Originally published on healthline.com. Click here to see the full article.
Taking a hot bath before bed could help you sleep better, especially if the water temperature and timing of the bath are just right.
A research team led by Shahab Haghayegh, a PhD candidate in the department of biomedical engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, conducted a systematic data analysis evaluating research that linked bathing, water temperature, and sleep quality. The researchers reviewed 5,322 studies and used about a dozen with solid methodologies to make their conclusions. The report was published in Sleep Medicine Reviews.
According to their results, bathing one to two hours — ideally, 90 minutes — before bed in water at 104 to 109°F (40 to 43°C) did the trick to help people get the best quality sleep. Bathing at that time and temperature can help you fall asleep an average of 10 minutes quicker than normal.