There are few things as precious to your mind, body and spirit than a good night sleep and there are few things as capable of ruining your day than a less-than-stellar night of interrupted Zs. But now TikTok, which has given us advice from how to poop to how to make a mean Finnish pasta, is dropping some advice on how you can improve your odds of sleeping better tonight. And we guarantee you have everything you need to try it out in your drawers right now.
The secret? Wearing your socks to bed. (We know.)
It feels deceptively simple — or might be totally obvious to people who have long been sock sleepers — but the video app’s obsession with this sleep hack came from Dr. Jess Andrade, a resident doctor who uses the app to share wellness facts, fun insights from her life as a medical professional and most recently some sleep tips backed by science.
“So let’s talk about people that wear socks to bed. Wearing socks makes the feet warm and this opens up the blood vessels that cools the body down,” she said in her video. “The body being cool tells the brain that it’s time for bed so actually, people that wear socks tend to fall asleep faster.”
This all tracks with the research about insomnia, temperature and bodies that’s out there right now and what the National Sleep Foundation says about wearing socks to bed: That, more or less, keeping your feet toasty can be a factor in inducing sleep quickly. That doesn’t really help folks like me who inevitably kick off my socks while I’m sleeping because they feel too warm —like lava bags strapped to my feet — after just a few hours, but go off.
“Heating cold feet causes vasodilation—dilation of the blood vessels—which may tell the brain that it is bedtime. After the blood vessels open in the hands and feet, heat is redistributed throughout the body to prepare for sleep,” according to the National Sleep Foundation. “In fact, some research has shown that the more vasodilation in the hands and feet, the less time it takes to fall asleep. The relationship between warm hands and feet and falling asleep may be what’s behind the age-old belief that placing a hot water bottle at the foot of the bed is good for sleep. The verdict? Socks in bed may not be sexy, but then again, neither are cold feet!”
So it may be worth a try if you’re experiencing insomnia or take too long to fall asleep. They also recommend finding some other ways to keep your feet warm, including layering some extra blankets, wearing some extra luxurious footwear, investing in a hot water bottle, a good heating pad or a heated blanket to warm up the foot of your bed before you go to sleep or wearing some extra cozy slippers before bed to keep yourself nice and warm.
Give this TikTok hack a try and see if you’ve got it in you to be a sock sleeper — worst case you just kick them off and resume your previous cold-footed lifestyle.
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And, before you go, check out our favorite products that might actually help you sleep better:
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