Some research points to the possibility that taking a hot shower in the morning can energize you and give your creativity a jolt. However, if improving your sleep is your objective, then showering before bed is the route that you want to take. Experts claim that there is evidence that if timed just right, a nighttime shower can assist with falling asleep.
The main component in the technique is to not take your shower too late. Dr. Dianne Augelli from the Center for Sleep Medicine at New York- Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center says, “You don’t want to heat yourself up right before bed.” This is because body temperature plays an important part in determining your circadian rhythm, which tells your body when to fell drowsy or wide-awake.
Throughout the day, our body temperatures rise steadily and naturally until late in the afternoon, when the process goes in the other direction and our body temperatures decrease. Dr. Augelli goes on to state, “Cooling down is a signal that tells us we’re supposed to go to sleep. Interrupting this process can make it harder to fall asleep.”
If you shower earlier in the evening, this gives your body the opportunity to cool off and can initiate sleep, according to the director of behavioral sleep medicine at New York’s Montefiore Medical Center, Shelby Harris. Warming your body by taking a bath can help with sleep induction as long as there is adequate time to cool off afterwards according to several studies.
“That rapid cooling after you get out of the shower or out of the bath tends to be a natural sleep inducer,” according to Christopher Winter, a fellow at the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and medical director at the Sleep Center at Martha Jefferson Hospital in Virginia. Much of the research has focused on baths but nevertheless, a 20-minute shower would have comparable effects.
Ideally, take a shower about an hour and a half before you turn in, as recommended by Shelby Harris. Utilizing this method will ensure that your body will be cool, dry and ready for sleep by the time you lay down.
An additional advantage is that you can kill two birds with one stone by washing your face, an important part of skin care, while you are showering. The National Sleep Foundation says that cleansing your face before bed can aid in keeping your skin clear and diminishing breakouts as well as guarding against wrinkles and supports moisturizers and night creams in being more effective.
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