What is a sleep mask?
Making sure your surroundings is completely dark is one of the best methods to obtain a good night’s sleep, but this isn’t always achievable. You may not be prepared to invest in black curtains, or you may be traveling and don’t have a practical means to manage how dark your surroundings are. Whatever the case may be, a sleep mask is an inexpensive and portable solution for blocking out additional light, falling asleep quickly, and perhaps getting a better night’s sleep.
Modern sleep masks are available in a variety of styles, allowing everyone to select one they like and enjoy wearing for a full night’s sleep. Some can help you fall asleep faster by blocking out both sound and light by covering your ears.
How sleep masks work
Light, particularly at night, can interfere with our internal biological ‘clock,’ which helps us manage our sleep-wake cycles. Artificial light lowers melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone, resulting in sleeping problems or illnesses like insomnia.
Because melatonin’s purpose is to tell the brain when it’s time to sleep, light exposure gives false messages to the brain, disrupting one’s ability to fall asleep and stay asleep. Streetlights and background lights are the main cause of sleep disruption: blue light from smartphones and electronic devices are also accounted for depending on where you stay.
Intrusive light can cause you to sleep for shorter lengths of time. By functioning as a shield, eye masks help block out artificial light. They synchronize your natural circadian rhythm with the sun’s rising and setting.
Benefits of sleep masks
- Safer than medicine or alcohol
Many people who have difficulties sleeping take sleeping medicines or self-medicate with alcohol. However, pharmacological sleeping aids, even those available without a prescription, can become addictive or cause negative effects. (Plus, there’s a possibility of overdosing.) Not only does alcohol have the same risks as sleeping medications, but it also disturbs your sleep cycle and decreases the overall quality of sleep. Sleep masks are a low-risk, quasi alternative to more traditional sleep aids since they deceive your brain into thinking it’s time to sleep.
- Minimize distractions
Your home’s technology isn’t just a source of blue light; it can also be distracting. It is enticing to look at your phone, waiting to see what time it is when you’re having difficulties falling asleep. Then, only to delay and end up browsing over your social media page. Make wearing a sleep mask a habit, as with brushing your teeth before bed. Once you put on your sleep mask, it will be harder to roll over and check your phone or even to wake up and start doing anything at all.
- Alleviate insomnia
Sleep masks can help shut out any extra “noise” flowing from your brain if you have problems falling asleep now and then or if it’s a regular battle. Even while your eyes are closed, you may often see or sense movement in your surroundings. Sleep masks could provide sensory deprivation, removing unnecessary distractions such as the quantity of light entering your eyes which may keep you awake at night.