Eye and Sleep Masks

A study published in the journal SleepStudies suggest that wearing an eye mask at night could improve memory and alertness the next day.

It describes how participants in the study performed better in visual memory and vigilance tests when they spent more time in a key stage of sleep called slow-wave sleep.

Slow-wave sleep (SWS) is a deep sleep stage where you sleep like a rock, and don’t wake easily. It is also a phase during which some people talk or sleep walk. SWS plays an important role both in our ability to store long-term memories and also in our memory function the next day.

There are many things that researchers don’t know about sleep but what is clear is that it fulfils an essential function for maintaining our mental, physical and emotional well-being. Poor sleep quality can be very harmful and lead to immune system and heart problems, mental impairments or metabolic disorders.

Sleep masks can also be helpful to people who have nocturnal lagopthalmos—the inability to close their eyes fully when they sleep. Because our eyes need the protection and lubrication our lids offer, people who can’t close their lids fully can experience extremely dry eyes, and may even suffer permanent damage. Sleep masks can help mitigate this, by creating a closed environment around the eye, but note that the highly “breathable” sleep masks many people seek might not be a good solution for lagopthalmos patients.