If you’re a fan of loud music or you live in a busy urban area, you may not have considered how noise affects your health.
Yet millions of people suffer the adverse effects of noise pollution every year. And it goes beyond just noise-induced hearing loss and lowered productivity.
Studies show that exposure to excessive noise – even sounds you haven’t considered – can contribute to and even cause a wide range of health problems.
What is Noise Pollution?
Each of us has our own sensitivity to sound. Some folks can happily sit outside at a city café and not be troubled by the sounds of the passing traffic, conversations, and music. Others are quite troubled in this same situation.

When a sound is unwanted or disturbing, it’s considered noise pollution. And since you can’t see or smell this form of pollution, it seems innocuous enough. But when sound becomes an annoyance, it can affect one’s health. It might be something as simple as the hum of an appliance or the window rattling from passing cars.
Any unwanted noise triggers the brain’s ‘fight or flight’ response. The amygdala, which processes emotions, sends a distress call to the hypothalamus which instructs the adrenal glands to start pumping adrenaline.
Adrenaline and cortisol pulsing through the body cause a spike in the heart rate and blood pressure. Chronic exposure to this level of stress is hard on the body – to say the least.
How Noise Affects Your Health
Aside from the rise in blood pressure and heart rate, experiencing a nearly constant stress response can result in anxiety and depression. People living with noise pollution often feel angry, irritable, frustrated, or on edge. Particularly if they feel that they can’t control the noise. From there, disturbances in sleep become common. And lack of sleep is also detrimental to one’s health.
Continued exposure to loud sounds can also cause hearing impairment, tinnitus, abnormal loudness perception, distorted hearing, and paracusis.
A study in Canada also found that pregnant women exposed to higher levels of noise pollution were more prone to preeclampsia – a blood pressure condition that can have serious consequences.
Reducing Noise Pollution In Your Life
Obviously, knowing that loud noise can be hazardous for your health, you’ll want to start paying attention to the noise that surrounds you on a daily basis.
Sometimes the noise will be unavoidable. The sound of a siren, for instance, or traffic passing on your street. In these cases, earplugs or sound-cancelling headphones can help. You could also block out the annoying noise with white/brown/pink noise played at a comfortable decibel level.
As for ways to manage the noise around you, consider the following::
1. Watch the Volume
Do you love to crank up the volume when you hear a song that moves you? You don’t necessarily need to stop doing that altogether. But try to find a safe volume level that still gets you going without leaving your ears ringing.

Additionally, consider the amount of time you’re listening to loud sounds from your TV, phone, video game console, etc. Prolonged exposure is going to cause more health repercussions than the occasional burst. So if you feel that you need noise in the background all the time, keep the volume low and ambient.
Over time, you may even be able to set aside dedicated time for listening to these loud but enjoyable sounds.
2. Repair/Replace/Insulate
Generally speaking, older cars, appliances, or other household items are going to run louder than newer models. While you may not be in a position to get a new vehicle or replace your old refrigerator, you can start noticing which smaller items throughout your house are a source of noise and perhaps replace or repair them.
In addition, to guard yourself more effectively from those annoying outdoor sounds, you can find clever ways to insulate. Rugs, curtains, and carpets can help muffle and absorb sounds.
3. Turn Off Appliances and Media Devices
If the AC unit in the window, fan on the ceiling, or space heater on the floor are constantly running, they’re going to contribute to the noise pollution in your home. Consider keeping these devices off as much as possible. And if that’s not a viable option, at least put them on timers so they can switch on and off at designated times.
4. Carve Out Quiet Time
This last one could be the most difficult to achieve. And not because it’s impossible to find a quiet location. As we said above, you can always use earplugs or noise-cancelling headphones.

The problem is, there are no noise-cancelling headphones for the noise inside your head. And this is one of the big reasons so many of us are okay with being distracted by noise. We normalize loud noises to the point that we don’t realize the amount of stress they’re causing.
What if you spent some time each day finding quiet and solace in doing activities like reading, solving puzzles, engaging in a hobby, or practicing meditation? Does it seem impossible? Scary even? Start with a few minutes. Then build up from there.
It won’t be long before you crave the quiet.
Don’t Believe Us?
We’re not saying you doubt the fact that noise affects your health. But you may be struggling with the idea of starting a meditation or other mindful practice.
We get it. We hear this all the time.
There’s nothing to fear though. Learning to tune out so you can tune in is an incredibly valuable skill. So contact us today to find out how we can help bring these practices to you or your organization. Your ears – and your whole body – will thank you.