The nightgown should be sewn from soft knitted or cotton fabrics. It should be loose, ideally without collars and cuffs, and of course long enough. This attribute for rest and sleep from the point of view of doctors has significant advantages over the pajamas that have become fashionable and widespread in our world.
First, a properly sized nightgown does not constrain the body that is tired during the day and creates greater freedom for it.
Secondly, such clothes provide better ventilation of our body compared to pajamas. Favorable conditions are created for the skin to breathe. This is especially important for preschool children, whose skin respiration is still quite important.
Thirdly, no matter how weak the elastic band on the belt of pajama pants is, it nevertheless has a squeezing effect on the abdominal organs. The tissues and organs of our body, including the gastrointestinal tract, the genitourinary system, during the day, being under the influence of rubber bands, suffer to a certain extent from circulatory disorders, And as a result, hypoxia occurs, i.e., restriction of oxygen flow. This leads to their less effective work.
Fourth, a nightgown, in comparison with pajamas, is looser, much less excites the tactile receptors of the skin. Therefore, the central nervous system receives fewer impulses from skin receptors. As a result, the processes of excitation in the cerebral cortex begin to give way to the processes of inhibition, the transition to sleep is facilitated. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of sleep for the body! A deep and sufficiently long sleep provides us with the necessary efficiency, sociability in society.
And as a result, the balanced activity of all parts of our complex organism, the maintenance of the necessary rhythm of hormonal and metabolic processes ensure healthy longevity.
Among the representatives of the stronger sex, a false idea was spreading that the nightgown was suitable only for the pampered class overthrown by the proletariat. And in recent decades, the nightgown has become considered exclusively women’s clothing for no reason at all. Although according to the memoirs of the pupils of military schools of the 40s themselves, they slept in long nightgowns. And we’re grateful for their hygiene.
Gradually, pajamas – an object of Eastern culture-largely replaced the nightgown from the bedrooms. And even among women. Boys in the last few decades, trying to show their masculinity, became shy and flatly refused to sleep in a nightgown … And up to our days, it comes to the fact that representatives of the male environment, contrary to the elementary culture, go to bed in the same underpants that they wore during the day. Violation of the rules of hygiene in boys (especially teenagers) ends in a number of cases with a visit to a doctor. The fact is that at this age, under the influence of sex hormones, there is an intensive formation of smegma under the foreskin of the penis. To this is added the product of nocturnal emissions itself, the remains of urine are mixed. And in a warm and humid environment of permanent underwear (underpants), as well as with a lack of hygiene skills of the external genitals, favorable conditions are created for the reproduction of pathogenic microorganisms. There are serious inflammatory processes of the head of the phallus – balanitis and even balanoposthitis when the focus of inflammation passes to the foreskin. There is another reason for boys and men to sleep in a loose nightgown. The testicles are the source of the formation of the main male sex hormone – testosterone. Wearing tight clothes that fix the testicles (swimming trunks, boxers) all day creates a warmer (harmful) environment for them, depresses their function. It may eventually call into question men’s health.
Girls and women sleeping in nightgowns do not take off their underpants and even underwear that is made of synthetic fabrics. A nightgown together with such underpants creates a real greenhouse effect! And especially in the warm season. In humid conditions, with an excess of heat, pathogenic bacteria multiply intensively. Forgetting the good traditions of our ancestors increases the statistics of fungal inflammatory diseases of the female genital sphere. True, the causal (etiological) factors of each representative of the fair sex have their own and are not directly related to underwear. Vulvitis, vaginitis, etc. diseases are caused by the introduction of infection, weakening of immunity, the condition of neighboring organs, and others. But non-compliance with the hygienic requirements discussed by me creates the ground for a more protracted course of thrush, which is well known to many women. When talking with patients, I find out that not only the lack of culture and relevant knowledge but also the crowding of living and false shyness do not allow you to relax during sleep. Regularly microscopizing gynecological smears, I increasingly record cases of recurrent thrush in children. It is no accident that thoughtful and caring pediatric gynecologists visit educational institutions to inform schoolgirls about the preventive benefits (after hygienic water procedures) of going to bed in a fresh and loose cotton shirt without panties.
