Have you ever had a day where you feel so tired all day that all you do is look forward to going to sleep at night, but when it’s finally time to go to sleep, you have trouble falling asleep or trouble staying asleep very long? This probably happens to everyone from time to time, and there could be multiple reasons for that. Perhaps there’s something on your mind that’s keeping you from falling asleep. Perhaps you’re uncomfortable in your bed. Perhaps it has to do with your core body temperature.
According to Dr Karan Raj, who often posts about healthy habits and health tips on TikTok, there is a fairly easy solution that is definitely worth a try if you’re having trouble falling asleep at night. All you need to do is take a shower before going to bed, but it’s very important that you pay attention to the temperature in the shower.
If you like the water in the shower to be on the cooler side, this hack is not going to work for you, but if you like a steamy hot shower, then it might be just the thing you need to fall asleep quickly and sleep peacefully all night.
According to Dr. Raj, the hot water in the shower lowers your core body temperature. Dr. Raj explained that a lower core body temperature is ideal for a good night sleep.
On the flip side, if you don’t have any trouble falling asleep at night but you have trouble feeling wide awake in the morning, you also might want to try taking a shower. If you’re using a shower to try to wake you up, you want to raise your core body temperature, and in order to do that, you need to lower the temperature of the water. That means that a cold shower should help you wake up.
Watch Dr. Raj’s TikTok about showering before bed below.
@dr.karanr Warm vs cold showers #coldshower #sleep #lifehack ♬ Cornfield Chase – Dorian Marko
In a comment on this TikTok, Dr. Raj explained, “Warm/hot shower induces vasodilatation (widening) of blood vessels to lower body temp, cold causes vasoconstriction (narrowing) to raise core temp.”
Dr. Raj also replied to a comment where a viewer asked why he sleeps better in a cold room. According to Dr. Raj, “when sleeping your core temp dips by a couple degrees , colder room means you reach your sleep temp faster.”
Do you usually shower at night, in the morning, or both? Are you going to try taking a hot shower before bed? Are you going to try taking a cold shower in the morning?
