OTHER TOPICS -
WARM FEET AID SLEEP

The results are in!

We had this idea that by wearing socks to bed a person would get a better night's sleep. After all, we bundle our newborns up and put booties on them - and they sleep like babies.  The idea had been bouncing around for a few years and we had an opportunity to test the idea. We enrolled 32 people to participate in our study. We supplied each participant with a reporting form and a special Comfort Herb Bag (to help warm the foot of the bed).

The participants were asked to wear socks and use the and use a hot water bottle. The bag was heated by placing it in a microwave on high for two minutes.  The seeds in the bag hold enough warmth to last almost an hour.

NOTE: The herb bags are no longer available because they required warming with a microwave. It was possible to overheat the bag and the bags could actually catch fire. Today we strongly recommend using a hot water bottle. They are very inexpensive and last a long time. Just add hot tap water before bed and you're all set. Classic Cross-Hatched Hot Water Bottle - RED

Of the 32 kits sent out we received 20 completed forms - and one letter explaining why the person didn't participate. Twenty responses out of 32 is 62.5% That is an outstanding response. Thank you to everyone who participated and responded.

What did we learn? We found out that our idea is correct - warm feet and wearing socks to bed gives a person better sleep.

Here are the numbers. The report sheet was divided into two sections - a 3 week period where the socks and warming bag were used and a 7 day period where the person was to NOT use the warming bag or wear socks.

Three Times Better Sleep. The participants were asked to rate their sleep as "better" than usual or "about the same" as usual. The total score for the "better" responses was 292. The score for the "about the same" group was 100. Wearing socks and having warm feet resulted in almost three times (actually 2.92) better sleep - according to our scale.

Then we looked at the 7 days when the participants did not have warm feet. The respondents basically wanted their foot warmers and socks back - by a margin of 2.68 to 1. I think this is consistent with the 3 week test above.

There you have it folks - if you wear socks to bed and keep your feet nice and warm you will probably sleep a whole lot better. I'm not surprised.

This test was conducted during the late winter and early spring of 2004 - it was basically cold outside. Some people said their feet got too hot and they didn't sleep well. Yet, the overwhelming majority of responses indicated that warm feet are an important part of good night's sleep.

Does this apply when the weather turns warm? I think so - but I am not going to study it. But, think about it. This information shows that warm feet can usually make sleeping better. If you don't sleep well, try wearing socks and warming the foot of the bed (do not use an electric heating pad or blanket - unless you turn it off before going to bed). If that doesn't work for you then don't do it. Our unfunded, somewhat scientific study suggests that warm feet are a good thing - by a margin of almost three to one.

Since 2004 I have begun to wear socks in the summer as well as when it's cold outside. Sleep is definitely better WITH the socks.

A Special Tip:  Use COTTON SOCKS.  Brands with other substances can be uncomfortable. A lot of those synthetic fibers feel like you've wrapped your foot in plastic wrap. Pure cotton is best - for socks and all nightclothes and bedding.

Try it! You might like it!

Here are some of the comments we received about the study....

"While using the pad and socks I slept better through the night and did not have the usual sinus headaches that I experience. I initially found myself sleeping more hours, but that stabilized after a week or so. Once I returned to sleeping without the pad I found myself waking up more and returning to the headaches on many nights." Male age 54

"This really works! and regarding the 7 nights without the socks or bag. I hated this part of the study, even with socks I couldn't sleep very deeply". Female age 57

"I used to take Tylenol PM to sleep, I am finding now that I am sleeping without them." Female age 54

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Why does wearing socks make sleeping better? I don't know for sure - but I have a couple of ideas. For one, when a person sleeps in a cold place - or on a water bed that has cool water - their body needs to WORK to generate heat. That's work during a time when we should be resting. It isn't good to try to work and rest at the same time. So, the work during sleep time interferes with the restfulness we need. Also, it has been shown that being insufficiently warm causes us to toss and turn more - and that means less rest too.

It has been shown repeatedly that we loose  heat through the top of our head (actually more than we loose through the rest of our body) - even more when the hair is thinning. So, wear a hat! I think the same thing happens through the soles of our feet. Prevent that heat loss and the body needs to do less work. Now that I think about it there is a lot of wisdom in the old idea of wearing a nightcap to bed (Old Scrooge did it). I have the socks - and I wear them regularly (unless the air temperature is above my body temperature). Now I need to find a good source of nightcaps.