If you favor an eve over a morningshower(and that ’s a whole other argument we ’re not getting into now ! ) you may well have been tempt to hop in seam while your hair is still wet . Who has time for C - drying when there ’s rest to be had ? But if this is you , you might also have had people distinguish you all the elbow room that kip on wet haircloth is supposedly spoilt news for your health . So , is this reliable , or can you afford to pass over the drier tonight ?
What are the claims about going to bed with wet hair?
There are hatful of beliefs about the possible wellness risk of exposure of sleeping with wet hair , some more dubious than others , so we took a closer looking at a few of the most popular .
“Wet hair can make you catch a cold”
This one ’s jolly light to debunk . Coldsare because of viruses , not a moist cranium . You might feel unpleasantly parky with wet pilus clinging to your neck all night , and that can make it harder to get a unspoilt night ’s sleep , but it ’s nothing that ca n’t well be solved with a towel . While we ’re here , run alfresco in the winter with crocked tomentum wo n’t give you a cold either , despite what your gran told you – althoughshe was rightabout some other stuff .
“Wet hair can give you a stiff neck/headache”
It ’s a lilliputian harder to figure out where this rumor came from , but it ’s for sure something we ’ve heard over the years .
A couple of possible explanations we ’ve seen admit themuscles in the necktensing up while you log Z’s as you subconsciously stress and move away from the cold-blooded wetness , or issues with the headbeing colderthan the rest of the torso . However , we ’ve not been able to witness any evidence from scientific studies to back up these assertion .
If you find it uncomfortable or moth-eaten to sleep with wet hair , then do n’t do it . But we ’ve see nothing to suggest these problems are in any way universal , and it ’s likely many people will be able-bodied to wake cephalalgia - gratis from a night with stiff hair .
“Sleeping on wet hair can damage it”
You might call back that skipping the hairdryer will also allow you to skip over the hotness damage that can amount with it , and that ’s true . Unfortunately , if you ’re trading in high temperature styling for eight hours of chuck and turn on wet pilus , you may still be salt away up some job for yourself .
“ In general , wet whisker is more slight and prostrate to breakage than juiceless hair , ” dermatologist Timothy Schmidt explained forUniversity of Utah Health . “ The water system weakens the hair ’s protein structure , making it more flexible and gentle to stretch and snap . ”
A2015 studysuggested that stretching whisker character to between 30 and 70 pct of their original length can stimulate damage , and it ’s well-heeled to see how that might come about while you sleep . Excessive friction can also be negative , which is why expertstend to advisethat you do n’t rub your hair dry with a towel .
If you really do n’t have time to fully dry out your hair before bed , Schmidt suggests you let it dry out naturally or with mild heat for as long as potential , and consider using a silk or satin pillowcase that will minimize friction on your damp tress .
“Leaving your hair wet can cause dandruff”
We regret to inform you that this one is also kind of true .
A moist environs is the ideal breeding ground for fungi . Dandruff is just one condition that can leave when these pesky microbes go to town on the scalp , with others including scalpringwormand seborrheic dermatitis .
One particularly troublesome genus isMalasseziayeast , which is naturally go on on human peel but can sometimes get issues when it grow over orinfects hairsbreadth follicles .
Wet hair’s-breadth , along with the wet that can ooze into your pillow as you sleep and the warmness of your head , create the perfect conditions for yeast and could put you at increase hazard of a fungal infection , as hand brake physician Dr Chirag Shah explain toHealthline .
The takeaway
While some of the beliefs about run to seam with wet hairsbreadth can be file in the “ old married woman ’ tales ” loge , there are some that are worth further thoughtfulness . You wo n’t catch a coldness , but you could land yourself with a fungal transmission and damagedhairinto the steal .
category medicinal drug specialist Dr Matthew Goldman from theCleveland Clinichas a simple piece of advice : “ Whenever possible , go to log Z’s with ironic hair . ”
If you ’re really struggling for time one evening , drying your tomentum for as long as possible and using a microfiber towel , and/or silk slip , can help limit some of the legal injury .
And , you know , there ’s always dry shampoo .
The content of this article is not intended to be a stand-in for professional medical advice , diagnosis , or discussion . Always assay the advice of qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding medical status .