Fall back asleep in middle of the night with eye-rolling method which 'really works'

Waking up in the middle of the night and struggling to fall back asleep is a very common problem, which doesn't make it any less frustrating. Insomnia is problem thought to affect around one in three people in the UK, and occurs when you have regular problems sleeping.

It can be anything from finding it hard to go to sleep, to waking up several times during the night, waking up and finding it hard to get back to sleep, or lying awake for large portions of the night. These can lead to feelings of tiredness during the day, feeling irritable and finding it hard to concentrate.

Insomnia usually gets better by changing your sleeping habits, such as going to bed and waking up at the same time every day, relaxing at least an hour before bed, exercising during the day, and making sure you don't eat too late at night or watch TV or use devices too close to bedtime.

• 'We're all descended from Martians, I'm certain of it', says top scientist
• Woman pours drain cleaner into her eyes to blind herself and 'feel more comfortable'

But there are also some techniques you can use for if you do still wake up in the middle of the night, unable to fall back asleep. One woman has raved about one particular method which "really works".

Comedian, author and mum Cally Beaton took to TikTok to share her "sleep news" after a friend shared the hack with her. "And just like that, it worked!" she wrote in the caption. In the clip, she shared the hack in the hopes of helping those who, like her, struggle "not with falling asleep but with staying asleep".

Explaining how it worked, Cally explained you keep your eyes shut while doing it, but for purpose of demonstration, she would keep her eyes open. She continued: "What you do is, you roll your eyes up and down, then to the side, and then to the other side. Then you do it clockwise, and anti-clockwise. All of that with your eyes closed, and you just repeat that."

Cally explained she only did two or three repetitions before falling back asleep, and "it worked". "It's amazing," said Cally. In the comment section, people shared their own experiences of using the hack.

"I swear this works. I was doing it a couple of months ago but forgot about it. Thanks for the reminder!" said one person. "It worked! Thank you thank you thank you!" added another. And a third pleased person wrote: "It really does work, it’s so weird!"