
like wake up and go do clowning for twelve hours.
It was like a very bizarre and also rewarding experience.
But eventually I ended up dropping out of the course
because there was like a COVID outbreak and they weren't
taking the COVID precautions seriously, they were just like.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Clowning around, you know.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
So then I quit the course and then I just
hung out with my friends of the UK and so yeah,
that's my only experience with white noise.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
I mean, I'm willing to try it. I'm really curious
about this topic. Let's talk about noise colors. What are
they and can they be beneficial?
Speaker 1 (07:50):
We know about white noise, but there's actually other types
of colors out there, white, pink, brown. We're going to
talk about how many colors are there and their difference
and specif the differences in their sound waves because each
color is associated with distinct properties. That has some tiny
evidence around focus and its impact on sleep benefits. There's
(08:13):
actually quite a few colors that we're going to review now.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
It might sound counterintuitive that noise may help you get
better sleep, but a recent survey shows fifty two percent
of adults have tried some form of background noise to
help them sleep better. Background noise in this case isn't
the same thing as disruptive sounds, those sounds that keep
you awake. This is the kind of background noise that
can mass loud and jarring. Disruptive sounds like traffic or
(08:38):
your neighbor's lawnmower or a snoring partner. Why your neighbor's
lawn mower is going off in the middle of the night.
I can't tell you, but that's an example exactly exactly.
So noise colors are basically sound. It's different types of sound,
and the colors are attributed to how the frequencies of
(08:59):
those sounds are spread out. So when I say frequency,
frequency is a scientific unit that's measured in hurts, not
the rental car company, but the term from physics. So
hurts is a unit of frequency that basically measures the
number of cycles a wave completes in one second. So
(09:23):
high frequencies produce sounds that have shorter wavelengths, meaning that
there's more waves being completed in one second, So these
are treble sounds like the sound of a cricket chirping.
Low frequencies they produce longer wavelengths, so there's fewer waves
being completed in one second. So these are low pitched sounds,
(09:47):
like base sounds like a tuba. So the lower the number,
the lower the pitch of that sound. More after this break.
In terms of human anatomy, your cochlear is a spiral shaped,
fluid filled cavity in your inner ear, and it's responsible
(10:10):
for turning sound waves into recognizable sounds. Your ear can
only register sounds that fall within a specific range of frequencies,
except Prianca apparently, who has the ears of a dog. Yes,
your ear can only register sounds that fall within a
specific range of frequencies. Most everyday sounds we hear fall
within the range of two hundred and fifty to six
(10:32):
thousand hertz, but the full range of sounds of person
without hearing loss can detect ranges from twenty to twenty
thousand herts.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Yeah, so I have a story about this, speaking of
you know, my hearing. So, when I was in residency,
I once got this really rare illness in my ear drum.
It's called bullismeringitis. Bullismeringitis is basically my ear drum got inflamed.
I got this viral infection, and as a result of
(11:02):
the viral infection, I got these blisters on my ear drum.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Yeah, And I.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Woke up one morning and all of a sudden, I
couldn't hear, and a bunch of liquid like came out
of my ear. So one of the blisters popped basically
on its own.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Yeah. It was like so painful.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
It was on your ear drum.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Yeah, on my ear drumb.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Oh god.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
So, miringitis is the medical term for inflammation of the
ear drum, and bullis is the medical term for blister.
So it was blistering inflammation of the inner drum or bullismringitis.
Very rare, and so I went to work that day
and I couldn't hear out of my right ear. I
(11:49):
was like completely unable to hear. And I asked one
of my resident colleagues. I was like, hey, I woke
up this morning. I can't hear out of my right ear.
And this was like in between patients, by the way,
Like I was like, can you look inside my ear?
And she looks inside my ear and she's like it
looks horrible. Like you need to go see someone right now.
(12:14):
So I went to the E and T at lunchtime
and he looks in my ear and he's like, oh, yeah,
you have bullismaringitis. And he tested my hearing and I
was like, I can't hear out of this ear. And
then he's like, Okay, I'm not gonna lie. You still
passed your hearing test. Like your hearing has been a
lot better than a lot of the doctors like that,
(12:35):
Like I see, so like just chill. But what happened
is because my hearing range was so sensitive. Basically, when
I got the injury, it fell to basically, I guess,
a normal type of range, but for me that was
almost it was like being hard of hearing. So it
was it was the drop in quality that like really
(12:57):
affected me.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
It took me a couple of weeks.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Eventually my hearing came back to normal, but they ended
up like presenting my case in front of the grand
rounds and everything because it was super rare, and you know,
it was like one of those things in medicine, like
you don't want to be that rare case, you know
what I mean. So anyways, yeah, every day sound Wait.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Was that just an excuse to talk about like your
superpower as you're hearing?
