For a long time, people have sought to listen to music as a way to unwind and relax. Music can shift your mood, there’s no doubt about it. It can trigger happy or sad memories, make you feel melancholic, or put you in a good mood. We often associate music with moments from our past, or we listen to lyrics to help motivate us. Whatever the case, life without music would be different for most of us.
But what role can music play as part of our sleeping schedule? Is there any chance that we might sleep better or worse if we listen to music before bedtime? And what’s the deal with headphones: are they any good for sleeping?
Benefits of Sleeping with Headphones
Did you know that your heart tends to mimic the beats and tempo of a certain song? Scientific evidence suggests that you can tune your heart to slow down at a rate of 60 beats per minute if you listen to a song that has the same range.
One of the major benefits of sleeping with headphones is that your sleeping partner no longer has to be disturbed with whatever tunes you like to listen to before you go to bed. This is often a problem with couples that don’t fall asleep at the same time, particularly when one of them is fond of watching a few episodes of whatever before going to bed. If you buy a set of wireless sleep headphones and own a smart TV, you can connect these two together and have the sound output delivered straight to your headphones.
When you sleep with headphones, you are also less likely to be woken up by noises, thus causing you to fall into a deeper sleep throughout the rest of the night. This is particularly useful for people who, for one reason or another, have to sleep during the day (like those who work night shifts, for example). Having a car honk on the street or the neighbor’s dog barking at some passing-by cat will surely disrupt your sleep. But not anymore, not with the right sleeping headphones.
Furthermore, sleep headphones can be used for sleeping just about anywhere. That means that if you’ve hit the long road using some means of common transportation, like a bus or a train, you can use your headphones to block out the noise and create excellent sleeping conditions even when you are on the go, in a crowded and loud place.
And speaking of noise cancellation, did you know that there are headphones that have this very specific feature? Noise cancellation headphones are designed to block out as much external noise as possible, even if you’re not using them to actually listen to anything. Of course, the more noise these headphones can mask, the more expensive they will be.
Also, have you considered the possibility of using sleep headphones to listen to audiobooks or learning material? This can actually be a really good solution for people who suffer from anxiety as a sleeping disorder and need something to draw their attention away from what worries them. If you’re listening to a book or some education material, you will pay attention to the information rather than think of your daily problems.
Other benefits of using sleep headphones are mainly related to the advantages that music can bring when you’re trying to sleep:
- Music can make you relax (provided you don’t listen to heavy metal, although some fans of the genre claim that it can be quite relaxing).
- Music can trigger your serotonin production, which is the hormone that contributes to your happiness and well-being.
- Music can help calm down anxiety and PTSD-related problems, which in turn helps people with their insomnia.
Drawbacks of Sleeping with Headphones
Naturally, there’s no rainbow without a little rain, so it’s important that you know what the cons are of sleeping with headphones. Also, note that the disadvantages will vary depending on the type of headphones that you choose, but we will try to list them all here.
First of all, there’s the matter of sleeping with wires. It’s true that there is always the option of choosing wireless headphones that can connect to your device via a Bluetooth connection. However, wireless sleeping headphones are substantially more expensive compared to ones with wires. Even when you compared wireless and wired headphones created and sold by the same brand, the difference in price can be $100. But leaving price aside, wires in bed isn’t just uncomfortable, they can be dangerous.
There is no telling how much you’ll toss and turn during the night, and if the wires are sturdy, the jack won’t unplug from your phone while you move around, and you could actually strangle yourself (particularly if the cord is long enough). Even if you don’t strangle yourself, you’ll likely be pulling the smartphone through the bed, and might end up sleeping on top of it.
Then, there’s the ear wax problem. Whether you’re sleeping or awake, your ears will continue to produce earwax, which is an absolutely normal process. Earwax is meant to help protect your ears from microorganisms and foreign particles. Generally speaking, wax finds its way out of your ears, until you eventually remove it. The problem is that when you use earbuds, wax has virtually nowhere to go, which causes build-up and blockage.
