Want to be healthy? You need to get enough sleep. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that healthy adults get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep each night. But if you have noisy neighbors or cars honking outside, you may have trouble reaching that goal. And if you work shifts and need to sleep during the day? The hustle and bustle of the day could get in the way if you don't use earplugs.

Not getting enough sleep can lead to all sorts of problems. Have you ever had trouble concentrating at work or skipped your gym class during your lunch break because you were tired? Have you ever been irritable, overly emotional, or gotten into arguments over trivial matters with friends, family, partners, or colleagues?

All of this can happen when you don't get enough sleep in the short term. And if you're consistently sleep deprived, it can also lead to long-term health problems, including a higher risk of developing conditions like obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, stress, and depression.

The quality of your sleep is just as important as the quantity. Loud noises can wake you from deep sleep, which has lasting effects, even if you only wake up for a few seconds.

Fortunately, improving your sleep isn't difficult. Earplugs can help reduce noise levels and block out distractions—whether it's your upstairs neighbors partying or your partner snoring—so you can fall asleep faster and avoid waking up during the night.

But be sure to choose earplugs with a high Noise Reduction Rating (NRR). This is a measurement used to express the effectiveness of hearing protection devices, such as earplugs and earmuffs. It is measured in decibels (dB) and indicates the level of noise reduction offered by the device: the higher the NRR, the greater the noise reduction.

Noise can have a significant impact on your sleep. Some people have trouble falling asleep when there's noise, whether it's traffic on the street or their partner snoring next to them. Others wake up frequently during the night because of noise. And noise can disrupt your sleep even if it doesn't wake you up, meaning you spend more time in light sleep and less time in deep or REM sleep—the kind you really need to wake up feeling refreshed and revitalized.

The WHO recommends that the average noise level outside bedrooms be below 40 dB(A) to prevent adverse health effects related to sleep disturbances and other health problems. So, if you live in a noisy neighborhood, have nightmare neighbors, or simply appreciate peace and quiet, you can use earplugs for sleeping to reduce noise levels, help you fall asleep faster, and wake up refreshed.