“I can’t sleep because my feet are cold”, but “It’s hard to sleep if I wear a heater or wear thick clothes”. Isn’t there a lot of people who have trouble sleeping in winter? This time, we will introduce the results of the questionnaire on “worries about sleep in the cold season” along with useful advice to improve your troubles.
“I can’t sleep because my feet are cold”, but “It’s hard to sleep if I wear a heater or wear thick clothes”. Many people may have trouble sleeping in winter compared to summer, when it is easier to adjust the sleeping environment with a single air conditioner.
Therefore, this time, we will announce the results of the questionnaire survey on “sleep troubles in cold weather” surveyed by the All About editorial department in the ranking. Here are some tips to help you troubleshoot.
* Questionnaire was conducted on 500 people nationwide
* Gender ratio: 149 men / 347 women / 4 who did not respond
* Age ratio: 5 in their teens / 101 in their 20s / 180 in their 30s / 134 in their 40s / 64 people in their 50s / 13 people in their 60s / 3 people in their 70s
* Survey period: October 8 to October 11, 2021
Table of Contents
1st place: “Hands and feet get cold”
The following is a summary of the results of the “Do you have trouble sleeping in cold weather?” (free answer).
1st place is 70 votes, “hands and feet get cold”. The measures taken by the respondents are as follows.
・Put a hot water bottle at your feet! (Hokkaido woman in her 20s)
・Massage your ankles and calves to improve blood flow before going to bed. (Woman in her 40s, Osaka Prefecture)
・Wear socks and drink hot drinks. (Female, 20s, Miyagi Prefecture)
It is understandable that 70% of women are suffering from coldness, and recently men are also said to be more susceptible to coldness, so it is understandable that they ranked first.
If you put the hot water bottle in the bed about 30 minutes before going to bed, the inside of the futon will be warm when you fall asleep. It’s good to put it at your feet, but it’s even more effective if you warm your hips and stomach where there are thick blood vessels.
Massage is also recommended as it improves blood circulation. If you have cramps, try stretching your ankles as well. If you wear socks and sweat, it will cool you down and have the opposite effect, so try to avoid sweating.
〇 The air conditioner is 16 to 20 degrees all night. Aroma is also effective
About an hour before going to bed, take a lukewarm bath at 38 to 40 degrees Celsius for about 10 to 20 minutes to warm your body and improve blood circulation in your hands and feet.
Orange sweet, juniper, chamomile, cedrol, etc. are known as aromas that lighten the sensitivity to cold. Just put 2-3 drops on a tissue paper and place it under your pillow.
When using an electric blanket, turn it on for about 30 minutes before going to bed to warm the futon, and turn off the electric blanket when you go to bed, or set a timer to turn it off after an hour. This prevents the natural temperature drop during sleep. It becomes difficult. If you have a program timer function, you can wake up refreshed in the morning by turning it on again 1-2 hours before you wake up.
It is recommended to set the air conditioner so that the room temperature is 16 to 20 degrees and leave it on all night. Be careful not to blow the wind directly on your body.
Read Also: Separate beds for couples in the same room? Is it healthier to sleep alone?
2nd place is “I can’t sleep because of the cold, I wake up”
The second place was 49 votes, “I can’t sleep because of the cold, I wake up”. The measures taken by the respondents are as follows.
・After taking a bath, I try to get into the futon as soon as possible (before my body gets cold). (Female, 30s, Nagano Prefecture)
Use the futon dryer to warm the futon before going to bed. (Female, 40s, Tokushima Prefecture)
・Electric blankets are better than air conditioners. I think it’s good for your health not to heat too much near your head. (Male, 40s, Chiba Prefecture)
If the night is colder than I imagined, I wake up because of the cold. In addition, the futon is easy to open at the shoulders, so cold air tends to cool the inside of the futon. When I was a student, I used to sleep with a futon dryer in my arms, but the problem was that it was noisy.
〇 “Food that warms the body” warms the body from the inside If
you do light exercise such as walking or cycling for about 30 minutes 1-2 hours before you go to sleep, your body temperature will rise. It is also recommended to have the following foods that warm the body for dinner.
・Things in season in winter and root vegetables: lotus root, burdock, carrots, etc.
・Things caught in cold regions: salmon, cod, apples, etc.
・Black foods: kelp, black sesame, brown rice, etc.
・Dried foods: koya tofu, etc. Dried shiitake mushrooms, smoked mushrooms, etc.
・Salty foods: pickles, miso, salted fish, etc.
・Fermented foods: natto, rice bran pickles, cheese, etc.
Winter nightwear is often thick, but uneven. If there are too many, rolling over may be hindered, so be careful.
3rd place is “I can’t get up, I can’t get out of my futon”
3rd place was “I can’t get up, I can’t get out of my futon” with 32 votes. The measures received from the respondents are as follows.
・In the morning, turn on the stove timer to make it easier to get up. (Female in her 30s, Miyagi Prefecture)
・Be careful of humidity as it will be dry. Also, set the heating to a timer so that when you wake up, the room will be warm and you can wake up feeling refreshed. (Female, 20s, Mie Prefecture)
It takes courage to get out of a warm futon on a cold morning. Also, if there is a large temperature difference between the inside and outside of the bed, it may cause a stroke, angina pectoris, or myocardial infarction, so be careful.
A good countermeasure is to set a timer to turn on the heater about 30 minutes before you wake up. The humidity in the bedroom is said to be 50-60%. Use a humidifier if necessary.
〇 Try stretching in the morning and the “Saigo style” wake-up method Moving your
limbs and stretching in bed will raise your body temperature and improve blood flow. The temperature is at its lowest just before waking up, and then gradually rises. Turning on the lights in the room as soon as you wake up will help your body temperature rise more smoothly.
Another way to wake up is to take advantage of the cold and kick the futon away. It is said that Takamori Saigo was also doing it, and it is called “Saigo style” or “Satsuma style”. However, if you have high blood pressure or heart disease, please do not do this.
Announcing all rankings!
Finally, we will introduce all the rankings of “sleep troubles in cold weather”.
Sleep trouble ranking in winterWhen sleeping with a blanket and a duvet, the duvet-body-blanket is the warmest, followed by the blanket-duvet-body, and the common duvet-blanket-body is the coldest. This is because the heat of the bed escapes more easily from the bottom (floor side) than from the top.
4th place “Dry throat and skin”, 7th place “The futon is heavy and it is difficult to sleep”, 11th place “It gets hot when I put blankets on top of each other”. And it seems.
Let’s take another look at the sleeping environment that suits you and get through the authentic winter nights.