In February, a video went viral on TikTok saying that wearing socks in bed is not a stupid idea, but helps the body in the difficult task of falling asleep. Allegedly, socks help cool the body and sleep comes better. We checked if this is true.
The video, which has 3.2 million likes, was made by Dr. Jessica Andrade, a physician from Boston. In the video she tells:
“Let's talk about people who wear socks before bed. Socks keep your feet warm, which dilates the blood vessels and cools your overall body. A cold body is a signal to the brain that it’s time to fall asleep. That’s why people who put on socks before bed fall asleep faster.”
Andrade isn't the only doctor to talk about the benefits of wearing socks in bed on TikTok. A similar video was also recorded by a London surgeon, Dr. Karan Rahan. “[Socks] dilate your blood vessels. When this happens, they get rid of heat much faster." speaks doctor on video.
Indeed, there are studies that show that warming your feet before bed can help you fall asleep. About one of these studies told in the Associated Press back in 1999.
The work the journalists referred to was carried out in Switzerland. Article was published that same year in Nature and included the results of a study conducted on 18 healthy young men. According to the study, heating the feet actually dilates the blood vessels in the feet and helps the body lose temperature faster, cooling itself.
According to the researchers, most people go through this process of cooling their body naturally before bed, but for people who, for example, often have cold feet, socks may help.
English-language fact-checking portal Snopes recently checked This is a statement and during the course of the study I turned to specialists in the field of sleep medicine. Both experts confirmed that cooling the body before bed (for example, with socks) is a signal to the brain that it is time to fall asleep.
“It’s true that warming the feet causes the blood vessels to dilate and improve circulation, which in turn helps distribute heat into the feet, which cools the rest of the body.” told Snopes Dr. Atul Malhotra, professor of medicine at the University of California. “Although the role of socks has been studied much less,” the professor added.
Her words are confirmed by Dr. Wendy Troxel, a senior scientist at the RAND Research Center: “The study you are talking about (published in 1999 in the journal Nature - Editor's note) did not look at the socks themselves, but looked at how the dilation of blood vessels in the legs and arms, which helps the body lose heat, will affect the ability to fall asleep.”
“When we sleep, our body temperature naturally drops. In fact, a drop in body temperature is a key signal to our brain that it's time to fall asleep. For example, there is evidence that taking a hot bath before bed can also help you fall asleep faster. In the bath, your body temperature rises, but when you get out, it drops quickly,” Troxel explained.
However, both experts noted that there are many other factors. For example, socks will not help with sleep disorders, and some people simply cannot fall asleep with socks on their feet.
“From my experience, I can say that everyone approaches this differently. Some people prefer to wear socks, others don't, says Dr. Malhotra. “Besides, a lot depends on the environment in which you fall asleep. If you're sleeping in the tropics and it's warm, I doubt socks will do much for you, as opposed to if it's a cold climate. Socks may or may not be beneficial depending on how a person heats and cools their home. Finally, I have had patients who simply cannot wear socks in their sleep.”
Thus, the statement that wearing socks before bed helps you fall asleep is, for the most part, correct. Although there are a large number of factors that can reduce the actual usefulness of socks for falling asleep - even negative.
Mostly true
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