It’s not just earbuds that can cause just problems, it’s pretty much any object that you insert in your ear canal that could cause a build-up. A good idea to prevent these problems is to avoid sleeping with your earbuds every single night. Maybe take a break once in a while or, if you happen to wake up during the night to go to the bathroom or drink some water, you can remove the earbuds for the rest of the night.
It’s also important that you clean your earbuds on a regular basis: otherwise, you are just inserting more bacteria in your ear canal and risking an infection. You can use a damp cloth to clean your earbuds and a dry toothbrush for the metal parts. Make sure that you never submerge your headphones are water, unless you know for a fact that you’re using a fully waterproof model (which is very expensive, by the way), although waterproof earbuds are generally designed for sports, and not so much for sleeping.
Another potential danger of sleeping with your headphones is necrosis. If you wear a pair of large headphones or perhaps are using some cheap headbands with really bulky speakers, you can end up sleeping on the side and applying so much pressure because of the headphones that you risk interrupting the blood flow, causing tissue death. Also, if the headphones you’re using are too tight, you risk necrosis just as much, because of the pressure exerted on your ears.
You might have heard of tinnitus. It’s a constant noise that you hear in your ears and, although not life-threatening, tinnitus can be a very annoying condition to have to live with. Tinnitus is sometimes caused by over-exposure to loud noises, and it’s something that you risk regardless of whether you’re listening to loud music while you’re sleeping or when you’re awake.
What tinnitus basically means is that the hair cells in your cochlea are damaged. Their role was to transform the sound waves picked up by the ear into nerve signals that are further sent to the brain. If the brain does not pick up these nerve signals, it will begin to create its own to compensate for the lack of input, which is what causes that annoying buzzing in the ears.
Noise Cancelling Sleep Headphones Amazon Has to Offer
Amazon has been the number one online retailer for quite some time now, and evidence suggests that no name will even come close in the near future. With products from categories you can’t even imagine, everyone can find what they’re looking for on Amazon.
With a product for every budget and for every level of pickiness, Amazon is truly the king of online retails. But what does it have to offer in terms of headphones? Let’s look at some of the best, most feature-packed and most customer-praised products on this giant’s platform.
First of all, it’s important for you to keep in mind that Amazon’s shipping and delivery policies may not apply to all products, and it all depends on the seller. That’s why delivery times may sometimes vary, so pay close attention to what’s written on the product page of each headphone model you’re considering buying.
#1: AcousticSheep SleepPhones
AcousticSheep is a brand of sleeping headphones developed by SleepPhones (boy, that’s a lot of sleep in one sentence). The brand was created by Dr. Wei-Shin Lai back in 2017, together with her husband (Jason Wolfe), who is a video game developer.
As with most successful products in this world, these sleep headphones were created to solve a personal problem: that of finding a way to relax and go back to sleep after being woken in the dead of the night. Fast forward, today you have a brand of great sleeping headphones that are designed with both wired and wireless technology. Naturally, the latter category is more expensive, but the ones that come with wires are actually super affordable.
Available in a variety of different colors, sizes, and fabric, the role of these headphones is to provide you with a comfortable headband that you can wear throughout the night and enjoy your favorite music, or maybe fall asleep watching your favorite series on your smartphone.
The headband is made with two types of fabric. The fleece version is perfect for colder winter days because the fabric itself can retain heat and keep your head and your ears warm. The breeze version is much more breathable and could easily be used in warmer summer nights. The breeze fabric is also moisture-wicking, so you can break a sweat and rest assured that you won’t feel your head is wet. Oh, and the headband can be removed and washed in the machine, so cleaning the headphones is also super easy.
#2: CozyPhones
The name is pretty suggestive: headphones that are cozy a.k.a. perfect to wear in bed. CozyPhones is another amazon best-selling brand of sleeping headphones, with specifications that are worth every penny (not to imply that the headphones are expensive, as they are some of the most affordable ones you’ll find on the market).
These headphones are made with lycra band that’s quite stretchable and comfortable for you to sleep with. The speakers are quite thin, meaning that you can sit or fall asleep on the side and their bulkiness won’t bother you, as it sometimes happens with cheaper and poorly made sleeping bands.
