Everything You Need To Know About Weighted Blanket

Have you ever wondered or even wished that we could just click a button that automatically put us asleep? I have too. For some people, they have so much trouble just to go to sleep, no matter what they tried to do, they simply can’t sleep. Insomnia is a common thing people experience nowadays, and so many people suffered because of it. Lack of sleep makes you tired, tiredness makes you cranky. There’s even a link between weight gain and lack of sleep.

To increase sleep quality, there is a simple and effective solution, it’s by using a weighted blanket. What is weighted blanket? What happened when you use it? What is are the benefits of using a weighted blanket? What do they do for your health and anxiety? Find out and hopefully you’ll get a good night sleep tonight!

What Is Weighted Blanket?

A weighted blanket is a blanket with weights, usually metal chains or pellets throughout the blanket to provide constant contact of the blanket with the body. There are several weights available for a weighted blanket, for example, 6, 8 or 10 kg and you can choose the most comfortable one for yourself.

There are many different qualities aside from the weight, like tactile, temperature, and patterns or colors.

For tactile, you can choose your favorite fabric, such as cotton, fleece, or other. This fabric connects for the temperature or warmth given, and some material is warmer than other. Make sure they don’t feel too hot. For kids, ask if they like the pattern or colors of the blanket or not. Don’t force weighted blanket for your kids or grandparents, self-applied blanket gives more affection meaning, like the feeling of being held.

What Happens When You Use a Weighted Blanket?

A weighted blanket wraps around a person and gives a satisfying feeling similar to an unborn baby in a mother’s womb. It is recommended for children with Autistic Syndrome Disorder and elderly people to sleep better.

Weighted Blanket For Kids explains how weighted blanket works. The pressure from a weighted blanket causes the brain to release neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, which naturally improve mood and induce a calming effect. This both helps soothe the nervous system and encourages restful sleep, without the need for synthetic drugs.

This study also stated that weighted blanket provided a calming effect by decreasing agitation and movements. A weighted blanket is increasing the quality of their sleep because the users in this study are having more comfortable, secure, and people liked sleeping with the blanket, found it easier to settle down to sleep and had an improved sleep, where they felt more refreshed in the morning.

Benefits of Weighted Blanket

In 1999, Tina Champagne, M.Ed., OTR/L began initiating the use of weighted blankets in adult acute care mental health settings and experience the benefits of using a weighted blanket. A weighted blanket can help to aid the person in becoming more caring and nurturing about oneself, help them adapt and cope better and make them more aware of their surrounding. By using a weighted blanket, people tend to be calmer, comfortable and more relax.

Here below are the 10 benefits of using weighted blanket by Weighted Blanket for Kids, all because of serotonin and dopamine released by the brain:

1.Weighted blankets help kids and adults with anxiety or stress.

2.Weighted blankets help people with sensory disorder (Autism and Aspergers)

3.Weighted blankets help people insomnia

4.Weighted blankets help people with ADD/ADHD

5.Weighted blankets help people focus better

6.Weighted blankets help people Restless Leg Syndrome

7.Weighted blankets help people with Down Syndrome

8.Weighted blankets help people with dental anxiety

9.Weighted blankets work naturally with the body.

Weighted Blanket for Health

Nowadays, so many people suffer from poor sleep, from teenagers to the elderly. The number is increasing because of modern lifestyles, especially in cities. Even if they are able to sleep, the poor quality of sleep would give them the feeling of not being refreshed when they are waking up in the morning.

Studies stated that lacking sleep or poor sleep quality can lead to depression, burn-out, and serious health problems like metabolic, high blood pressure and heart problem. On working scales, people can lose their productivity, makes poor judgments, makes accidents, and is more likely to give inadequate emotional reactions. Of course, this would make a negative effect on the economic part. From a social and family life, it’s also bad because if you’re unable to sleep, you’re more like exhausted all the time, and a tired person isn’t a social person.

Many of you have even tried to use medicinal treatment to cure sleeping difficulties, however, drugs are often addictive or have a side effect. This is why a weighted blanket is a great and simpler method to get a good night sleep.

However, there are some people that are not recommended to use a weighted blanket. If you have these conditions below, it’s better not to use a weighted blanket:

– Diagnostic considerations

– Trauma history

– Respiratory precautions

– Cardiac/circulatory precautions

– Vital signs influence

– Skin integrity including open wounds or fragile skin

– Any lifting precautions

– Orthopedic considerations: broken or fractured bones

– Claustrophobia

If you’re still unsure whether to use a weighted blanket or not, consult to your personal doctor. You can also check those review websites like MyBestMattress.com that featured this and other bed items for more details and better understanding.

Weighted Blanket for Anxiety

Weighted blanket gives a deep pressure that has been reported to produce a calming and relaxing effect in clinical conditions such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD), attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and pervasive developmental disorders

Applying deep pressure (with a weighted blanket for this case) has been shown to be beneficial for children with high levels of anxiety or arousal and deep pressure touch may also alleviate anxiety (e.g. in dental environments and bipolar disorder. There are reports suggesting that the elderly who suffer from anxiety and dementia may find relief from deep pressure touch and many nursing homes uses a weighted blanket because of this.

Many studies have concluded that weighted blanket is most helpful when the users are feeling anxious, stressed, or upset. When using a weighted blanket, they feel relaxed, secure, comfortable, safe, calm, and warm.

Conclusion

Sleep is an important routine in our life. We spend almost 1/3 a day to sleep. With so much time consumed, it’s important to make a good one out of it. Good quality of sleep gives so many health benefits. For you who are having a hard time to achieve that, you might want to consider using the Lazy Monk weighted blanket, whether it’s for you, your kids, your parents or even your grandparents. There are many people who would benefit using a weighted blanket, for the sake of their physical and mental health.