Sleep Masks Compared: Types, Fit and What Research Shows

Short answer: A sleep mask blocks light from reaching your eyes, and the NHLBI advises keeping your bedroom dark for better sleep. [S01] The best evidence comes from intensive care patients, where reviews of randomized trials found eye masks were linked to better self-reported sleep. [S03] [S04] Evidence in healthy adults at home is thinner and contested. [S06] [S07] No study we found has compared mask shapes or materials, so pick the one that fits and blocks light for you.

Hotel rooms, guest rooms and hospital rooms often have light you can't control: streetlights, hallway glow, standby lights, early sun. If you're traveling for treatment or staying near a cancer center, a mask is one simple way to make the room darker. Here's how the main types differ and what the research does and doesn't show.

Why darkness matters for sleep

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) recommends keeping your bedroom quiet, cool and dark. It notes that bright artificial light, such as from a TV or computer screen, may signal the brain that it's time to be awake. [S01] For shift workers sleeping during the day, it suggests removing light and sound distractions, for example with light-blocking curtains. [S01]

Laboratory research points the same way. In one study of healthy adults, sleeping a single night with moderate room light (100 lux) raised nighttime heart rate, lowered heart rate variability and increased insulin resistance the next morning, compared with sleeping in a dim room (under 3 lux). [S02] That study looked at room light, not at masks, and it measured short-term changes after one night, not long-term health.

Types of sleep masks

Masks differ mostly in shape, fill and fabric. The research below did not compare these designs, so the table describes how they're built, not how well they work.

What the studies did not test: None of the reviews below compared silk vs. cotton vs. foam, contoured vs. flat, or one brand vs. another. They compared wearing a mask with not wearing one (or with other approaches like earplugs or music). [S03] [S04] [S05]

What the research shows in hospital patients

Most of the trial evidence comes from intensive care units (ICUs), where light and noise are constant.

• A 2021 review of 13 randomized trials (797 ICU patients) found that eye masks alone had a significant effect on self-reported sleep quality. Using earplugs and eye masks together had the largest effect. Earplugs alone did not show a significant effect. [S03]
• A 2023 network review of 24 randomized trials (1,507 critically ill patients) compared several sound and darkness approaches. The combination of earplugs, eye masks and music worked best, and among single components the eye mask had the best relative effect, followed by music, quiet time and earplugs. [S04]
• A 2021 review of 35 studies (2,687 patients) also found eye masks and/or earplugs improved sleep questionnaire scores. In studies that measured sleep with polysomnography, they were linked to longer total sleep, better sleep efficiency, more REM sleep and fewer awakenings. This review included non-randomized studies as well as randomized ones, which makes its results less certain. [S05]

Limits: These were critically ill patients in a very noisy, bright setting. Most outcomes were self-reported, and patients knew whether they were wearing a mask. Results may not carry over to a hotel room or home bedroom.

What the research shows in healthy adults

Evidence outside the hospital is much thinner.

In a 2023 study, 94 adults aged 18 to 35 wore an eye mask every night for a week and spent another week sleeping without light blocked. After the mask week, they did better on a test of learning new information and on an alertness task. [S06] In a second experiment, 35 young adults wore a sleep-tracking device, and the learning benefit was repeated and tied to time spent in deep (slow-wave) sleep. [S06]

A later reanalysis of the same data, published in the same journal, concluded there was "no clear or consistent evidence" that wearing an eye mask leads to meaningful improvement in learning and alertness. [S07] So the question remains open.

These studies involved young, healthy volunteers, not people in cancer treatment or older adults.

The main studies at a glance

How to choose one

Since the research doesn't favor any style, focus on practical fit:

• Light seal: The point of a mask is darkness. [S01] Check for gaps at the bridge of the nose and the sides.
• Comfort: A mask you take off at 2 a.m. won't help. If pressure on your eyelids bothers you, a contoured style keeps the fabric off them.
• Strap: An adjustable strap lets you set it snug without being tight.
• Pair it with earplugs if noise is a problem. In ICU trials, the combination did best. [S03] [S04]
• Pack two if you're away for a long stay, so one can be washed.

Using one away from home

When you're staying near a cancer center, you often can't change the curtains or the hallway light. The NHLBI's advice to keep the room dark still applies, and a mask is one way to do it. [S01] If you'll be admitted to the hospital, ask your care team whether wearing a mask is okay, since staff may need to check on you overnight.

For more ways to rest in an unfamiliar room, see our hotel-room sleep checklist. If you're wondering about screens before bed, our guide to whether blue-light glasses help sleep covers that research. If stress is keeping you up, try our simple daily habits for managing stress.