Sleep Well BlogSleep Advice From Sleep Experts

One of the most difficult things to achieve in this fast paced world is a good night’s sleep. Due to the demands of our jobs and our families, the stresses and anxieties that prey on our consciences work double time when it is time to hit the hay and catch a few z’s. After only a few nights of insufficient sleep, the human body begins to go into an induced stress mode, conserving energy for flight or fight type interactions. This condition leaves many other processes unattended. Sleep deprivation can come in many forms, and is most often not a matter of chronic insomnia. Even losing two hours of sleep per night can lead to serious problems with a person’s mental and physical health.

The Sleep Cycle

There are two types of sleep for most mammals, including humans. There is NREM sleep and REM sleep. NREM is Non Rapid Eye Movement sleep, which means that your mind is not in an active dreaming state. REM is Rapid Eye Movement sleep, which is the stage of sleep in which people dream. In a normal sleep cycle, a person experiences the three different stages of NREM sleep, N1, N2, N3, before entering REM sleep in the early morning hours just prior to waking. N2 and N3 are the stages of deepest sleep, where most of the benefits of slumber are derived, but REM sleep is also essential to the cycle.

What A Sound Machine Does

Through the use of emitting different “natural” sounds, sound machines block out most of the ambient noise that invades a person’s bedroom, and allows that person to go through the entire sleep cycle undisturbed. The natural sounds include waterfalls, ocean waves, forests, deserts and even simple white noise.

For serious and prolonged sleep disorders, consult your physician.

Check out these popular sound machines:

• Marpac SleepMate 980A
• Homedics Portable Sound Machine
• Sound Oasis Sound Conditioner S-550-05

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