10 Tricks to Cool Down Your Summer Sleeping
By Chris Brown
Hot summer nights, while perfect for strolling the town, can lead to miserable, sleepless nights. Sleep quality impacts one's health, life, and energy for enjoying the summer day. For those of us without the privilege of air conditioning, below are 10 tricks to granting you sleep on those hot nights.
- Pre-cool your bed - Get ahead of the heat by prepping your sheets and pillowcases in the freezer. The coolness of a frozen sheet and pillow can keep you at a comfortable temperature long enough for deep sleep.
- Keep a cooling bedtime spray on your nightstand - Prepare a bedtime spray with cucumber or chamomile in case an emergency, facial spritz is needed to return you to sleep after an overheated waking.
- Soak a hand towel in cold water and place on your head - As water evaporates it naturally cools. I've found placing a wet hand towel over my forehead, eyes, or chest provides the cooling relief needed on hot nights.
- Go to bed hydrated - Your body naturally sweats to cool itself, but that meanwhile drains your liquids. By hydrating, and keeping a glass next to the bed, your body will have all the tools it needs to regulate your internal temperature without mid-night dehydration.
- Cool down with a pre-bed cold shower - A cool shower can reset your temperature and get your night started cool.
- Buy slatted bed frames - Your bed frame might be heating you without your knowledge. Slatted bedframes allow heat to escape below and are cooler than solid frames that retain heat.
- Go to bed bare or with cotton sleepwear - It is common sense that the more layers you sleep under, the warmer you will be. If sleeping nude isn't your style, stick to cotton clothing for the coolest option.
- Open windows and bedroom door - Sometimes, heated sleeplessness isn't about the temperature itself, but stale, warm air. Opening a window or your bedroom door can create enough airflow to drift you to sleep.
- Moisturize with aloe vera or a cooling moisturizer - A cooling moisturizer, such as aloe vera, can actually lower your skin's temperature and provide a tactile sensation of cooling.
- Eat something cold before bed - Eating something frozen (such as a popsicle) or even just a cool salad, internally cools your system and makes your starting body temperature chilled for bed.
If it is more than heat is keeping you awake, and back pain and restlessness are making sleep impossible, a visit to The Joint Chiropractic may be just what you need. Sessions are affordable without insurance and walk-ins are welcomed anytime during their convenient hours. So stop by The Joint today to finally enter a deep sleep tonight.
To learn more about your health, wellness and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Knoxville, Tenn.