Doctor recommends against taking a cold shower before bed to cool down

Doctor Sarah Jarvis stated that taking a cold shower before bead to beat the heat may not be the best idea.

In fact, in order to get a decent sleep without roasting between your sheets, Dr Jarvis suggests a cool shower is your best bet.

We get it, that may no sound like a big difference but it could very well be what stands between a good nights sleep and a sweaty night of tossing and turning. Appearing on Good Morning Britain, Dr Jarvis sated:

We don't necessarily want to have a really cold shower.

Instead, this is what she suggests that we do:

If you have a cool shower and then allow the water to evaporate off your skin, so you don't open the doors to the shower and just stand there as the water evaporates, that will definitely help cool you down.

The doctor also wanted to remind people not to apply ice packs directly on their skin. Instead, wrap the ice packs in a cloth. Or, you could even pop your sheets in the freezer before bed:

Please don't forget, never put ice directly onto your skin because that can cause ice burns. But a cool flannel around your neck, and possibly putting sheets in the freezer, but again, not risking any ice burns, can also help.

Top tips for sleeping in a heatwave

As well as having a lukewarm or a cool shower before bed and letting the water evaporate off the body there are some other tricks you can do to keep cool:

1. Remove excess clothing before sleep

2. During the day, keep the windows open to create airflow but close the curtains when direct sunlight enters the room. This will keep your house cool throughout the day and allow better sleep at night.

3. Stay hydrated. Heat and sweat can cause dehydration and one thing that can disrupt your sleep is getting up to drink water.

4. Fill a hot water bottle with ice water or even put it in the freezer before taking it to bed.

5. Use cotton sheets. Synthetic material is not very breathable and may promote sweating and heat retention during the night. Cotton sheets are for sure the way to go.

6. If you can sleep in a different bed than your partner as double the people means double the heat.

7. Or, alternatively, you could sleep downstairs as heat rises.

8. Use a fan. You can even place a dish of ice in front of the fan to cool the air.

9. Keep a spray bottle of cool water for a fresh spritz your face, the back of your neck and the back of your knees to cool down.

10. Alter your mindset. Just keep in mind that this weather won't last forever and you will soon be able to cuddle up amongst your covers once again.