I Think My Cell Phone Was Stressing My Skin By Not Letting Me Sleep
Trouble sleeping? I was on my phone for hours daily! If this sounds like you – pay attention! The pandemic made me more isolated than ever, I live alone and work at home and live in a city that had some of the most severe quarantine rules. I also had many friends who were very conscious about their quarantining and social distancing.
My phone became my lifeline!
Then I discovered TikTok, and it was down a rabbit hole. I would be on my phone for hours after work, watching TikToks, texting, posting on Facebook and Instagram, and engaging on those platforms. I would spend many hours after the sun went down having fun finding connection in the virtual world through the screen on my cell phone. The screen that was emitting blue light.
I’d also formed a habit of watching TikToks and engaging on Instagram and Facebook while laying in bed. I’d also have a TV show streaming on my iPad in the bed while I was on my phone.
Lots of blue light!
Blue Light Can Cause Trouble Sleeping
I had “heard” that blue light caused trouble sleeping and that the short uv rays in the blue light from the cell phone screen are not good for the skin. But really paid it no mind.
Over the past year or more, I’ve developed the worst sleeping habits! I can fall asleep, but can’t stay asleep. My habits are to wake up to use the bathroom and maybe fall back asleep, maybe not. Maybe watch stream a show in my iPad until I fell back asleep. It was a mess! I’d get between 4 – 6 hours of sleep a night.
The Stress Was Taking A Toll
You just know my skin wasn’t getting the time it needed to regenerate and repair! I was sluggish all day long and had trouble concentrating.
“A study in the journal Clinical and Experimental Dermatology found that people who slept seven to nine hours a night had skin that was more moisturized and that could protect and heal itself better after being exposed to ultraviolet light compared to those who slept five hours or less.” Samaritan Health Services
This knowledge was in the back of my head, as the sleepless nights would drone on and on. I would even try taking Melatonin and CBD, nothing really help my trouble sleeping.
The Ah-Ha Moment
Ironically, my ah-ha moment was seeing an Instagram post that a friend put up about his experience with screen time and sleep. Essentially, he said that he cut off all screens 1 hour before bed and it was a game changer.
In that moment, I committed to the change!
Harvard University Study on Trouble Sleeping
“Effects of blue light and sleep
While light of any kind can suppress the secretion of melatonin, blue light at night does so more powerfully. Harvard researchers and their colleagues conducted an experiment comparing the effects of 6.5 hours of exposure to blue light to exposure to green light of comparable brightness. The blue light suppressed melatonin for about twice as long as the green light and shifted circadian rhythms by twice as much (3 hours vs. 1.5 hours).In another study of blue light, researchers at the University of Toronto compared the melatonin levels of people exposed to bright indoor light who were wearing blue-light–blocking goggles to people exposed to regular dim light without wearing goggles. The fact that the levels of the hormone were about the same in the two groups strengthens the hypothesis that blue light is a potent suppressor of melatonin.” Harvard Health Publishing, Harvard Medical School
My Commitment To Change
On March 24th, I began discontinuing the use of all my smart phone and tablet one hour before going to bed. Almost instantly my sleep improved, I would only get up to use the bathroom, which is more a response to age than trouble sleeping. Then right back to sleep.
I also tried a new Flower Of Life CBD Sleep Gummy Bears with CBN + Melatonin, which, just made it feel like I was a new person in the morning! Jenni’s obsessed with them too.
It’s not just me who has trouble sleeping. Here’s a story, my accountant is under massive tax deadline stress right now. He’s working crazy hours on his computer and smart phone, pulling many late nights. Well, he texted me asking about the Flower Of Life sponsored Instagram Reel that Jenni made about the CBD Sleep Gummy Bears on our Lipgloss + Aftershave Instagram. “What’s the link to buy some? I gotta get some sleep?” So I bought him a few packs to try!
I also told him about my experience with reducing screen time before bed! He’s gonna try all of the same changes!
