“To sleep, per chance to dream.” William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Sunday night, I found myself with a bad case of insomnia.  It was a terrible experience.  I woke up every 15- 20 minutes from 3 am until 5 am and looked at the clock.  What’s going on and how many people suffer like this?  I finally got up and went for a run.

We have more to do these days and less time to do it.  What can we cut out?  Sleep.

Historically, people went to bed when the sun went down and got up when it came up, giving them 8-9 hours of sleep each night.  Americans are now only averaging 6-7 hours of sleep a night, causing a long term sleep deprivation.

How important is sleep?  All animals sleep, even animals like fish that have to keep moving all the time to stay alive.  When researchers kept rats from sleeping for two weeks, they died!

Is the sleep you are getting enough? Are you sleeping through the night comfortably or are you waking up several times?  What does sleep do anyway?  We used to think that sleep only helped our brains to process information and events from the day.  Sleep gives our brains a chance to file all of the events.   Everyone knows what it feels like when you don’t get enough sleep:     trouble concentrating, trouble remembering, increased stress and trouble staying awake.

Long term sleep deprivation leads to :

Obesity,

High Blood Pressure,

Fibromyalgia,

Diabetes,

Problems Healing,

Depression and

General Poor Performance.

We like to refer to most of these as stress related illnesses, but sleep deprivation is a major cause of stress.

We now know more about what happens during sleep.  We know The body heals itself and repairs itself, we know that our bodies secrete hormones like growth hormones and appetite suppressant hormones,  we know that injuries heal and we live longer.

There are two major types of sleep deprivation,  Not getting to bed or to sleep early enough

and not sleeping deep enough or waking up frequently

Do you wake up tired?

Do you find yourself waking up several times a night?

Do you experience more pain in the morning when you wake up than you did

when you went to bed?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may have some sleep issues that need to discussed.  It might be something as simple as needing a new mattress, it might be a more complicated problem like acid reflux, sleep apnea or nervous system stress.

One of the most common side effects of people getting chiropractic adjustments in our office… they sleep better.

5 Tips for a better night’s sleep

1) Turn off the TV at least an hour before bed time.  The flickering lights and stimulating content of television keeps your brain stimulated and slows your ability to get into a deep sleep.

2) Set a bed time, make it a priority and stick with it.

3) Avoid stimulants like caffeine late in the evening. Alcohol will also effect your natural sleep rythms, preventing you from getting into the deep sleep you crave.

4) Check your mattress,  if it bows in the middle, it’s time to replace it.  If it is over 10 years old, its time to consider a new one.  The old advice about sleeping on a firm mattress has been reconsidered.  Sleeping on a comfortable mattress that supports your entire frame is better.

5) Establish a bedtime routine such as checking the doors, brushing your teeth, and setting out your clothes for the next day.

It’s late, I have to get to bed.  Good Night!

Want to learn more about sleep, checkout Dr.Lowe Fox in the Morning, Friday September 3 at 6:20 and 7:20. He’ll be at Sleep Outfitters on Shelbyville Rd talking about sleep.