Some Facts Pertinent to Blackout Curtains

Quality night’s sleep makes you wake up good morning feeling recharged and ready for the day ahead. However, the problem of lack of sleep affects millions of people. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 70 million Americans have chronic sleep problems regularly. If you have a problem with sleeping or get insomnia, you will be able to get a good night’s sleep if you have blackout curtains.

A lot of people use blackout curtains in their bedrooms or any other place they use as sleep areas. Something as straightforward as this fabric can make a night’s sleep longer and more restful, though it does pose one risk. Learn about what blackout curtains are used for and the advantages and disadvantages of using this kind of curtains.

What Are Blackout Curtains?

Blackout curtains are those curtains or shades made of fabrics used to cover a window. They exclude sunlight and artificial light from cars moving on the road, street lights, and other lights. These shades can also offer added protection over blinds because – as we know – blinds have slits where light can seep in.

Blackout curtains also mean that one can sleep with almost no light during the day or at night irrespective of the amount of light pollution in town.

What are Blackout Curtains used for?

Some persons use blackout curtains in their bedrooms to minimize contact with morning light and other forms of light. Melatonin is produced in the human body at night. This is a normal hormone that makes the body have an internal clock or biological clock that helps you to sleep during the night and wake up in the morning. This way the black-out curtains eliminate the chances of light that interferes with the production of melatonin for deeper slumbers and longer night’s sleep.

In many parts of the world, people depend on blackout curtains to help them in their sleep. Some of the findings of the research include; 63.3% of Norwegian adults surveyed said they use blackout curtains. Guardians of the rooms that require them use blackout curtains most when they are 30 years old and below, and their use gradually reduces as they get older.

Advantages of Use of Blackout Curtains

Do blackout curtains have any advantages? The use of blackout curtains is another cheap and easy solution to help enhance your sleep and health. Blackout curtain benefits include:

• Enabling shift workers and other those who have to sleep during the night to sleep in darkness.
• Reduction or complete avoidance of brightness that may interfere with the night’s sleep or leave you feeling sleepy throughout the day.
• Facilitating support for the ‘biological clock’ or rhythm of the day.
• Getting ways that help to increase privacy in your home during the night.
• Ways of minimizing your home cooling costs include shading your bedroom against summer light.

Apart from the quality of sleep that you enjoy, blackout curtains will also improve the duration of your sleep, consequently improving your overall health. Sleep has an impact on the function of your cardiovascular, digestive, and nervous systems. Getting adequate rest reduces your risk of developing chronic health conditions associated with sleep insufficiency, like:

• Anxiety
• Coronary heart disease
• Depression
• Hypertension
• Metabolic disorders
• Obesity
• Work-related accidents

Blackout curtains shall do away with these disorders and injuries since you are guaranteed a good night’s risk every time.

What is the Danger of Blackout Curtains?

There are few or no health disadvantages associated with the use of blackout curtains. However, it is also important that manufacturers use polyvinyl chloride (PVC) to make blackout curtains or roller blinds. This material contains phthalates, chemicals that can penetrate the human body through airborne particles, contact, and other means.

The Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ) warns that exposure to PVC poses many risks for humans and the environment, like:

• Air and groundwater pollution
• Immune and reproductive systems are the ones most likely to be affected by the abuse.
• Production of landfill gases that result in hazardous fires in the landfill.
• It raises the chances of being diagnosed with brain and liver cancer.
• Liver damage

The CHEJ suggests the purchase of blackout curtains, drapes, and other window furnishings in fabric and not PVC to avoid all these problems.

Signs you might benefit from black curtains

Sometimes blackout curtains are something that one needs and some signs should act as a pointer towards purchasing these curtains. When do you know that blackout curtains will work in your favor? However, blackout curtains are particularly useful to those folks who get poor sleep or no sleep at all owing to Sleep Deprivation and Sleep Disorders.

For example, the majority of adults need about seven to nine hours of sleep per day. Young people need more sleep to enable their bodies to grow and develop as required. For instance, a newborn requires 14 to 17 hours of sleep while teenagers need 8 to 10 hours of sleep every day.

If you do not get the required amount of sleep standardized by the age group you belong to, then you may be suffering from sleep dearth. This lack of sleep can cause symptoms like:

• Delayed reaction times
• The thought of experiencing the symptoms of being unable to feel or move, along with a slow inability to think and process information.
• Headaches
• Increased anxiety
• Irritability
• Limited memory

The identified decision-making and risk-taking problems Shrinking attention span and Sleepiness during the day Sleep deprivation builds up over time and can lead to more severe symptoms, including:

• Behavior that may harm the uranium itself, or reckless actions.
• Difficulty speaking
• Drooping eyelids
• Hallucinations
• Twitching eyes

 Using blackout curtains can have the effect of improving your quantity of sleep and remove or at least lessen the signs of Chronic Sleep Deprivation.

What Are the Other Changes in Life Style That You Can Practice to Promote Sleep?

Blackout curtains can help you sleep because they block out most of the light, but they won’t cure sleep problems altogether. Other strategies that you can use to boost your sleep hygiene include:

• No permission for using smartphones and other products that emit blue light in the bedroom
• Having a set timetable in the day to set for the night
• Maintaining the temperature of your bedroom or at least maintaining the low or high temperatures you need.
• Reducing your intake of alcohol and caffeine intake before going to sleep
• Consuming prescription drugs that put you to sleep and help you remain asleep

Conclusion

This is one of the ways through which you can enjoy deep long-lasting and refreshing sleep through sleep hygiene measures, blackout curtains, and so on. Sleep has an impact on literally every aspect of your plans so to ensure you get the best night’s rest, it is worth using a few vital items that will help make the process a comfortable and fruitful one.