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Wait?
Speaker 3 (13:22):
What's no that that's like this like I'm the victim.
Here are you?
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Like my ear drum was damaged and then I became
a normal human.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Okay, I can see how that would come across that way,
but it was a horrible experience. I was like examining
the patient. He was like, oh, sorry, you'll have to
speak up. I'm hard of hearing, and I was like
I am too, I understand it. Yeah, So if anyone
out there has ever gotten bulletmaringitis, like, please know that
I feel your pain.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Anyway, so the hurts ranges from twenty to twenty thousand
unless you have some other weird issues. Right now, Decibels
when you say, like, what's the decibel level of something?
Decibels measure how loud something is. So normal conversation like
what we're having right now would be around fifty five
to sixty five decibels. There are apps. There are decibel
(14:15):
apps that you can even download. They're not super accurate
because it depends on how good your phone's microphone is,
but you can still pull out the app. Sometimes, let's
say you're at a coffee shop and suddenly some construction
goes on and there's, you know, like a jackhammer going off.
You could pull out your decibel meter on your phone
(14:35):
and get a general sense of how loud the sound
is based off of that. I've definitely used that in
the past with prior BED partners to prove to them
that they snore by using the decibel meter.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
No, just kidding, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
When you have a sound wave that's basically a vibration
that that's not visible, and it travels through any substance,
whether it's air or water or solid. So sound waves
are vibrations, and if a sound is really loud, it
has high energy, and if it's a soft sound, it's
(15:17):
a very low vibration, low energy.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
And your ear, specifically the cochlea, turns sound waves into
the sounds you recognize. We use color as a shortcut
to describe how sound is structured. So when we say
something is white noise, obviously everyone's not seeing the color
white when they hear the sound. It's a shortcut to
describe what it is we're experiencing. Each color sounds differently
(15:41):
and may affect your brain and body in different ways,
just like how different frequencies of light are characterized as colors,
such as blue light from digital devices, sound gets a
color assigned to it based on that sound's energy distribution
across this frequency spectrum, different noise colors correspond onto varying
frequency intensities.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Yeah, so basically the takeaway is that each type of
color noise has a very unique and specific frequency distribution.
It means that they each sound different and as a result,
they're going to have a different effect on our ears,
our brains, our bodies, and we can identify them quite
(16:24):
quickly and easily by assigning them colors. Here's the thing
about using these different types of noises, because sometimes we're
going through life and there's a lot of external disruptions,
maybe literal external noises, but sometimes our internal thoughts can
be also very disruptive, and our brains could use a
(16:46):
little bit of a distraction from these disruptions, and so
different types of noises can, in theory, mask those distractions
with more pleasant sounds or more useful sounds, and the
result is that it can improve our ability to focus
on a task or to fall asleep.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
So it can help quiet mental chatter by giving your
brain something steady to focus on, something consistent. Your body
has an arousal threshold, however, meaning certain sounds or sensations
will wake you up. A consistent sound can keep you
below that threshold by smoothing out interruptions for focus. It
can reduce distractions and make it easier to stay on task.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
So we're all familiar with white noise because they sell
us lots of white noise machines and stuff like that.
But what is happening on an actual frequency level. So
white noise is basically when all the frequencies are present,
and they're all present at an equal level. So when
(17:49):
you take all of the frequencies of sound and you
play them all at the same time, it creates this
white noise that sounds like static.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Or a fan.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Meanwhile, pink noise is softer and more balanced, with less harsh,
high pitched sound. It's like you know rain or waves
that kind of consistent up and down but never getting
too high or too low.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Yeah, And I think the key difference between white noise
and pink noise is that both play all frequencies.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
But while white noise treats all.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Frequencies as equal, pink noise gives more power to the
lower or deeper sounds and less power to the higher
or sharper sounds. And that's why it leads to like
a softer, almost more calming sound. Then there's these other
lesser known colors. Brown noise is another type of noise.
(18:43):
Brown noise is a much deeper, kind of base heavy
type of noise, so the lower frequencies, so this is
like the sound of a strong wind blowing or the
sound of a rumbling thunder, which wh is very calming.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
If you've ever heard it, is thunder calming.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
I think if it's like a low rumble, not not like,
oh it's six feet away from you, that is not coming,
but like if it's.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
Like in the distance.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Oh, I mean like just talking about it, I'm like
getting these like chill summer bag like just like far
away thunder in the distance that's like quietly rumbling.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
I think that is very like calming to me.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
I don't know why that does not seem calming to me.
I don't know why. Maybe I need to go out more.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Now.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Medically, white noise is the most studied, but again the
studies are very small, and they've done a lot of
studies for sleep and noise environments. What's interesting in terms
of the studies comparing white noise and pink noise is
that only thirty three percent of the white noise studies
(19:56):
found that they were positive for sleep, whereas eighty one
percent of the pink noise studies reported positive sleep outcomes.
