The importance of good sleep is quite crucial. American sleep researcher William C. Dement, founder of the Sleep Research Centre, said that sleep deprivation is the most common form of brain impairment.
Yet insomnia is becoming more prevalent through the years, and around 1 in 3 people have at least mild insomnia.
What happens when you are sleep deprived?
There are a myriad of side effects of sleep deprivation. Before we even explore the disease risk it can bring, let’s begin with the fact that a lack of sleep affects one’s performance during the day and can endanger public safety. Research shows that being awake for 17 continuous hours has the same effect as driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.05.
Sleep deprivation also negatively affects one’s mental and emotional state. To those who have bipolar mood disorder, a lack of sleep may trigger mania. Other psychological risks that sleep deprivation can bring include anxiety, depression, impulsive behaviour, paranoia and suicidal thoughts, just to name a few.
When you are sleep deprived, your immune system also weakens, limiting your body’s ability to produce antibodies. Long-term sleep deprivation also increases one’s risk for conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.
The consequences of insufficient sleep are quite serious and devastating in the long-term. What makes it more severe is that one may not feel the direct correlation between a lack of sleep and its consequences.
Cool ice eye masks: Benefits beyond beauty sleep
A good night’s sleep does not come naturally to most people, so seeing the harmful effects of sleep deprivation, it’s important that we all should exert effort to try and get a good night’s rest.
Many things can help from aromatherapy, to herbal and non-herbal medicine and, of course, simple sleeping companions such as a cool sleeping ice eye mask.
The good old eye mask, which was patented in 1930, states that “the invention relates to an eye shield designed primarily for use by persons while sleeping so that their rest will not be disturbed by light rays”. Ninety years on, and the sleeping eye mask’s use hasn’t deviated much from its origins. It still helps people get better sleep.
What are cooling gel eye masks?
Call it the more sophisticated cousin of the eye mask: cooling gel eye masks are made of gel that is flexible. This means that the eye mask can be cooled in the fridge, and it will remain flexible as to contour around your eyes and forehead for a comfortable fit. They can be used also as a hot or cold eye mask, making it a popular option for those with eye issues such as blepharitis, conjunctivitis or blocked oil or tear glands.
When used as an ice eye mask, this can be a simple yet efficient tool to getting a good night’s sleep.
How can cooling gel eye masks help with sleep?
1. Goodbye headaches and migraines
A cooling gel eye mask works as both a light blocker and a cold compress, making it a natural remedy for headaches and migraines. For people living with migraines, the most common sleep problem is insomnia. The pain makes it difficult for one to fall or stay asleep. Like a vicious cycle, poor sleep is a common trigger for migraine headaches.
A trusted remedy for headaches and migraines are ice packs. Applying a cold compress or an ice pack to your head brings a numbing effect that dulls the sensation of pain. Unfortunately, it is quite uncomfortable to sleep with an ice pack, so a cooling gel eye mask works best in this situation.
2. Cool temperature = Cool sleep
According to the Sleep Foundation, research shows that there seems to be an ideal temperature for sleep, and when this temperature is high, it takes longer to fall asleep. Sleeping in colder temperatures can improve your sleep quality and help combat insomnia. Scientifically, we can link this to the fact that our body temperature naturally drops at night.
This is why a cooling gel eye mask, when used as a cold compress, can help you get a good night’s sleep. You can wear them as usual or, to get the biggest benefit, put the gel eye mask on your wrists, neck, elbows, ankles or behind the knees — the pulse point locations.
3. Gel eye masks can be weighted eye masks
Gel ice eye masks are heavier than your usual silk or cloth eye masks. As their name suggests, the mask consists of a gel, so they can act also as a weighted eye mask. Weighted sleeping masks apply pressure on and around the eyes, and this pressure alleviates tension, approves relaxation and overall helps you have a peaceful, good night’s sleep. The weighted eye mask works by putting slight pressure on the eyes that sends a quick signal to the brain to relax. It also blocks out sleep-disturbing light.
4. It helps alleviate allergies and irritation
For those suffering from itchy, tired and puffy eyes, getting full sleep during the night can also be frustrating. Because the gel eye mask can act as a cold compress, it can provide mild relief from pesky itching and the accompanying inflammation. Cold temperature provides a numbing effect on the affected area, which also helps decrease the swelling.
Allergy sufferers can get a better night’s sleep with gel ice eye masks.
5. Cool gel eye masks block out light
The Surrey Sleep Centre has suggested that people should assess their bedrooms and see how easy it would be to make it darker. It’s been found that people whose bedrooms were “light enough to see across” slept fewer hours than those whose rooms were in complete black out.
Black out curtains are all the rage, but if you don’t have the capacity to have full curtains fitted in your bedroom, a gel eye mask would work just as well.
How does complete darkness actually help with sleep? Well, it’s from melatonin, a hormone that triggers sleepiness. Melatonin is released when we’re exposed to darkness. When we are exposed to light, even through closed eyelids, melatonin production decreases and this triggers our brains to wake up.
All these fantastic ways of how a simple gel ice eyes mask can help with a good night’s sleep is enough to say that they are quite a great investment.
A lot of people spend many hours and a lot of money trying to see how best to get more sleep, with some even checking themselves in to sleep clinics. Sometimes the answer could be as simple as a cup of hot milk before bed, or getting a cooling gel eye mask.
Do you have trouble sleeping at night? What methods have you tried? Contact us for a chat, we’d love to hear from you!