It’s 3 a.m. and you just heard a strange slurping noise in your house.
No, it’s not the Boogeyman. It was just your dog licking himself.
You roll over and close your eyes, and then after 10 minutes, you realize you can’t get back to sleep.
While this is one of the more common examples of how noise affects sleep, and ultimately how refreshed you are the next day, there are also short-term and long-term effects that too much noise or persistent noise can have on a person’s sleep schedule.
Noise affects the stages of sleep. While noises actually increase stage 1 sleep (more on that here) they decrease slow-wave and REM sleep—which are arguably the most important stages.
And if you wake up suddenly from noise, you may produce hormones like adrenaline or cortisol that keep you awake.
In the short term, nighttime noises will disturb your sleep, affecting your performance and mood. Long term, your sleep quality will decrease—which we already know is linked to high blood pressure, heart disease, weight gain, and even certain types of cancer.
So what’s the solution?
For some people, a noise machine could do the trick. They condition the environment with a low hum, keeping their brains from registering threats associated with clicks, pops, and creaks.
And they’re a great thing to carry in your store and present to customers as they shop for mattresses and other sleep-related products.
One example we came across recently was the T&N + SNOOZ White Noise Machine, a portable, lightweight white noise machine that tunes out disturbances in the night. It also comes with an app for added functionality. Or, you could try the original Dohm Classic Natural Sound Machine, which was first invented in 1962 and went by the name Sleepmate.
Noise machines like these don’t just help keep people asleep through the night, they can also assist in creating a bedtime routine, or even a sound signal—something that triggers your body to associate the sound with sleep—which all contribute to a better night’s rest.
And for those who have anxious thoughts that keep them awake, sound machines can actually help relax our brains by giving them a sound to focus on instead of spiraling down a hole of stressful thoughts.
For all of these reasons, it’s clear that sound machines could make a great add-on when selling a mattress.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments!