Because the bad itself is very thick, you can easily pull it over your eyes when you fall asleep and enjoy pitch black darkness without any morning sunlight creeping in through the blind to disturb your sleep.
The headphones are equipped with a 1.5-meter braided cord, which is more than generous in terms of length (remember that you can always opt for their wireless version if you don’t want any wires getting in the way). At the end of the cord lies a 3.5 mm jack that’s compatible with a variety of different phones, ranging from Samsung to iPhones.
And if that wasn’t enough, know that CozyPhones has a special line of sleeping headbands that are designed for children and look absolutely adorable. You can purchase headbands that are colorful, pretty, shapes like unicorns, sharks, dogs, pirates, pandas, Ninja Turtles, lions, bunnies, and more.
#3: Bose
Bose is a brand with huge notoriety in the audio field. Ever since the company was first founded, they have developed sound technologies as other companies could only dream of. From the aviation industry straight to the average consumer’s home, Bose has created an audio product for every type of user. And they are no stranger to comfortable headphones either. When you think about Bose, you think about quality, and their products have made their way into people’s homes, and even into their beds.
Bose has plenty of regular headphones, but also earbuds that can be used when you’re sleeping. Let’s take this model, for instance. These earbuds are a little bit bulky compared to some of their other models (they have noise cancellation headphones designed exclusively for sleeping, but they don’t sell them on Amazon), but the clarity of the sound and the construction of the headphones make every other aspect obsolete.
Advertised as sports headphones, these Bose products are the next level in audio technology and probably one of the best wireless sleep headphones Amazon has. They use wireless Bluetooth connectivity to sync with your device, be it a tablet or your smartphone. Bose has even developed a feature called “find my buds”. Using a special app installed on your phone, you can track your missing earbuds and, when you’re getting close, you can even have them emit an audio signal that you won’t waste time trying to find a needle in a haystack.
Because Bose is all about superior experiences, these headphones come with a case that’s more than just for protection. It is magnetized support for charging your headphones. On a full charge, the case is capable of fully charging your Bose headphones twice.
And if this particular model seems too bulky for you to use in bed, you can try their SoundSport headphones (available in both an Android and an Apple version). Using the TriPort technology, these in-ear headphones have a design that will secure the buds in place, making sure that even when you switch positions, neither of the two will fall out of your ears.
Because they are sweat and weather-resistant, you can use these at any time, including when you’re at the gym or walking out in the rain. The wire of the headphones has an integrated remote with a microphone embedded. That means that you can switch between calls and listening to music, you can control your audio playback, and operate on other functions of your phone without having to reach for the pocket.
#4: Maxrock
Lightweight and comfortable: these are just two words that can be used to describe the Maxrock headphones. These wired earplugs are designed to be worn up to 24 continuous hours, although it’s not something that we would recommend because of the potential problems that could arise (mentioned earlier when we discussed about drawbacks of sleeping with headphones).
With a weight of just 10 grams, these are some really comfortable headphones. They feature a double-layer design that will make the buds stay inside your ears. The ergonomic design is there to make sure that no matter how much you toss and turn, the buds won’t fall out of your ears, and won’t hurt you even if you are a side sleeper.
The noise-canceling feature isn’t the best one of the market, but the fact that these were designed to cover the diameter of your ear canal should be enough to block out some of the external noise that could wake you up at night. The wire of your Maxrock headphones comes with a microphone, which makes the product efficient in helping you take calls without having to touch your phone. While it might not be a very useful feature for sleeping, it will surely help if you use your cell phone in your car or while you’re jogging.
You may be interested in: The Best Sleep Headphones You Can Get
Conclusion
Sleep headphones are revolutionizing both the sleep and the audio industries, there’s no question about that. Back in the day when people didn’t have this technology, they would often try to fall asleep leaving the radio or the TV on. The only problem with this scenario is that it would disturb their sleeping partner.
Today, sleep headphones have changed the way we spend our time in bed, which can be a good and a bad thing as well. If you use sleep headphones to listen to music that will help you unwind while you’re sleeping, then you’re doing it right. But if you want sleep headphones to watch YouTube videos and stream Netflix episodes, there are chances of you falling asleep harder and later than you should.