Falling asleep isn’t always easy. Many of us can find that our minds race at night with thoughts about what we’ve got to do tomorrow, or something embarrassing we said 10 years ago.
You might also find that you need specific conditions to help you get to sleep, such as having the room be at a certain temperature so you’re not too hot or too cold, or having every light source switched off so there’s nothing flashing in the dark.
If you still struggle to fall asleep, you might have turned to sleep hacks that promise to end insomnia and have you drifting off in seconds. These often involve simple exercises you can do in your bed to relax your muscles, or things you can think about to distract you from your mind racing.
But according to a neuroscientist on Instagram, there’s a simple way you could fall asleep in seconds without having to worry about rewiring your thoughts or doing relaxing exercises before bed. In fact, all you need to do is put something on your forehead.
Kyle Cox, a scientist who claims to “rewire trauma through neuroscience”, has claimed that you can fall asleep in seconds if you put something cold on your forehead when you go to bed. It might sound silly, but he insisted it has been backed by sleep clinics and can be “better than sleeping pills” in helping you drift off to sleep.
He explained: “Researchers discovered your forehead temperature controls whether your brain stays alert or shuts down. When your frontal lobe cools by even one degree, it automatically triggers sleep chemistry.
“They tested this on people with terrible insomnia. They gave them cooling caps that only touched their foreheads, and most fell asleep faster than people taking Ambien [a brand of zolpidem, which is used for the short-term treatment of insomnia].
“The cold slows down all that mental chatter because your prefrontal cortex literally can’t run hot when it’s being cooled. A cold washcloth works, or even a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a thin towel. Put it on your forehead when you get into bed, leave it until it warms up, and your racing thoughts will slow down immediately.
“I’ve been using this for months, and it works better than melatonin.”
You must be careful when applying cold things to your head, as you can cause skin damage or trigger a “brain freeze” headache. Something cold should never be applied directly to the skin, and frozen items should always be wrapped in a towel or cloth. You should also limit the application to just 15 minutes at a time.
Commenters on Kyle’s video were thankful for the advice, with many saying they would be trying it for themselves as they often struggle to get to sleep at night.
One person said: “This explains why I sleep better in a cold room and warm blankets.”
Another added: “It’s 3:30 in the morning. I’m trying it now.”
A third wrote: “I instantly believe this! I only want the air conditioning on really cold, once the rest of me is snug in the warm bed. If I wake in the middle of the night, I put the air conditioning on a short super blast, and I fall straight back to sleep.”
How to treat insomnia at home
The NHS claims that insomnia usually gets better if you change your sleep habits. They suggest trying the following:
- Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day
- Relax at least 1 hour before bed, for example, take a bath or read a book
- Make sure your bedroom is dark and quiet – use curtains, blinds, an eye mask or earplugs if needed
- Exercise regularly during the day
- Make sure your mattress, pillows and covers are comfortable
They also state you should avoid the following:
- Do not smoke or drink alcohol, tea or coffee at least 6 hours before going to bed
- Do not eat a big meal late at night
- Do not exercise at least 4 hours before bed
- Do not watch television or use devices right before going to bed, because the blue light makes you more awake
- Do not nap during the day
- Do not drive when you feel sleepy
- Do not sleep in after a bad night’s sleep and stick to your regular sleeping hours instead
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
