• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
NHS doctor warns against ‘problematic' nap length that can cause 'sleep inertia'

Home> News> Health

Published 20:14 4 Sep 2024 GMT+1

NHS doctor warns against ‘problematic' nap length that can cause 'sleep inertia'

In between the two best nap lengths, this amount of sleep could leave you feeling worse

Jess Battison

Jess Battison

Nap time isn’t just for kids, let’s be honest. Many of us can’t get through the day without a cheeky power nap. Or at least get through it in a good enough mood anyway.

But while it might just be squeezing in some shut eye the moment your lunch break begins or as many minutes of quiet as you can get as soon as you come home, there is some science behind it.

Sure, you might think you’ve cracked the perfect nap set-up with the perfect vibes and the perfect length of time set.

But an NHS doctor has warned against the ‘problematic’ nap length that can cause ‘sleep inertia’, and it could just be the amount of time you rinse from your work break.

Advert

Some naps might leave you feeling worse. (Getty Stock)
Some naps might leave you feeling worse. (Getty Stock)

Sleep inertia is essentially that awful feeling of grogginess when you wake up. You know, when someone suddenly makes you get up and you feel like absolute s**t and have no idea where you are.

Usually it lasts from around five to 30 minutes but it can sometimes go on for as long as two to four hours – not ideal if you’ve napped in the middle of the work day.

READ MORE:

THERAPIST EXPLAINS WHY SOME PEOPLE CAN'T SLEEP WITHOUT NOISE

Advert

EXPERT WARNS OF DANGEROUS IMPACT OF SNOOZE BUTTON

And during this time, you might feel like your concentration is totally thrown off and you’re just cruising by.

NHS doc, and Time4Sleep’s sleep expert, Dr Hana Patel told LADbible about the best and worst lengths of naps. She described a 20-minute nap as the ideal as it ‘allows your mind and body to rest without entering the deeper stages of sleep’.

Or, if you think you need it, you can treat yourself to a 60- to 90-minute nap which is ‘enough time to have deep, slow-wave sleep, but end up in the lighter stages of sleep so you feel alert when you wake up’.

Avoid that problematic 45-minute mark. (Getty Stock)
Avoid that problematic 45-minute mark. (Getty Stock)

Advert

It might surprise you, however, that the worst amount of time spent snoozing is actually in between these two dreamy lengths.

What seems like a decent amount to get in on a lunch break with enough time to still get your self together, Dr Patel described medium-length nap of about 45 minutes as ‘problematic’.

She explained: “Because you will likely wake up during slow-wave sleep, the deepest stage, which can leave you with that groggy feeling, called sleep inertia, when you wake up.”

Sorry if that’s just ruined anyone’s napping schedule, but no one wants to be waking up feeling like crap, do they?

Featured Image Credit: Getty stock

Topics: Sleep, Health, Science

Jess Battison
Jess Battison

Jess is a Senior Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include asking everyone in the office what they're having for tea, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021.

X

@jessbattison_

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • Doctor warns waking up at 3am every night ‘not normal’ and you could need medical attention
  • Doctor issues major warning over change that will affect everyone this month
  • Doctor explains 'cognitive shuffling' hack that will make you fall asleep 'in minutes'
  • Sleep expert explains ‘precision waking’ phenomenon where people can wake up at certain time with no alarm

Choose your content:

3 hours ago
4 hours ago
  • YouTube/Law and Crime Network
    3 hours ago

    Where ‘perfect neighbour’ who shot and killed mum in chilling body cam footage is now

    Susan Lorincz shot and killed her neighbor, Ajike 'AJ' Owens, through her locked front door in Florida in June 2023

    News
  • Formula One
    3 hours ago

    Lewis Hamilton had ‘life saved’ by car in shock onboard footage during major crash

    Shocking footage shows how the Ferrari driver narrowly avoided copping a face full of carbon fibre

    News
  • Getty Stock Images
    4 hours ago

    NASA supercomputer made terrifying prediction for when the world will end

    Researchers from NASA and Toho University in Japan have used supercomputers to find out when the Earth will end

    News
  • Facebook
    4 hours ago

    School employee dies after student, 14, ‘kicked her in the chest’

    Amy Morrell, 53, collapsed after she was allegedly struck by the teen at the therapeutic residential school

    News