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An eye mask is a piece of cloth or fabric that covers your eyes at night and helps you sleep. They range from small pieces of material that fit over your eyes to large blankets that completely surround your head. You need to try them out first to see which one feels best for you.
What Is An Eye Mask?
An eye mask is a device that protects your vision. It can be worn to prevent light from entering your eyeballs, or it can be worn to relax and fall asleep faster. Eye Masks are often made of fabric or foam, but they can also made of plastics. They come in many shapes and sizes. Some users wear them during the day to protect their vision, while others wear them at nighttime to get more restful sleeps.
Why Use An Eye Mask?
People who suffer from dryness in their eyelids may benefit from wearing an eye mask. Some eye masks may improve hydration, increase oil production, or reduce inflammation.
Meibomian Gland Dysfunction (MGD) is one of the most common causes of dry eye syndrome. It occurs when the Meibomian Glanders in the eyelid don’t produce enough oils, or the oils don’t get released into the tear film. Oils help keep the moisture in the tear film intact so that it doesn’t evaporate. Applying a heated face mask to the skin increases blood flow, which can help reduce tear evaporation.
Other masks may help keep moisture in the eyes and prevent them from drying out. Dry eye syndrome can be caused by inflammation of the eyelids. You can use simple methods at your house to treat dry eye syndrome, including using cucumbers to place on your eyelids.
Who Should Try A Mask for Sleep?
Dr. Gurevich (external link) explains that while everyone has a need for sleep masks, some people who use them specifically because they’re not claustrophobic or suffer from insomnia may be able to get even greater benefits from them than others who aren’t so specific:
- Don’t use blackout cloths if you sleep; they cause eye strain
- Suffering from insomnia.
- Try working an overnight shift.
The Benefits of Wearing an Eye Mask
Sleeping mask can help improve your overall sleeping habits and get better rest.
A study conducted at the University of Michigan has shown that wearing an occluding mask for 10 minutes before bedtime could improve the overall health of people living in hospital environments. According to the researchers, these results show that obstructive devices could be effective tools to improve the perception of light and sound during night shifts.
Another research showed that using both an eye mask and headphones at bedtime could help people fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer during the night. It also helped them experience less awakenings and lower their melatonin levels.
When do Melatonin Levels Peak and Why? Melatonin Health Guide – Click and read more!
When traveling, travelers often suffer from poor sleep quality due to bright lights and noise pollution. A mask can be used to block out these factors and allow them to relax for a better night’s sleep. If you share the bed with someone else, a good sleeping mask is also useful if they’re not asleep yet when you go to bed.
Why It Can Be Tricky to Choose an Eye Mask?
You probably think of the straightforward sleep masks you often see at stores. There are multiple different types of sleep masks available, each with their own unique benefits.
Cloths masks: These may be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about cloth masks. These are simple face masks that are made from fabric and are usually secured with an elastic band (or similar).
Weighted mask: If you’ve ever tried using a weighted blanket before, then a weighted mask is pretty much exactly the same thing. To reduce eye puffiness, these facial masks apply light pressure to the skin around your eye area, helping to relieve tension around your eye muscles, which may help with nighttime headaches or migraines.
Beaded gel mask: These masks can feel just like a spa treatment! They’re filled with tiny plastic beads that can be heated or cooled before you put them on the face mask. A cooling mask can be used for reducing eye puffiness and helping relieve headaches, migraines or sinus pain. It may also be helpful for people who suffer from allergies or asthma. They’re useful if you want to block out the sun but not so good at keeping you cool when you need them most.
Contoured mask: Lightly padded cosmetic mask products are made from lightweight materials so that they can mold to the contours of your skin more easily. Foam pieces around your eyes can block extra sunlight from hitting your eyes.
What to Do If a Mask Isn’t Helping?
While a sleep aid can help you get better sleep, it won’t cure sleep apnea. A sleep aid alone cannot fix sleep apnea’s symptoms—snoring, feeling tired throughout the entire daytime, having trouble breathing during the night, and/or having headaches and a sore throat every morning.
Are Sleep Masks Good for The Skin?
Sleep masks probably won’t help your acne, but they’re unlikely to cause too much damage either. Most studies on sleeping masks mainly focus on their effects on one’s ability to fall asleep and the overall health benefits of a good night’s rest.
On the other hand, there are certain things that people who are concerned about their health might want to consider including in their skincare routine. These could be things like:
- Keep their masks clean and free of any oils or debris,
- Choosing a fabric option that has breathable properties,
- Avoiding putting cold or warm liquid facial products directly onto the skin.
If you keep your face mask clean, you can prevent yourself from having any trapped oils or dirt on your skin. It may be helpful if you want to prevent pimples from forming. Applying a cold or hot mask to the skin without first prepping it with moisturizer can help protect against frostbites or burns.
What to Consider When You Buy An Eye Mask?
If you’re going to buy an eye mask, there are some things you should know first.
Blackout Capability: Simply put, this is how well a good eye mask helps you fall asleep. If your eye mask isn’t blocking out enough of the lights from outside, then it probably won’t help you get any better quality of rest.
Shape and Fit: One thing to keep in mind when choosing an eye pillow is that one-sized-fits-all doesn’t always apply. Make sure that your eye pillow fits your entire face properly, including around your eyes and noses. If it isn’t comfortable or convenient, then it won’t help you get better sleep.
Masks come in various shapes and sizes. However, size isn’t the only thing that matters; the shape of your sleep masks can make a huge impact on their effectiveness.
Many people find that they get better results from wearing an eyemask that fits snugly around their face rather than one that is loose fitting. A tight fit helps prevent the mask from slipping off your face, and also keeps the edges from rubbing against your skin. Some people find that they get good results from sleeping without any kind of sleep mask at all. They believe that the natural darkness of their bedroom environment provides enough protection from outside lights.
Fabric: Like with what you put on before going to bed, sleep masks vary greatly in terms of fabric. Some are made from silk, others from cotton, and some even from leather. Each material has its own advantages and disadvantages.
While the fabric may not seem important at first, it’s really a crucial factor when choosing an eye mask. You need one that blocks out enough sunlight so that you don’t wake up with puffy eyes, doesn’t irritates your skin, and doesn’t cause fine line or wrinkles around your eyes.
Here are some of these most common materials used in sleep masks:
Cotton
Because cotton is soft, lightweight, and good at blocking out light, cotton is a good choice for making sleep masks. They’re also durable, easy to wash, affordable, and comfortable.
Cotton is also breathability, wicking, and very helpful for people who get hot at night. However, cotton eye masks can absorb some of the products used to treat nighttime skin conditions, making them less effective.
Here are some amazon eye masks that I recommend:
Have a good day!