And this was in a twenty twenty two systemic review.
The overall evidence quality is isabeth low for both, but
there seems to be slightly more evidence that pink noise
is a little bit better when it comes to sleeping.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
We're going to take a short break. Stay with us.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Brown noise is actually trending, It's increasing its popularity. It
may help with relaxation, focus or tinatus in some cases.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
Is it tentatists?
Speaker 2 (20:37):
I pronounced that right now?
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Yeah, I mean I've heard tinadus or tonight itis. It's interchangeable.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Do you have have you ever experienced this or do
you have tintadas?
Speaker 2 (20:46):
I don't think so. I don't think i've ever heard
I've heard it described, I don't think I've ever had it.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
So I've experienced tintadus at random times. It's so I
can't quite figure out when or how or where it'll happen.
And it's very interesting. It's just like this very static,
low pitch sort of tone and then it'll like just
go away. It's maybe it's one of the consequences of
(21:12):
having supersonic hearing that then you just get tendatus as well.
One of the things about tendus is that it's really
hard to treat, like there's not really a treatment for it.
So you know the fact that brown noise could potentially
have some benefit to it. All you're really doing is
distracting the brain from the tenadus so that they'll focus
(21:32):
on a different kind of noise. So it's not getting
to the root cause it's just offering a band aid
solution or something, which there's no harm to band aids.
But I think I just want to say, you know,
from a medical perspective, it's really important to understand that
the research on noise colors is one hundred percent not
fully established.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
Very early.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Like I said earlier, there's some studies to show that
white noise can help you fall asleep out and longer,
but then there's other studies that discount that. There's a
little bit of evidence showing that white noise could help
people focus who have ADHD, but then there's studies to
show that that's not true. You know, could this be
(22:16):
placebo possibly. I think what's really important is, again, if
someone has sleep issues, there's definitely a lot more evidence
for other treatments, like we've talked on a previous episode,
cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, like that is a very
well established treatment for sleep issues. And I definitely don't
(22:38):
want to give the impression that like, oh, buy a
white noise machine, and all of your problems will go away.
But it is interesting to just talk about the different
types of noises.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
You know, like a few of our episodes, now, it's
clear that people are desperate to sleep and they're desperate
to relax, and you know, this is just another way
we're trying to find some solutions to things that have
been plaguing as had some time.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Now.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
Yeah, yeah, I think it's also important to note like
any color spectrum. We've named a couple of colors, but
there's all sorts of noise colors, like blue noise, green noise,
violet noise. Blue noise is really higher pitched. It can
sound really sharp or intense, and it can be unpleasant
for some people.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Violet noise is also high pitched and may help with
staying alert or focusing. Green noise focuses on mid range
sounds and is often compared to natural environments. Again, it
might help with sleeper anxiety, but the research is limited.
We're just exposing you to a new idea, some new possibilities. Yeah,
and again, like this is still very experimental. I would
(23:42):
say just take it all with caution.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Now, what I can say confidently is how to practice
good noise safety habits. So, for example, when you're watching
TV or listening to music, try and keep the volume
around fifty to sixty decibels, which is equal to like
the sound of a soft shower or a fan going off.
(24:06):
If you go above seventy decibels, Number one, it could
damage you're hearing. And number two, if you're doing that
around the night time, it could disrupt your sleep.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
I wonder if I've done that just because I'll like
not blast music, but I'll put music on pretty loudly
just to get me to sleep sometimes to distract me.
And then you know, the music plays for hours as
I'm asleep, and it's not going to be It's not
like you know white noise, where it's the same repetitive
sound over and over again. We're talking about a lot
of different songs, different sounds, different volumes. So I mean,
(24:40):
I this is good to know because I feel like
I've probably done this a million times totally.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Yeah, And I think if it's possible to figure out
a way to use a timer so that the music
turns off after a half hour forty five minutes, that
would be the best thing. The other thing is if
you do have some kind of sound machine, white noise machine.
Don't keep it right next.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
To your head.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Yeah, a lot of people buy those machines when they
have babies. Don't keep it right next to the baby's head.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Headphones can work, but maybe uncomfortable or block important sounds
like alarms. This won't work for everyone, especially if you're
sensitive to sound.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Right right, If you want to experiment with the different
noise colors, you know, try different noise types, white noise
or pink noise, and then make sure you adjust the
volume really slowly to find what feels right.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
Because sometimes I get this. I don't know if other
people get this, but.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
If I am listening or if I'm in an experience
where the sound is too loud, I actually become physically warm. Really,
my body temperature goes up. Yeah, the sound sensitivity. So
actually I have some features of autism. So this is
actually an autistic feature of the sound sensitivity and the
(25:56):
intensity with which I experience it. It comes down to even
like a visceral experience. If I go to a concert.
