With the arrival of heat and, especially, heat, it becomes harder for many people to sleep, given that the daylight time greatly prevails over the dark. We talk about the necessary things and habits to maintain a healthy sleep.
Numerous studies have shown that with the arrival of spring, a person’s sleep can really worsen. “It’s perfectly normal if you have weird bad nights,” says Dr. Ellie Hare, a sleep consultant at Royal Brompton Hospital, London.
Attention to yourself
“Accept the fact that if there is a strong heat wave, you may have a couple of nights that will not be so good. If insomnia lasts more than two weeks, you need to contact your therapist,” she adds. In addition, Hare and other experts gave advice on how to sleep better in the summer months.
Circadian rhythms
“We all enjoy these long summer evenings, but exposing yourself to light at a later time can shift your circadian rhythm. This will trigger something called a delayed sleep phase: it will make you want to go to bed later than is actually necessary,” says Guy Lesziner, professor of neurology and sleep medicine at Guy’s Hospital in London, author of the book “The Night Brain”.
Room temperature
For most of the people, according to Lesziner, the best temperature in the bedroom is 16-18 °C. In the heat, it is recommended to have a fan in the room and cover it with a damp cloth because the evaporation of water from a damp cloth cools the air that the fan carries around the room.
Body temperature
“It is known that body temperature and sleep cycles are closely related. “When preparing for bed, our body temperature tends to decrease. When we wake up, it rises, so there are regulatory mechanisms that link our internal body temperature and sleep,” experts say.
So, a warm bath or shower about an hour before bedtime “causes blood vessels to dilate, so when you leave the bath, you can effectively lose heat,” which, in turn, will lead to better falling asleep.