Brown Noise Is TikTok's Hottest Trend & Users Claim It Helps Them Sleep So Much Better
"My brain is quiet for the first time ever."
TikTokers react to hearing brown noise for the first time.
Brown noise is the new white noise when it comes to soothing yourself to sleep. Or at least, that's what they're saying on TikTok lately.
Social media users have been raving about the effects of so-called "brown noise," with many claiming that it helps them clear their heads and drift off to sleep at night.
But what is it?
It's probably best described as similar to white noise, a sound similar to that of TV static or a fan.
While some find it difficult to fall asleep to those types of sounds, one study suggests that the frequencies in white noise can help block out other distracting sounds while you sleep.
Brown noise is just a lower-frequency version of white noise, similar to the sound of falling rain or distant thunder, as HowStuffWorks explains. The only thing with brown noise is that it hasn't been studied in depth, so the jury is still out on whether it actually works. The same applies to pink noise, which is somewhere in between white and brown.
Still, many TikTok users claim that brown noise works wonders — especially for those with ADHD.
The brown noise trend has taken off lately with users adding the sound to their videos and showing off their serene reactions to it. Videos with the hashtag #brownnoise have been watched over 65 million times to date, and many users claim their mind goes blank or their thoughts slow down at the sound.
"Where did the thoughts go?" says TikToker @natalyabubb in a reaction video.
@natalyabubb Visit TikTok to discover videos!
"I just discovered brown noise and this is the quietest my brain has ever been," says user @fleet.wood.mak.
@fleet.wood.mak WHERE DID THIS COME FROM #MakeNightsEpic #xyzbca #CatchChobaniOatmilk #fypシ #AmazonVirtualTryOn #bpdtiktok
"Brown noise is so much better than white noise. My brain is quiet for the first time ever," says @rnbw.infinity.nikki.
@rnbw.infinity.nikki Visit TikTok to discover videos!
Dr. Phyllis Zee, head of the sleep centre at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, told CNN last year that it's still hard to say which sound is best for you, if any.
"What I tell my patients is, 'I really don't know which is going to be better,'" she said. "'Why don't you just try them out to see which is relaxing for you?'"
In other words, you don't need a scientific study to back up how the sound makes you feel.
Whatever helps you sleep at night!