7 Diseases That Are Caused By Sleeping With Wet Hair

Many of us are used to go to bed with wet hair. However, this is a big mistake. In fact, sleeping with damp or wet hair can be the culprit of many ailments. This doesn’t mean that we will catch a cold or pneumonia, but trigger other health issues.

When we go to bed with damp or wet hair, the moisture is retained and it can inflame the scalp, causing an annoying itching sensation. Moreover, this can also cause damage to the mane. What’s more, you shouldn’t keep the towel on your head for too long as it has the same effect of retaining moisture.

Ailments Caused by Sleeping with Wet Hair

Hair Breakage

When the hair is wet, it is more prone to breakage. So, sleeping with wet hair only increases the risk of hair breakage.

Sticky Hair

Sleeping with wet hair will cause sticky hair. Hence, the hair can be difficult to be entangled. This is especially the case for people with long hair.


As we mentioned before, the wet hair retains the moisture throughout the night. On the other hand, when we sleep, the temperature of the body rises. Thus, there will be a big temperature difference and this will cause headaches.

Itchy Skin

Sleeping with wet hair can trigger different types of itching. This will happen due to the moisture that is formed in the skin of your head.


Moreover, sleeping with wet hair will wet the pillow and towel, which becomes the perfect breeding place for bacteria. Therefore, it may lead to infections.

Muscle pain

Due to the temperature change, sleeping with wet hair may cause muscle pain, severe cramps, and facial paralysis. In some rare cases, it may even lead to paralysis of the whole body and cause death.


When your scalp remains moist for a longer time period, it will interfere with the function of sebaceous glands on the scalp. As a result, these glands will either start to produce more oil or reduce oil production. Moreover, this may disrupt the natural pH balance of the scalp and trigger dandruff or excessive oily scalp.

Therefore, you should avoid sleeping with damp or wet hair and wash your hair during day hours.