Music is a five-letter word with such strong emotions. Whether you want to pull in a good workout, have some background music while studying, or listen to some relaxing music after a busy day at work, music can benefit your mental and physical well-being. What about listening to music while sleeping, though?
Is it helpful to have background noise if you have trouble falling asleep? Researchers found that music does, in fact, have highly positive effects on getting a good night’s sleep.
You are probably wondering how this works. Wouldn’t having pin drop silence and a quiet mind improve sleep quality? We thought so too, but surprisingly, noise (or, more specifically, the correct type of noise) can prove to be what you need to get in some quality sleep. Continue reading to bid your sleep worries goodbye (or good night!).
What are the Benefits of Listening to Music?
Let’s begin by discussing advantages of listening to music while sleeping:
Listening to Music While Sleeping Can Help in Lowering Your Blood Pressure
Listening to music before you go to sleep can lower your blood pressure, provided you listen to appropriate music, such as relaxing music and use the best headphones for sleeping. As long as you listen to soothing music before sleeping, which doesn’t get your heart rate rising, you will sleep like a baby.
Research by Johns Hopkins Medicine suggests that falling asleep to calming music has a similar effect as that noticed in children when they fall asleep to a melodic lullaby.
Quite a way to feel nostalgic, isn’t it?
Listening to Music Before Going to Sleep Can Help in Improving Sleep Quality
Are you someone who struggles to get in a decent amount of sleep at night? Music will help you out with that but ensure you know how to sleep with headphones.
Having some background noise will help you solve your sleep problems since it improves your sleep quality and good sleep quantity.
Setting a routine of listening to music before going to sleep will help your body gradually understand that it is time to get in a good night’s sleep. To sum it up, you are training your body to get in some healthy sleep!
Listening to Music While Sleeping Can Help Balance Your Body Chemistry
Certified music therapists claim that playing music releases “happy chemicals” in the body. A study by the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School shows that unhappy or troubled people cannot go to sleep at night or suffer from poor sleep.
Along with that, inadequate sleep can be something that puts you in a bad mood for the rest of the day. To put yourself in a better mood, music therapists suggest listening to music which makes you feel relaxed and releases serotonin. You will find that you manage to sleep faster after listening to your favorite songs.
Additional Benefits of Listening to Music While Sleeping
- Music induces happy chemicals in your brain and body, and gives you an emotional boost.
- Music acts as a stress buster, thereby helping to reduce your stress levels.
- Listening to different songs can help positively impact your cognitive and creative skills.
- Music helps to improve your mood.
- Music improves your emotional health and your mental health, along with your physical health.
- If you listen to music while studying, you will find that it can help you focus and concentrate better.
- Patients who have undergone surgery are made to listen to music to help them ease their pain.
- Music can help you get better rest.
- Listening to your favorite song can keep both your heart and mind healthy.
- Music can help you put in extra effort when working out and make physical exercise much more enjoyable.
What Music Should You Listen to Get a Deeper Sleep?
Our researchers hit every chord there was to understand what type of music you should listen to for a deep sleep. It is necessary to avoid upbeat songs since they won’t help you say “bye” to those sleepless nights.
This is because such music triggers your heart to start pumping, resulting in a faster heart rate and blood flow as well as a higher blood pressure. So your body isn’t relaxed and won’t be ready to enter sleep mode in such a situation.
Instead, it would help if you opted for classical music while falling asleep, which will improve your mood and signal to your brain that it is time for bed. Often, people prefer creating their playlists, specifically to help with improving their sleep efficiency.
You can choose songs of your choice, such as a song with familiar music, relaxation music, or even music tracks with a specific nighttime noise or environmental cues, such as the howling of an owl.
Tips to Find the Right Music to Fall Asleep
Here are a few tips to help you find the right sound to fall asleep faster:
- Look for music with the sounds of nature. This allows your brain and body to feel relaxed and connected with nature, making you go to sleep much quicker.
- Search for music tracks that include the sounds of a bird’s wings, for example, or a cricket chirping..
- Music tracks with the sound of gushing winds help to wind down from a busy day and go to sleep.
- Stimulate deep sleep with the tinkling of a water drop or the pitter-patter of the rain.
- Listen to the sound of oceans waves can help lower your heart rate and bring about a sense of harmony.
- Search for songs or tracks with ‘white music’, which is music composed of various different sound frequencies at the same amplitude. It helps to cancel out any external sounds.
- Try out ‘pink noise’, which is the coming together of low and high frequency sounds. This also helps to cancel out any external noise and create slow brain waves, resulting in you receiving adequate sleep.
Can the Type of Music You Listen to Affect the Dreams You Have?
