On hot and humid nights, more people have sleep problems, such as light sleep or difficulty falling asleep. Here are three summer sleep methods that I tried on a sleepless tropical night.
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Sleep-related worries that are common in summer upsets …… shallow sleep, difficulty sleeping, etc.
In a survey on changes in physical condition in the summer conducted by the Seikatsu Trends Research Institute, nearly one-third of respondents answered that they “had a problem”, “sometimes had a problem”, and “never had a problem”. . In fact, two out of three people have experienced poor health during the summer.
Concerning the specifics of the disorder, 62.7% of respondents said that they felt sluggish/feeling tired, followed by 46.7% who said they had lost their appetite due to the heat exhaustion, and 46.7% who said they did not sleep well. 43.4%), “Difficulty falling asleep” (42.5%), and “Difficulty sleeping” (41.5%).
If you get a good night’s sleep, you should be able to get rid of your fatigue in one night’s sleep. However, it is difficult to sleep well on hot nights, and fatigue carries over into the next day. In addition, when sleep deprivation accumulates, brain and body functions decline and summer fatigue becomes worse.
Read Also: Relationship between sleep time and life expectancy: short sleep and oversleeping shorten life?
Is it related to summer sleep time? Some reports say that blue is the best color for bedrooms.
An international hotel company investigated the relationship between bedroom colors and residents’ lifestyles. They found that blue bedrooms slept the most, followed by yellow and green. Sleepers in bedrooms in these colors averaged in the high seven hours. Grays, browns and purples, on the other hand, slept the least, averaging only about six hours a night.
Many people imagine water and the sea when they see blue. Water and the sea are cold, so when I see something blue, I feel cool. In fact, it is said that there is a difference of about 3 degrees in the sensible temperature when you are in a room with warm colors and when you are in a room with cold colors.
However, be careful with blue light. Bright light reduces the sleep hormone melatonin. Especially blue light has the strongest effect. After relaxing for a while in the blue-themed bedroom, it’s a good idea to go to sleep before melatonin is depleted.
The purpose of sleep is to “cool down the brain”
If you don’t cool your computer with air or water, it will get too hot and break. Our brain is similarly protected by cooling down during sleep. Also, when the temperature of the brain drops properly, you can sleep soundly. On tropical nights, it is difficult for the body temperature to drop, so it is difficult to sleep well. It is also said to be “head cold foot fever” as one of the health methods since ancient times.
A fan is recommended to quickly lower the temperature of the head. There is also a report that the quality of sleep improves when the wind of the electric fan is focused on the head. Don’t worry about running the fan all night, set a timer so it turns off after the first three hours of deep sleep.
It is also a good idea to use a cooler. Food coolers are economical, but they are small and do not last long. Also, if you freeze it, it will harden, making it uncomfortable to sleep on. We recommend a cold pillow to use when you have a fever, or an old-fashioned ice pillow. It’s a little more expensive, but it’s also a good idea to use a pillow with a special cooling agent built into it.
Is hot and cold stimulation to the feet effective? Before going to bed, take a shower only on the lower body to improve sleepiness
If you take a lukewarm bath before going to bed, your body temperature will rise once. After that, when the body temperature drops, sleepiness becomes stronger and falling asleep becomes easier. It has been said that showering alone can provide a refreshing feeling, but it has little effect on improving the quality of sleep.
However, in the hydrotherapy performed in the German traditional medicine “Kneipp Naturopathy”, showers are given to the lower body to improve the quality of sleep. How to do it: First, while standing, take a shower with hot water at about 43 degrees Celsius for 2 to 3 minutes, alternating between your left and right legs. Next, apply a cold water shower of about 20 degrees for about 20 seconds in the same way. By applying hot and cold stimulation to the legs, the parasympathetic nerves are dominant and you can relax, so you can fall asleep better and sleep soundly.
A cold water foot bath, where you soak your feet in cold water in a basin for about 30 seconds before going to bed, can also help you fall asleep.