6 Benefits of Using a Sleep Mask That Have Nothing To Do With Sleep
One of the most important factors in living a healthy life is making sure you get adequate rest. But with the busy life that many of us live, getting good sleep can be more difficult than you would expect. Busy lives and constant distractions from devices and other sources can make it hard to settle your mind and thoughts at night. Things like light exposure and things that disrupt the circadian rhythm can be inhibitors to a decent night’s sleep. This is why people use things like blackout curtains to reduce exposure to light. Tools like sleep masks are also beneficial for this purpose as well. Maintaining a dark setting is a crucial element of sleep hygiene, directly enhancing sleep quality and length. But there are certain aspects of sleep masks that are beneficial beyond just a good night’s sleep. These reasons may just be the deciding factor that could convince you to start using a sleep mask. Read on to learn these six benefits of using a sleep mask that have nothing to do with sleep.
Sleep masks are proven to improve circadian rhythm
While this is part of getting good sleep, your circadian rhythm is essential to your life in so many other ways. It is basically the internal clock that helps us understand our surroundings from a time and space perspective. The journal Sleep completed two experiments that tested participants’ sleep cycles when wearing an eye mask and when not. The results showed a drastic difference in how their circadian rhythms responded.
Light exposure strongly influences our circadian rhythms. Evening and early-night light can delay them, making sleep elusive, while morning light can advance them, making staying awake the next night more difficult.
Sleep masks can boost memory and learning
During this study, researchers did some word-pair testing with the participants. What was revealed was that the participants who wore sleep masks outperformed the subjects who did not wear masks. This showed researchers that sleep masks were able to enhance learning and memory formation.
Sleep masks can help speed up reaction time
The study also showed some interesting results based on blocked ambient lighting. The participants did not realize that they had faster reaction times and did not report this on the self-reported questionnaires. But they actually showed faster reaction times and improved alertness through psychomotor vigilance tests.
Sleep masks affect your alertness at night as well
Ambient light has an influence on our sleep, but sleep masks can change that. This is a critical factor for lion or lark chronotypes, which would indicate a person who wants to be more alert at night. Street lights or store signs can harm our sleep without a sleep mask. Plus, masks help keep morning light from waking us early and shifting our body clock.
Sleep masks can improve mood
Have you ever experienced a day of extreme irritability after a poor night’s sleep? You may have even experienced some severe mood shifts if you were not able to get decent sleep for several nights in a row. Our bodies depend on sleep to survive and thrive, and this totally includes your brain’s ability to function. Better sleep can have a profound effect on mood and temperament. You may think that you are a cranky or irritable person in general, but this could simply be a result of subpar sleeping habits. Start a regimen of using a sleeping mask to see if this will help improve your sleep. If it makes a positive difference, it is pretty likely that your mood and overall feelings about your life will improve as well.
Best Practices for Using A Sleep Mask
One of the most important things to remember about using a sleep mask is to make your environment as dark as possible. This will help ensure that the sleep mask can block out any little amount of remaining light. Also, keep in mind that most sleep masks work similarly, so you can start using this helpful tool on a budget. You don’t have to spend a lot on a sleep mask. They’re mostly similar, so just choose a comfortable one, even if it’s from the dollar store.