About 30 percent of Americans have trouble sleeping. Shahab Haghayegh, a University of Texas biomedical engineer, was one of them. Sleep eluded him. “I always had a hard time fall[ing] asleep,” he told Discover via email.
Over the counter medications like the hormone melatonin and Unisom, a sedating anti-histamine, can help people get to sleep. But the medicines aren’t long-term solutions for chronic sleep problems. Haghayegh wanted to find a way to get better sleep without relying on medication.
Now, in a new study in the journal Sleep Medicine Reviews, Haghayegh and team say they’ve found a simple solution. Taking a warm bath or shower one to two hours before heading to bed can help people get better rest, faster. But the researchers say timing is key. A rejuvenating dunk too early or too close to bedtime won’t help.
There’s a lot of research suggesting warm baths make drifting off ...
