American doctor Jessica Andrade reveals why you should sleep wearing socks

Doctor reveals why you should be sleeping with socks on EVERY night

  • Sleeping with socks on improves your sleep, a US children’s doctor has claimed
  • Dr Jessica Andrade said this is because socks cool core body temperature
  • This signals the body to produce melatonin, the sleep hormone essential for rest 
  • Her advice has gone viral on TikTok – but not everyone is convinced

Sleeping with socks on could be the key to a better night’s sleep, a doctor has claimed.

Dr Jessica Andrade, a third-year children’s resident doctor from the US, has become a social media sensation by sharing medical advice on TikTok.

In a recent clip uploaded to the video-sharing platform, Dr Andrade said people who wear socks to bed ‘tend to fall asleep faster’ than those who jump in barefoot.

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Dr Jessica Andrade (pictured), a third-year children’s resident doctor from the US, has become a social media sensation by sharing medical advice on TikTok

Does wearing socks to bed help you sleep better?

Temperature regulation is an important part of falling asleep. 

Wearing socks in bed increases blood flow to the feet while promoting heat loss through the skin, which helps to  lower core body temperature. 

In turn, this helps you fall sleep faster.

The same can be said for having a hot shower and stepping into a cold bathroom, or soaking your feet in a footbath for 10 to 15 minutes before bed.

But Dr Alex Agostini from the University of South Australia told the ABC it’s not necessarily that simple.

‘If you’re the type of person who hates wearing socks to bed and they’re going to feel uncomfortable, then it’s not going to work for you,’ Dr Agostini told ABC Radio.

Dr Agostini said it’s better to tailor your sleep routine around whatever works for you, rather than what ‘someone on TikTok told you to do’. 

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Dr Andrade revealed this is because socks warm the feet, causing blood vessels to open which in turn cools the body down.

A drop in core body temperature tells the brain that it’s time to sleep, Dr Andrade said, sending bedtime sock-wearers into the Land of Nod much quicker.

When body temperature lowers, the body starts to produce melatonin – known as the sleep hormone – which makes you feel relaxed and naturally drowsy. 

‘So let’s talk about people that wear socks to bed,’ Ms Andrade says in the video.

‘Wearing socks makes your feet warm up and this opens up the blood vessels that cool the body down,’ she continued. 

‘The body being cool tells the brain that it’s time for bed. So actually people that wear socks tend to fall asleep faster.’

But Dr Alex Agostini from the University of South Australia says it’s not necessarily that simple.

‘If you’re the type of person who hates wearing socks to bed and they’re going to feel uncomfortable, then it’s not going to work for you,’ Dr Agostini told ABC Radio.

She said it’s better to tailor your sleep routine around whatever works for you, rather than what ‘someone on TikTok told you to do’.

Dr Andrade’s advice has gone viral, racking up 3.6million ‘likes’ and almost 70,000 responses since it was posted online on February 9.

However many had strong opinions about the idea of wearing socks to bed.

‘I can’t sleep with socks, I would never be able to fall asleep,’ one person replied.

A second agreed: ‘When I wear socks I overheat and can’t fall asleep.’

Dr Andrade said people who wear socks to bed 'tend to fall asleep faster' than those who jump in barefoot because socks cool core body temperature, telling the brain it's time to rest

Dr Andrade said people who wear socks to bed ‘tend to fall asleep faster’ than those who jump in barefoot because socks cool core body temperature, telling the brain it’s time to rest

‘I don’t know why, but I feel really weird and claustrophobic when I try to wear socks to bed. I always end up taking them off,’ added a third.

Despite the resistance, Dr Andrade’s claim is supported by science.

A 2006 study published in the Physical Behaviour Journal found that ‘in adults, sleep-onset was accelerated by [wearing] warm and neutral bed socks after lights-off and correlated to the increase in foot temperature.’

Australia’s leading sleep expert Olivia Arezzolo also agrees that anything that cools core body temperature, such as a shower or foot bath, will lead to a deeper night’s sleep.

‘Academic evidence notes a shower can help reduce the time it takes you to fall asleep, heighten sleep efficiency (so you get more deep sleep) and improve subjective sleep quality,’ she told Bed Threads.

‘After you emerge from a warm shower into a cool bathroom, your core body temperature lowers and you start to produce melatonin.’