Concerts are for me extremely intense experiences where loud music
actually raises like I feel hot, I feel flush. If
you're getting a white noise machine. Just adjust the volume
(26:16):
to what feels right for you in your body.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Be aware if you're getting used to the noise machine
and have trouble sleeping without it, because you don't want
that either. I mean that's because then you're kind of
stuck with this. Basically, it's like an addiction at that point.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
Right, Yeah, it would be like you can't sleep without it,
and then you're in a loop. It would make for
hell for traveling and stuff, because then you'd have to
carry it with you all the time. It'd be quite difficult. Now,
I want to be clear, this color noise or noise color,
it's not for everyone. You know, there are certain conditions
(26:52):
where you have noise sensitivity that is really disturbing. So
sometimes when a person gets a migraine headache, being sensitive
to noise can be one of the symptoms of the
headache issue. There's also another condition. I don't know if
you've met anyone with this, but it's called mesophonia.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
I've heard of mesophonia. What is that?
Speaker 1 (27:18):
So it's basically when a person has a extreme emotional
or psychological reaction towards like an everyday sound. So a
classic example is when a person with mesophonia hears someone
else chewing their food or smacking their lips, they experience
(27:42):
intense discomfort, sometimes even rage.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
It is wow, very upsetting to them.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Do people know what the causes are?
Speaker 1 (27:49):
The cause is not fully established. They think it has
something to do with the processing network in the brain,
but they've had a couple of theories, and they think
it could be genetic, could be just the way someone's
nervous system is wired. There could be many causes.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
So in summary, when we're talking about sleep, noise colors white, pink,
brown appear to help sleep primarily because they mask disruptive
sounds like traffic or maybe a snoring partner. With a
consistent neutral audio background, they may work by reducing brain
activity and triggering the parasympathetic nervous system for relaxation. But
(28:27):
again we've said this a few times. Studies are still ongoing.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
And then when it comes for something like tinatus, right,
noise colors and noise machines they can help with tinadus
because basically it's acting like a mask, right. It's a
distraction from the contrast between the sound and the tinadus
and the outside environment. So it's just this sort of
consistent background sound that makes your brain think that the
(28:52):
tinatus is less bothersome and it'll focus on it less,
even though it never actually goes away.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Certain noise colors may potentially help for ADHD by providing
consistent background sound that sound and mostly theory at this
point mass distractions and stimulates the brain to improve focus.
The initial research suggests this is because it triggers a
boost in dopamine levels through auditory stimulation.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Yeah, and again, the studies for ADHD and noise colors
are really small. They're mostly exploratory in nature. There haven't
been large, randomized controlled trials yet.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
But if you.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Want to get down with some different colored noises, there's
actually lots of noise apps out there where you can
test the noise colors, and you can find clips online
on YouTube. You can go through some established organizations the
American Tenatives Association, or this is my personal favorite, the
Misophonia Institute, and you can buy a sound machine that
(29:51):
has a lot of different sound options.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
If you're lucky to have natural sources like a water
fountain or ocean waves nearby, that's a good option to also, Oh, golf, Yeah, exactly, ocean.
I live in the middle of a city.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
It's yeah, slumming it over here at the water fountain.
So in conclusion, my my friends, different sound frequencies affect
listeners in different ways. Don't be afraid to experiment with
noise colors and just do what works for you. Everyone's
noise tolerance is different. And again, please keep in mind
(30:30):
this like research is very very early. This could all
be placebo. This all very new, I would say, even experimental.
After doing this research on noise colors, I don't think
I'm going to change my habits in any way just yet.
I've never been a noise machine person, and I think
(30:51):
I'm doing okay, So I think I'll stick.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
With what I have for now.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
I think that I'm going to name a special Brownnoise
Machine at some point.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
Nice I haven't.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
I haven't decided when, but I think Brown Noise Machine
is a pretty amazing title.
Speaker 3 (31:09):
Yeah, that's that's your next special.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
Well that's it for this week. Everybody. If you're loving
the show, follow along, leave a rating, and drop a
review wherever you listen to your podcast. Every little bit helps,
and we'd love for you to keep listening to our show,
all right, see you next week.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
Bye.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Health Stuff is a production of iHeart Podcasts. The show
is hosted by Me, doctor preancle Wally, and Harrikonnebolu. Producers
are Rebecca Eisenberg, Jenna Cagel, Christina Loranger, Maya Howard, and
Katrina Norvel. Our researcher is Maria Tremarki and our intern
is Katya Soobel Leayala. To send us a question, you
(31:53):
can email us a voice memo at health Stuff podcast
at gmail dot com. Thanks so much for listening.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Betrayal Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.