A new study on the use of CBD-coated pillowcases finds that use of the infused fabric coverings improves sleep quality for nurses. It also appears to significantly reduce participants’ anxiety, which researchers say likely also aids sleep.
“The CBD-coated pillow cover demonstrated improvements in sleep quality, mood and anxiety,” the report says, “highlighting its potential as a non-invasive intervention for shift workers.”
“These observed improvements may be partly attributed to the transdermal absorption of CBD, which allows localized and systemic interactions with cannabinoid receptors,” it explains, “potentially influencing relaxation and sleep patterns.”
The study, published this month in the journal Healthcare, enrolled 55 duty shift nurses—45 women and 10 men—all of whom initially reported poor sleep quality. After a week of baseline monitoring, participants spent three weeks sleeping on CBD-coated fabric pillowcases.
“By offering an alternative to traditional CBD consumption methods, such as oral ingestion or vaping, the CBD-coated pillow may minimize potential side effects while still delivering therapeutic benefits,” researchers wrote. “This innovative approach could provide a safer and more effective means of utilizing CBD to improve sleep quality, particularly for individuals with insomnia or those exposed to shift-work-related sleep disturbances.”
Sleep quality was measured using Fitbits, which showed slight increases in the amounts of light sleep and deep sleep experienced by participants over the study period. Sleep structure itself, however, didn’t significantly change.
“Using a CBD-coated pillow cover was found to enhance sleep duration in healthy individuals experiencing poor sleep,” the report concludes. “Consequently, for adults struggling with sleep difficulties, incorporating a CBD-coated pillow cover may serve as an effective aid in improving sleep quality.”
Notably, results also differed between people who exercised regularly and those who didn’t. People without exercise habits experienced more pronounced impacts—both positive and negative—while effects were more muted in those with an exercise routine.
“This suggests that the impacts of the CBD intervention on sleep quality may be less pronounced for individuals with an exercise habit,” authors wrote, “while those without an exercise habit may experience more significant changes, either positive or negative, in sleep quality.”
“CBD interventions appear to be more effective in individuals who do not engage in regular physical activity, as exercise itself serves as a natural regulator of sleep,” they added. “However, individual responses to CBD may vary due to differences in metabolism, skin absorption and baseline sleep conditions, resulting in varying degrees of effectiveness.”
Overall, only about 7.3 percent of participants showed “significant improvement” in sleep quality, the study says. Among participants who did not have an exercise routine, just over a third (36.4 percent) “showed an overall improvement in objective sleep efficiency trends, after using a CBD-coated pillow cover, while 63.6% showed either a worsened trend or no change.”
The relatively small percentage who saw significant improvement “may suggest that a larger sample size would be needed to detect stronger effects,” the report notes, further adding that “A longer intervention period might be necessary to see more substantial changes in subjective sleep quality.”
Part of the improvement may also be explained by CBD’s anti-anxiety and antidepressant effects, the paper says.
“Compared to improved sleep quality, the CBD intervention significantly reduced anxiety (p < 0.005),” it notes. “Reduced anxiety levels may contribute to improved sleep quality, as anxiety often interferes with the ability to fall asleep and maintain restful sleep. A reduction in depressive symptoms could also support better sleep quality, as depression often impacts sleep patterns negatively (e.g., difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep), making the pillow an effective tool for improving overall mental and sleep health.”
The study was authored by a seven-person team from institutions in Taiwan, including China Medical University, TsaoTun Psychiatric Center and the company SONG BEAM International.
Notably, SONG BEAM provided the CBD-coated pillowcases for the study, according to the study’s conflicts of interest section.
The new study adds to a body of research indicating that cannabinoids can help promote a better night’s sleep.
Earlier this year, for example, a separate study on the use of medical marijuana by older patients—age 50 and above—concluded that “cannabis seemed to be a safe and effective treatment” for pain and other conditions.
“Most patients experienced clinically significant improvements in pain, sleep, and quality of life and reductions in co-medication,” that paper said. About 45 percent of participants saw improvements in sleep.
A recent industry-backed survey, meanwhile, found that 16 percent of Americans aged 21 and older said they use cannabis as a sleep aid. That makes marijuana more popular for sleep than prescription sleep aids (12 percent) or alcohol (11 percent), but still not quite as common as using supplements (26 percent) or over-the-counter sleep aids (19 percent).
Last year, separate studies found that both older medical marijuana patients as well as people with fibromyalgia reported that cannabis improved their sleep.
A different study last year from the retirement group AARP found that marijuana use by older people in the U.S. has nearly doubled in the last three years, with better sleep as among the most frequently cited reasons.
Another industry-backed survey last year found that an oral CBD solution effectively treated mild to moderate anxiety, as well as associated depression and poor sleep quality, with no serious adverse events observed.
A study published last spring, meanwhile, found that using marijuana before sleep has minimal if any effect on a range of performance measures the next day, including simulated driving, cognitive and psychomotor function tasks, subjective effects and mood.
In 2023, a federally funded study found that people with anxiety experienced better quality sleep on days when they used marijuana compared to days when they used alcohol or nothing at all.
Separate studies in 2019, meanwhile, found that fewer people purchased over-the-counter (OTC) sleep medications when they had legal access to cannabis and that many adult-use consumers at the time said they used marijuana for the same reasons medical cannabis patients did: to help with pain and sleep.
In addition to products like infused fabrics, a study published earlier this year also found that CBD could be a useful addition to certain skin products given its anti-aging and antioxidant properties as well as evidence that it may speed the healing of wounds.
“Overall, we suggest that CBD exhibits many potential characteristics that can be used to develop topical cosmeceutical products, such as sun protection products, hair care products, or wound healing products,” that study said.
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