It can be a lose-lose situation: You either sleep with the fan off and have a restless, hot AF night, or you sleep with the fan on and wake up cool but feeling like you’ve caught a head cold. No, you’re not the only one who feels like trash after sleeping with the fan on. In fact, having the fan going at night can cause a slew of problems that you might be struggling with.
According to SleepAdvisor.org, having a fan in the bedroom can either make or break a sleeping arrangement depending on who you ask.
The site explains that for those of us who are prone to allergies, fans can stir up dust and pollen within the room, thus causing massive allergic reactions like hay fever, asthma, and general sinus trouble. And sleeping with the fan directly on you (rather than oscillating) forces those allergens up your nose and right into your sinuses. Ugh.
On top of stuffing up your nose and potentially worsening allergies, fans push dry air around the room. This can cause dry skin, dry eyes, dry mouth (if you’re an open-mouthed sleeper), and dry nasal passages. Your body then tries to produce more mucus, which leads to even more stuffiness on top of headaches and/or nose bleeds.
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Your muscles might even feel sore after sleeping with a fan on. SleepAdvisor.org notes that cool, concentrated air can cause muscle cramps. Fans closer to your head could result in a stiff neck, and nobody wants that.
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But fans in the bedroom can obviously be beneficial as well. Not only do they keep people cool while they sleep, but the white noise they produce can drown out distracting background noise and help people relax and fall into a deeper sleep.
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And although they can sometimes dry out a space, fans can also circulate fresh air into a room and relieve it from post-sleep stuffiness.
If you’re feeling the negative effects of sleeping with a fan on, opt for an oscillating fan. This way, air isn’t being shot directly at you for hours on end. Make sure you’re wiping down the surfaces in your space to reduce dust and pollen, and invest in a humidifier if you’re prone to dryness.
Not everyone has the luxury of air conditioning, so even if our fan isn’t our *best* friend, we’re making the relationship work, damn it.