Science says wearing socks to bed improves your sleep

This might be painful for some of you to hear but the science is there. If you are having trouble getting a good night of sleep, there’s one thing to try that’s statistically and scientifically proven to improve your sleep quality. Just put on your socks before going to bed.

There is likely a bunch of you balking at such a claim, to the point that people write articles about how polarizing the socks versus no-socks sleep debate has become. However, sleep doctors and experts are saying that wearing socks to bed can improve a person’s sleep quality. In fact, one 2018 study found that young men who wore socks to bed slept eight minutes faster, 32 minutes longer, and had less awakenings at night compared to those who slept barefoot.

Socks warm your feet, but cool your core body temperature.Photo credit: Canva

Why is this? Well, weirdly enough, it’s not because socks keep your feet warmer. Not be misconstrued, socks do that and that’s their intention. However, they make you sleep better because they oddly make the rest of your body cooler.

“It sounds counterintuitive, I know, but by wearing socks to bed and warming your feet, you may actually lower your core body temperature and fall asleep faster,” said Michelle Drerup, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Cleveland Clinic. “By making your feet warmer, you’re opening up blood vessels to help cool down the rest of the body, so increasing the blood circulation to your feet results in a lower core temperature.”

This blood vessel widening, called distal vasodilation, lets your core body temperature comfortably drop to encourage sleep. This is sound since most sleep experts recommend a cooler room temperature, usually 60ºF, to provide the optimal sleep environment. In terms of opening blood vessels to induce sleepiness, this is why many sleep experts recommend taking a warm (not hot) shower before bed, too, since the body will be trying to cool itself after being heated up by the warm water.

If what you’re already doing works, then there’s no need to change it up. A person’s comfort is a person’s comfort. If you’re sleeping like a well-fed baby each night without waking up frequently and feeling refreshed in the morning, no need to rock the boat (or “sock the foot” in this case).

However, if you are dealing with poor sleep, there are some science-backed hacks that could get you snoozing. You may want to see if you need more dietary fiber to promote quality rest. White noise machines, avoiding screens before bedtime, and blackout curtains to remove more light can help, too. Even something as simple as ensuring the same bedtime routine and ritual at the same time every night can encourage you to regularly get into sleep mode.

If those simple hacks don’t hack it, it’s recommended to see your doctor and a sleep specialist to see what could be underlying problems to ensure a good night of rest, with or without socks.