Does sleeping with warm socks on at night alleviate a sore throat, snoring, and spots under the eyes while enhancing sleep quality? No, that's not true. While it's accurate that wearing warm socks to bed can potentially boost the quality of sleep, there's no concrete proof to indicate that it can help with issues such as a sore throat, snoring, or dark circles under the eyes.
The claim appeared in a TikTok video (archived here) published on February 9, 2024, with the following caption, translated from Bulgarian to English by Lead Stories staff:
This is what happens if we sleep with warm socks. A sore throat disappears. The snoring stops. Dark spots under the eyes will disappear. Dreams will become stronger.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Sat Feb 17 16:19:02 2024 UTC)
Wearing warm socks to bed can indeed improve sleep quality. This is due to a process called distal vasodilation (archived here), which refers to an increase of blood to your hands and feet that can reduce your core body temperature quicker. When your feet are warm, the blood vessels widen, improving (archived here) blood circulation and helping your body release heat through your skin, thereby regulating your core body temperature. This can help you fall asleep faster and sleep better.
However, the claim that wearing warm socks to bed can help with a sore throat, snoring, and dark circles under the eyes is not supported by scientific evidence. While it's possible that improved sleep could indirectly benefit these conditions, there's no direct evidence to suggest that wearing socks to bed will specifically alleviate a sore throat, reduce snoring, or diminish dark circles under the eyes. For a sore throat (archived here), remedies include sipping on warm drinks, gargling with salt water, and over-the-counter antihistamines and pain relievers. To stop snoring (archived here), effective methods (archived here) include sleeping on your side, wearing a nasal strip, losing weight, and avoiding alcohol. As for dark circles (archived here) under the eyes, they can be reduced (archived here) by getting enough sleep, using cold compresses, and applying over-the-counter moisturizers that contain caffeine, vitamin E, aloe, hyaluronic acid, and/or retinol.
Lead Stories previously debunked the claim that cut-up onions and potatoes in socks combat the cold and flu.
