This 25-Pound Blanket Could Help You Sleep Through The Night

Creators of a new extra heavy blanket have so far raised more than $1.6 million on Kickstarter to launch their product. And their blanket ― along with similar options already on the market ― may be the key to helping you sleep through the night.  The Gravity Blanket is a weighted bedspread with pockets of plastic pellets that cause it to weigh between 15 and 25 pounds. The blanket’s heaviness is meant to distribute pressure all over your body, touching pressure points that some research suggests can relieve anxiety and stress, lulling you into a restful sleep. The idea behind Gravity Blanket is simple: Take it to bed, and let its heaviness simulate what the company’s founders call “the feeling of being held or hugged” ― not unlike the feeling from those weighted vests used during dental X-rays ― until you drift into bliss. The product has clearly generated excitement, raising more than 77 times its Kickstarter goal in just eight days. This isn’t a new invention, however. Occupational therapists have used weighted blankets for years as a tool to reduce anxiety and stress, especially in kids with sensory disorders like autism. The scientific evidence for this is preliminary but positive, Justin Scanlan, an occupational therapist at the University of Sydney, told HuffPost. He co-authored a 2012 pilot study in which patients with mild to moderate psychiatric disturbance reported feelin...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news