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How Temperature Impacts Sleep Quality

Home Care Tips La Costa CA

Senior Care Coronado CA Sleep is one of the most important elements of health and wellbeing, but many people do not get enough sleep. Not getting enough rest can lead to a wide variety of physiological, emotional, and cognitive consequences, reducing quality of life and putting you at increased risk of infection and illness. There are many things that can impact your parents’ ability to get truly restful sleep, but one is the temperature in your parents’ bedroom.

While you may think of things such as the comfort of your parents’ bed, their support of their pillows, and even what colors they select for the decoration of their bedroom as important factors in their sleep quality, you may overlook how important it is to make sure that their bedroom stays at an ideal temperature. Keeping your body at the proper temperature before and during sleep can make a dramatic difference in how easily you fall asleep, how deeply you sleep, how long you are able to stay asleep, and how you feel when you get up.

Some things that you should know about temperature and sleep quality include:

  • Studies have shown that keeping the temperature of the room low helps people fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and feel more refreshed and alert when they wake up.
  • The temperature of a bedroom should be no warmer than 65 degrees, no matter what time of the year it is.
  • It is important to keep the head cool throughout the night, which is why many insomniacs complain of their pillow being hot as their main problem with sleep comfort.
  • Getting too warm at night not only diminishes quality of sleep, it can lead to grogginess, headaches, and even flu-like symptoms upon waking.

Some of the ways that you and your parents’ caregiver can use temperature to improve sleep quality and quality of life for your aging loved ones include:

  • Encourage light pajamas. Even in the winter, encourage your parents to wear lightweight pajamas that will allow their bodies to stay cool. Pile on the blankets to keep them cozy and allow their bodies to naturally shuck off the layers that are too hot during the night. Remember that the feet and the heat let off the most body heat, which means that wearing socks can dramatically increase a person’s body temperature. If your parents insist on wearing socks to bed, make sure that they are loose enough to easily remove so if they get too hot, their sleep will not be disrupted as they kick them off.
  • Turn down the heat. If you are using heat your parents’ home, make sure that the temperature gets turned down low before bed. This not only keeps the room a better temperature for sleep, but it also saves on your parents’ utility bills.
  • Circulate air. Circulating air encourages healthier breathing and keeps body temperature down. Open up a window to let in fresh air, or put a fan on and let it run throughout the night to keep air circulating
  • Use cooling devices. If you cannot keep the room cool enough, look for cooling pillow or cooling caps that help to keep the head cooler for improved sleep even on warm nights.

La Jolla Nurses Homecare can help your aging parents remain in their own homes, call 858-454-9339. We are a home care agency providing quality and affordable senior care in La Costa, CA, and the surrounding communities."]” data-sheets-userformat=”[null,null,767,[null,0],[null,2,10667209],[null,[[null,2,0,null,null,[null,2,0]],[null,0,0,3],[null,1,0,null,1]]],[null,[[null,2,0,null,null,[null,2,0]],[null,0,0,3],[null,1,0,null,1]]],[null,[[null,2,0,null,null,[null,2,0]],[null,0,0,3],[null,1,0,null,1]]],[null,[[null,2,0,null,null,[null,2,0]],[null,0,0,3],[null,1,0,null,1]]],2,2,null,0]”>For more information about how the caregivers at La Jolla Nurses Homecare can help your aging parents remain in their own homes, call 858-454-9339. We are a home care agency providing quality and affordable senior care in La Costa, CA, and the surrounding communities.

Brittnei Salerno

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