I have tried many masks and they always irritate me when I'm sleeping. I never manage to get to sleep easily with one on so I'm not sure your assumption everyone thinks they sleep better with a mask on is true. If the study used a more transparent material and didn't tell the participants or small holes I would think light was certainly the issue. Why do you think the participants were guessing correctly what the study was observing - it seems likely they were not told and went in without judgment - I certainly wouldn't have noticed if the mask was a bit thin? It seems more likely to be a real difference, we know circadian rhythms are controlled by light and food timing so I don't see why it wouldn't be a correct result.
I have experimented with eye masks before, but found that they either made contact with my eyelids or caused me to sweat during sleep. However, I have now discovered that wearing a black t-shirt over my eyes works remarkably well. This allows for proper air flow and prevents sweating, while also avoiding any contact with my eyelids.
Amazing, this is exactly what I’ve been doing for the last 30 years. I just grab a thin, lightweight black or dark tshirt. The nice thing is if I’m traveling I don’t even have to think about it because I’ll likely always have a tshirt handy.
I seriously cannot sleep without doing this now. The feeling of light incident on my closed eyelids while trying to sleep is quite uncomfortable.
I wear a Manta when I need an eye mask, which has cups around the eyes so your eyelids do not contact anything. Recommended if you'd rather have a proper solution.
I also use a Manta. Some versions can be quite steep in price, but it’s helped tremendously since we live in apartment with a lot of light pollution spilling in
I agree with this 100%. I don't have issues with things touching my eyelids or with being too hot, but I'm a fidgety sleeper and regular masks always fall off, and then I'm too sleepy to use two hands to put them back on. A black tee shirt that I can lazily throw back over my eyes with one hand works a million times better for me than any mask I've ever tried.
I've tried many different types of eye masks, and it has taken me a while, but I have finally found ones that are both comfortable and do not contact my eyes or eyelashes while sleeping. There are many companies who make similar eye masks, but the ones I like look like these: https://a.co/d/igoKTZR
My only problem now is that my CPAP mask is transparent, and so some light bleeds through there. If I could find an opaque CPAP mask, then I would be able to block out all outside light. As it is, I find that putting a pillow over my head over the CPAP mask blocks out most of the rest of the light that would otherwise get through the mask, and because of the CPAP mask I am still able to breathe underneath the pillow.
I can tell you, it makes a huge difference for me to be able to block out the light. Almost as much of a life-changing event for me as getting the CPAP in the first place.
