Control lights of gadgets in the bedroom can cause sleep disturbance, which is why many people cover LED indicator lights at night. Some people are more sensitive than others. But I am definitely one of those who are very sensitive to LED lights in my bedroom. I use black electrical tape or black duct tape to cover these nuisance lights. When I travel and sleep in a hotel room, I take 5 to 10 minutes to apply pieces of dark tape to any nuisance light source. The lights come from TV’s, radio alarm clocks, my own computer, dimmer switches, power bars and many more. I always make sure that I carry with me some black tape for covering these gadget lights. The following article in CNN wrote about this problem.
Circadian hormone rhythm
Our hormones get rejuvenated as they are regenerated while we sleep. But this process suffers when our sleep pattern changes as a result of exposure to LED lights. As a result, we produce less REM sleep than we need. The end result is hormonal disbalance and can result in breast, ovarian and prostate cancer. These cancers are known as hormone dependent cancers.
rem sleep“Exposure to light at night is a completely unnatural and alien experience,” Steven Lockley said. He is a neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School’s Division of Sleep Medicine. With darkness our body releases melatonin from the pineal gland where it is stored during the day. This prepares us that it is soon time to sleep. If we expose ourselves to artificial lights including LED lights, melatonin gets inactivated and our sleep rhythm suffers. We need the nightly circadian rhythm to restore our hormones to be ready for the next day.
Tape up the perpetrating LED lights
People who are sensitive to LED light exposure best tape them up with a black electrical tape or black duct tape. This way they won’t irritate you and you can restore your sleep. Commonly it is the LED lights of the oven in the kitchen, the automatic fan, the fire alarm, air purifier and a wireless phone charger. Whatever it is that looks at you in the dark, cover it up with black tape. This will restore your sleep. The blue LED indicator light is particularly disruptive to your sleep. It is important that you cover these blue LED lights carefully. I have a Timex night watch with an Indiglo night-light. This allows me to safely navigate to the rest room at night without disturbing my sleep.
Poor-quality sleep and lack of sleep have consequences
An article by the Harvard University showed that a lack of sleep and poor-quality sleep cause hormone changes. These can lead to obesity, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. I have written a blog on obesity developing from eating junk foods. In order to prevent these diseases from happening it is important to darken our bedroom. We need 7 to 8 hours of refreshing sleep every night to rejuvenate our body.
Cover LED Indicator Lights at Night
Conclusion
I am one of those who are very sensitive to LED lights in my bedroom. I use black electrical tape or black duct tape to cover these nuisance lights. Several studies showed that LED lights can disturb people’s sleep and lead to health consequences. Obesity, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer can be related to sleep deprivation. With darkness our body releases melatonin from the pineal gland, which is the storage place for melatonin during the day. This prepares us that it is soon time to sleep. If we expose ourselves to artificial lights including LED lights our sleep rhythm suffers. We need the nightly circadian rhythm to restore our hormones to be ready for the next day. Black electrical tape or black duct tape is useful to cover LED lights. Your sleep will improve and you prevent health problems.
