Is it Bad to Sleep with Wet Hair?

If you shower before bed, you’ve probably wondered whether sleeping with damp hair is a problem. Maybe you’ve heard it could make you sick, or that it can damage your hair or skin. What’s the truth? Let’s address the “it can make you sick” myth first. “This idea seems to fit into the old bit of folklore that getting yourself chilled and wet will cause you to come down with a cold,” says Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. While this idea persists, Schaffner says it was long ago disproved. It’s true that you’re much more likely to catch a common cold during the winter months. But this has to do with the ways respiratory viruses proliferate and spread, he says. “You cannot catch a cold from being cold,” he adds. Another wet-hair rumor is the idea that harmful bacteria will colonize your pillow. Illness-causing bacteria and viruses don’t appear spontaneously, and so you’re not going to make yourself ill by getting your pillow a little damp at night, Schaffner says. But there is a possible exception. Some research has shown that pillows—especially those made with synthetic materials—can harbor asthma- or allergy-triggering molds and fungus. These microorganisms tend to do well in damp environments, and so do dust mites, says Dr. Payel Gupta, a board-certified allergist and spokesperson for the A...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Research Source Type: news