It happens to the best of us. We are hit with that surge of late-night ambition. We decide to delve into the time consuming process that is not only washing and conditioning our hair, but drying and sometimes even styling it thereafter. It seemed like a great idea. But now you’re out of the shower and exhaustion has hit.
You sit on your bed in your towel contemplating your options. You’re just not the ambitious go-getter you were before you stepped into the shower. Now you’re just tired.
It doesn’t seem like a huge deal, just going to bed with a head full of wet hair. You’ll just have to deal with that horrific mop of cow-licked bed head when you awake, still slightly damp from being matted up against your waterlogged pillow.
That moist pillow is a bacterial breeding ground
I’m sorry to have to shine such a negative light on your temple, your bed. But it’s true. When you sleep with wet hair, all of that moisture seeps into your pillow, cultivating an alarming number of harmful bacteria.
1. Catching a cold
This actually isn’t due to the actual moisture in your hair, unless your room has reached subarctic temperatures. Instead the danger lies in the bacteria infested pillow. Which you now have your nose, mouth and eyes pressed up against. A welcoming party for viral and bacterial infections.
2. Bacterial infection
Exposing your skin to moist bacteria leaves you vulnerable to a number of infections. The most common of which being the development of dandruff and ringworm of the scalp.
3. Health and appearance
The integrity of your hair and skin could also fall victim to this seemingly harmless mistake. If your hair is not in its best condition, it may appear to look flat and dull. Additionally, your skin could take a beating as well. The exposure of bacteria can lead to an overall decline in skin health. This can lead to dryness, acne, and a number of irritations or infections.
You spend 1/3 of your life sleeping, with bacteria?
Consider that for a moment. The average person spends around 8 hours a night sleeping. That’s 56 hours a week. That’s 2,912 hours a year. Is it getting real yet? Let’s turn it up a notch. If you live to be 75, you’ve racked up 218,400 hours of pillow time.
When you look at it from that perspective, and consider the exposure to bacteria, you are seriously putting yourself at risk. Not only should you avoid creating opportunities for bacterial growth, you need to combat it as well. Make it a common practice to wash your pillow and keep bacteria at bay.
Why is it so tempting to sleep even your hair is wet?
You may feel like you may not do it that often. But once or twice a week is enough for it to become an issue. There are very common and understandable reasons why you might find yourself sleeping with a wet head of hair.
1. It’s too much effort
After a long day, all you want is to wash it all away in the shower and get yourself to bed. And after that hot, relaxing shower, the last thing you want to do is bother with drying it out before you go to bed. It’s too much effort. So instead you figure you’ll just let it dry overnight.
2. You’re too tired
You decide that you’ll just let it air dry after your shower. But that just takes too long. Perhaps the intention was there, but now it’s slipping away along with your ability to stay awake. So you just fall asleep with semi-wet hair. The intention was pure. The execution, not so much.
3. You don’t want to dry out your hair
You’d prefer not to damage your hair with the hot heat from the blow-dryer, so sleeping on it seems like the better option. If you are trying to salvage the well being of your hair, then this practice is counterproductive and will ultimately decrease the condition of your hair.
Switch up your game plan
You can only change your circumstance if you change your method! There are a few adjustments that you can make to your schedule so you’ll never sleep on wet hair again. As well as steps that you can take to keep the moisture from absorbing into your pillow. Because let’s face it, you’re going to fall asleep with wet hair every once in a while.
1. 2Wash your hair in the morning
This way it can air dry throughout the day and you never have to muster the motivation to dry it late at night. Also, there are major benefits that come alone with showering in the morning. Primarily, morning showers are just so refreshing and a great way to start your day. Your body will expel itself of some of the toxins it’s been harboring, giving you a cleaner and clearer platform to start from.
2. Change your environment
To inspire yourself to dry your hair, leave yourself incentives and prompts. The most effective would be to leave out your hairdryer so you see it as soon as you step out of the shower. Since it’s in plain sight, you’ll feel more inclined to just dry it and get it over with.
3. Place a dry towel on your pillow
Sometimes it’s just going to happen. You’re human, you’re tired, and your hair is wet. To keep the moisture from soaking into your pillow and breeding millions of nasty bacteria, just lay down a dry towel to absorb most of that. It’s always better to fully dry out your hair, but on the occasion that you just can’t, practice some damage control by sleeping on a dry towel.