It is hard to pinpoint the factors that can affect your dreams when you sleep. Your dreams could be based on something you saw on the internet, something you watched, or any event that took place during your day.
Of course, listening to serene and classical music while sleeping should result in you having calming, happy dreams. Likewise, listening to rock or pop music with upbeat rhythms would probably have a different effect on your subconscious mind.
It is known that if you fall asleep listening to music, you will notice that you can hear music in your dreams too.
Are There Any Negative Effects of Listening to Music While Sleeping?
Just like anything else, listening to music while sleeping can also have its downsides. In fact, some people also believe that the reason you may not be able to fall asleep at night is because you are listening to music! To be more specific, they believe that perhaps the headphones or earphones they are using may be hampering their sleep quality.
Like anything else, listening to music while sleeping can also have its downsides. In fact, some people also believe that you may not be able to fall asleep at night because you are listening to music!
To be more specific, they believe that perhaps the headphones or earphones that an individual uses may be hampering their sleep quality.
Let us take a look at the possible downside of listening to music while sleeping:
Discomfort From Wearing Wired Headphones to Bed
You may notice that wearing headband headphones while listening to music can become annoying and uncomfortable if the headphones are ill-fitting.
While you may not feel any discomfort as you are falling asleep, the chances are that as you continue listening to music while sleeping, the headphones’ headband could begin to feel too tight around your head.
Having said that, however, if you feel like your headband headphones aren’t proving to be a hindrance between you and better sleep nights, then ensure you aren’t using wired headphones.
Of course, the reason for this comes as a no-brainer. The last thing you want is to be caught up in the wires of your headphones while listening to your favorite song.
Disrupted Sleep Efficiency on Wearing Headphones With Poor Sound Quality
Apart from the fact that listening to music using headphones with poor quality is not enjoyable, it can also disrupt sleep efficiency. As a result, you will find that it becomes relatively difficult to go to sleep if the quality of the music is poor.
Over time, this can lead to discomfort, and you will find that after you wake up from what you wished to be a nice sleep with better rest, you will instead have a headache.
Necrosis
Necrosis is another harmful effect of listening to music while sleeping. It is the damage and eventual demise of tissue in your body due to the inadequate flow of blood. If worn for a long time, tight or uncomfortable headphones can result in necrosis too.
Do not wear tight headphones while listening to music during the day and while sleeping to prevent necrosis. Another alternative is earphones, which don’t wrap around your head and fit snugly into your ears.
Buildup of Ear Wax
There is a common misconception that ear wax accumulates dirt and impurities. However, that’s not entirely true. Ear wax protects the ear canal, but of course, too much of anything isn’t good for your health.
Similarly, excess accumulation or build-up of ear wax can affect your hearing. Continuous use of headphones can lead to the build-up of wax in your ear canal, and for that reason, you must avoid it.
What Can You Do If You Don’t Want to Wear Headphones to Sleep?
Quite a number of people prefer not to use headphones for the potential harmful effects, like strangling, headaches, necrosis, and the build-up of ear wax. But then, what other alternative is there?
To begin with, you could choose to use earphones to make sure you don’t have a tight headband clasping around your head. Wireless earphones come in handy to prevent the possibility of strangling from a headphone cord. You will also find that you can sleep comfortably with wireless earphones since you won’t have to restrict your movements according to the length of the headphone cord.
Having said that, however, if you find that you still aren’t too comfortable with wearing earphones to sleep either, another great alternative is to listen to music around 30 to 45 minutes before you go to sleep. So ensure you are listening to slow songs to calm your mind and your body and drift into a state of sleepiness.
You can choose to listen to music on your headphones or earphones or play it on a CD or stereo.
Another great invention is pillow speakers. As the name suggests, they are, well, pillows with speakers. You can find them in multiple sizes and ranging across a broad price spectrum. However, they all aim to serve the same purpose, i.e., helping you sleep better.
An Ending Note
Whether you have a snoring partner who is stopping you from getting enough sleep at night or you are someone that can’t for some reason get in better sleep, listening to music before you sleep will help you out. Not only will it help lower your heart rate and keep you calm, but it will also improve your sleep quality simultaneously. When choosing what music to listen to while sleeping, our experts recommend classical music for its soothing melody.
Keep in mind to keep your ears cleaned and the cords of your wired headphones out of the way before sleeping – the last thing you want is to get caught up in the wires in your sleep. Along with this, ensure that the volume of your music is not too high before you sleep, since this could lead to you waking up with an annoying headache the following day.
If you have any questions, doubts, or queries, feel free to drop a comment in our comments section below, and our experts will get back to you with an answer in no time.
