If you’ve ever heard the old wives tale that wearing socks to bed will make you toss and turn until you ditch the socks, a new study suggest that those who crawl into bed with their fuzzy socks on are the ones that will have the best night’s sleep.
Wearing socks to bed is more than just making sure your toes aren’t cold. According to the sleep experts at the National Sleep Center, “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.”
Turns out that the more vasodilation you have in your hands and feet, the easier you’ll fall asleep. Someone get me socks and gloves! So if you’re having a restless night and all of your usual tricks to fall asleep aren’t working, you might want to reach for a pair of socks.
If you’re like me and wearing socks to bed is still a major no-no, The National Sleep Center recommends these tricks to warm up your toes without having to pull on a pair of warm socks.
- Trying layering extra blankets on top of your comforter by placing the blanket over the bottom portion of the regular blanket as a way to warm up your feet.
- Grab an inexpensive hot water bottle or a heating pad to warm up the foot of your bed before you crawl in and head off to dreamland
- If you aren’t a fan of socks, try slippers instead. Skip the big and bulky slippers and opt for smaller, fitted slippers. You can even splurge on super soft slippers that are made of cashmere.
So tell us in the comments if you are team socks to bed or team no socks!