Sleeping naked from the start eliminates a layer of clothing that could make you too warm, functional medicine doctor and OB/GYN Wendie Trubow, M.D., tells mbg. This can promote higher-quality sleep throughout the night, which leads to further health benefits, like: Even more directly, tight clothing (especially when sweaty) can lead to back acne and butt acne. By sleeping nude, you avoid irritation from underwear or pajamas in those areas of the body. Yeast infections occur when the vagina experiences an overgrowth in yeast due to a change in pH, a hormonal imbalance, or an increase in moisture. “If you’re wearing underwear that is synthetic, sleeping naked can allow the vagina to ‘breathe,’” Trubow says. If you’re not comfortable going commando, cotton underwear is best. “Sleeping naked can actually counteract some of the negative messages you may have received in that environment as a child or adolescent—or still receive in a body-shaming culture with narrow definitions of what constitutes beauty,” Muñoz says. “When you give yourself a chance to be comfortable naked, even if it’s alone in your own bed, you’re actually sending your unconscious mind some important communications such as: You have a right to be in your body, your body doesn’t always have to covered or hidden, and your body can feel unfettered and free,” she says. Think about it: “If you wake up naked next to someone, it just makes sense that this might lead to greater intimacy,” Trubow says. This may be especially enticing for people with physical touch as a love language.
