Spending more time in bed could be beneficial for women who want to improve their sex life. That’s the finding of a recent study that indicates a woman’s likelihood of having sex with a partner the following day increased by 14% for every extra hour of sleep.
Better genital arousal
Study author David Kalmbach, a researcher at the University of Michigan Sleep and Circadian Research Laboratory, said, “Our study showed that good sleep is important for healthy sexual desire and arousal in women, even when women are psychiatrically and medically healthy,”
171 women, all of college age, were assessed by Kalmbach and several colleagues. The women kept sleep diaries for 14 days in a row and reported whether or not they had sex the following day. Greater sexual desire the following day was correlated with longer sleep durations. Comparing women with shorter sleep duration, those with longer average sleep duration reported higher genital arousal. The women said they slept for 7 hours and 22 minutes on average.
According to other research, women’s sexual response is negatively impacted by short sleep durations and poor sleep quality, according to Kalmbach. However, most research has only looked at one “snapshot in time,” or one particular point in time.
“I think these findings suggest that taking a closer look at sleep health in women with sexual complaints is a worthwhile endeavour,” Kalmbach stated, “as poor sleep may lead to sexual problems.”
It’s unclear how sleep deprivation may impact sexual desire, according to Kalmbach. However, he clarified that the study’s findings go beyond mood swings, given that it evaluated the women’s anxiety and depression levels.
“Some previous studies have hypothesised that sleep can affect hormone levels, which may cause changes in desire and arousal,” he stated. “But I think overall, more research is needed in this area to identify the underlying mechanisms more confidently.”
“The takeaway,” continued Kalmbach, “is that a healthy sleep pattern affects many aspects of our everyday lives. It has been demonstrated that getting enough sleep enhances mood, vitality, focus, general health, and, more recently, arousal and sexual desire.”
Just an association study
The Journal of Sexual Medicine published the study’s findings online.
Dr. Nathaniel F. Watson teaches neurology at the University of Washington in Seattle and is the incoming president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
“One of the few studies to assess the relationship between sleep duration and sexual health” is how he described the new research. It is important to note that this study is merely an association and does not establish a cause-and-effect relationship, so one should exercise caution when drawing any conclusions from it, he continued.
Nevertheless, Watson stated, “I still think the findings are compelling and certainly warrant follow-up with interventional studies.”
Watson stated that for the time being, this is the lesson to be learned: “You could add it to a long list of reasons why getting a proper amount of sleep is good for your health.”
Kalmbach offered the following guidance: “It there’s anything women or their partners can do to help promote good sleep for one another, whether it’s helping out around the house to reduce workload, planning romantic getaways, or just practicing good sleep hygiene, it could help protect against having problems in the bedroom.”
