"The groundwork of all happiness is health." - Leigh Hunt

Want higher sleep? Studies show that try taking a warm bath or shower 1-2 hours before bed.

Are you attempting to sleep? Do you're feeling such as you don't get enough sleep and are sleepy throughout the day? you will not be alone gave American Academy of Sleep Medicine found that one in three American adults have symptoms of insomnia. Data There are roughly 100,000 accidents related to drowsy driving annually, leading to 1,550 deaths and 71,000 injuries. gave Institute of Medicine The long-term effects of sleep deprivation can result in serious health consequences comparable to hypertension, diabetes, heart attack, stroke and depression, the report said.

Many people try over-the-counter or prescription sleep aids. But is there a technique to go to sleep faster and sleep higher without medication?

I'm a sleep researcher and graduate student in biomedical engineering on the University of Texas. In a recently published the study Together with the UT Health Science Center in Houston and the University of Southern California, colleagues and I showed that a warm bath or shower one to 2 hours before bed can significantly improve your sleep.

Hot bath, cool body

Like many individuals, I had trouble sleeping. I had trouble falling asleep, I might get up in the course of the night, restless and never feeling rested. I didn't have a sleep schedule. When I began digging into the info, I noticed what number of individuals are living their lives in a sleep-deprived state. I had no real interest in popping up, so I became desirous about studying non-pharmacological methods to enhance sleep.

My team and I reviewed over 5,000 studies on bathing and sleep. Seventeen of those studies met our study criteria to explore the results of hot baths or showers on sleep. We used a statistical method to mix data from multiple studies and find one of the best time to wash.

We found that a warm bath, between 104 and 109 degrees Fahrenheit, for lower than 10 minutes can significantly improve overall sleep performance. In other words, a hot bath causes more time to be spent in actual sleep than tossing and turning and trying to go to sleep in comparison with normal sleep with no bath. When scheduled one to 2 hours before bedtime, a warm bath may speed up sleep by about 36 percent.

We also checked out whether people reported feeling relaxed and, for instance, having a warm bath or shower improved their night's sleep, in most studies.

A girl having a shower, which may help lower core body temperature.
TORWAISTUDIO/Shutterstock.com

Why does a warm bath or shower help? There is science behind it. Our body temperature doesn't remain constant during 24 hours. It is highest within the morning and evening, and lowest during nighttime sleep. Body temperature is very important. Drop Good sleep to start out. When we take a hot bath or shower, a considerable amount of blood within the body involves the surface, especially the hands and feet. This blood flow brings heat from the core to the surface and rejects heat to the environment and causes a drop in body temperature. So, for those who take a hot bath/shower at the proper biological time – one to 2 hours before bed – it should support your natural circadian process and improve your sleep.

As a next step, we are actually working on designing a commercially viable bed system with technology that mimics the effect of a hot bath. The bed of the longer term!

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