Noise can be a major hindrance to the  healing process. Hospitals and clinics have understood this for a long time, and they’ve tried to take measures to minimize some of the noise that can disturb patients. Some hospitals play quiet, soothing music. Some have very strict policies regarding visiting hours and bringing children to see patients.

But often these steps are simply not enough. Noise is a big problem in many health care establishments, because of the fact that there are just so many people in them. Doctors, nurses, assistants, cleaning crew, patients, and visitors are all cramped into small corridors. And hygiene dictates the use of hard flooring, which is widely known to bounce sound and amplify it.

The very environment of health care establishments makes them especially prone to noise, so keeping patients in a quiet, relaxed place can pose quite a challenge. But when the health of a human being is at stake, health care providers have a responsibility to make every possible effort to ensure their quick recovery.

If you’ve ever been a patient in a hospital, you’ll probably know how difficult it is to sleep. Sleep is essential to the body’s healing process, so getting adequate rest is very important for patients in hospitals.

Of course, it can be hard enough to sleep in a strange environment, surrounded by strangers. Doing so with the constant din of ringing telephones, heels clacking in the hallway, nurses discussing their latest dinner date, and patients moaning in other rooms - it seems nearly impossible.

Since rest is so vital to the recovery process, more health care providers are turning to ways of reducing noise in their establishments. Certain things that other businesses could do to reduce noise can’t be done in most health care establishments.

Carpet can’t be used in hospitals, for example, because they can harbor viruses and bacteria more readily than hard flooring. And music isn’t generally acceptable, because it may disturb patients more than it helps.

Fortunately there is one major thing health care establishments can do to reduce noise. Instead of actually reducing the noise levels themselves, the noise can be masked. Rather than try to eliminate noise by enforcing strict rules about conversations, hard-soled shoes, and noisy telephones, why not just block the sound from being perceived as strongly?

This can be done through the use of sound masking systems. A sound masking system uses white noise to help turn certain types of distracting noises into sounds that aren’t so distracting. For example, the gentle hum of a fan can be quite soothing to many people. And after a few moments in a room with a fan, your brain tunes it out. It’s like it isn’t even on anymore.

A sound masking system can help turn noises such as footsteps and conversations into less intrusive noises, much like the hum of a fan. These noises can simply be tuned out and ignored, allowing the patient to rest more readily.

Since eliminating noise from the typical health establishment would be an impossibility, a sound masking system is one of the only truly effective ways to help minimize the disruption caused by those noises, and help get patients the rest and relaxation they need to make a full recovery.