Why A Lot Of People Find It Difficult To Sleep If A Fan Is Not On

Oct 16, 2018 by apost team

Some people simply cannot sleep without a fan running in the room. It could be the blowing wind or maybe the hum of the motor. Whatever the reason, you know who you are if this describes you. But, you may not realize why you need it. And, you may have heard that it can be dangerous!

Sometimes, the need for a running fan in your bedroom at night started when you were young and the fan was on all summer. Yep, there was actually a time when air conditioning wasn't in every home like it is today. So, maybe you got used to the drum of the fan's motor lulling you to sleep and now you need it.

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Or, maybe you think of yourself as running a little hot and need that extra breeze at night. Actually, most people's body temperature drops a bit as they sleep making this theory not very believable.

So, why do you need it to sleep peacefully?

Believe it or not, as per this research published on Current Biology, science can actually answer the question. It's the sound of the fan that lulls some people into sleepy land and keeps them there. Not everyone needs a fan to sleep. So, what makes someone need a fan to get a good night's sleep?

Well, it depends on what kind of sleeper you are. If you are a light sleeper, you will hear every little noise at night causing a restless sleep. Keeping a fan running puts a light drone of noise in your head and makes it possible to not hear all those other little noises.

If you are heavy sleeper, you already know that practically nothing wakes you up. You can sleep through almost anything. A heavy sleeper has no need to create extra noise with a fan to drown out the other nighttime noises.

It's all about how your brain sleeps. Your brain has an agenda at night creating periods of brain activity called spindles emanating from the thalamus part of the brain, where noise activity is produced and monitored. Basically, the more spindles your brain produces, the better the quality of your REM sleep.

If your brain doesn't produce as many spindles, you will hear more of those pesky nighttime noises that will keep waking you up leaving you to wonder what woke you up. That's where the fan comes in handy. It mimics a white noise, a common relaxing noise that we hear on all levels, which will keep a light sleeper in la-la land.

If you're lucky enough to be sharing a bed and you are both sleep types, you can get a white noise machine which will mimic a fan's motor on a level that will lull the light sleeper to sleep and not keep the heavy sleeper awake.

And, NO! You will not die from having a fan blowing on you at night. Having a fan blow directly on your face could cause some skin issues with dryness. If you have allergies, the fan will move those allergens around more which may cause issues. Other than that, feel free to enjoy your night time fan to your heart's content.

Do you have any other bedtime rituals that help you to get a better night's sleep? Let us know.

Our content is created to the best of our knowledge, yet it is of general nature and cannot in any way substitute an individual consultation by your doctor. Your health is important to us!