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.

Bonus Tip:

Don’t carry a George Constanza sized wallet in your back pocket. This is a simple tip but one that many guys ignore to their detriment. Carry it in your front pocket when sitting. Enjoy the diversion!

Prevention is proactive. Prevention is much less expensive than one trip to the doctor or hospital for one issue. What if you came up with your own maintenance and prevention plan? What if chiropractic care was at the heart of that plan, along with nutrition, exercise and other stress reducing therapies.

Sure most people come to the chiropractor when something hurts. My back hurts due to sciatica or  … my neck hurts from whiplash … so fix me. However, once some people come they see the long term value of chiropractic as a part of their wellness plans.

You have heard all of your life that you several things are necessary for good health. Good nutrition, plenty of sleep, exercise, plenty of clean water, and a properly functioning nervous system. Your health insurance plan doesn’t pay for any of those things. What does it pay for? It pays, usually, when you become sick. What you actually have and pay for is “sick care insurance”. And it’s very important to have that because the 3rd leading cause of bankruptcy in the US is medical bills. If you are rushed to the hospital, the bills add up very very quickly.

Some research on MyMedicalCosts.com shows how quickly costs add up.

Here are some of the average costs of procedures in and around Louisville, KY for treatment of back problems. I am sure these costs are not all inclusive as some are needed repetitively.

Trigger Point Injections (1 or 2 muscles) $802 per injection

Epidural (spinal injections given in series of 3) $2,224 per injection

Lumbar Disc Surgery $21,577

Chiropractic adjustment (preventative) $49

When you compare the cost, preventative chiropractic care just makes sense.

As I was reviewing a few scientific articles the other day, I ran across an interesting study.  Researchers from Yale University wanted to study how a disc is injured in a whiplash producing crash.

Here’s what the researchers already knew:

Whiplash can accelerate disc degeneration

Whiplash increases the rate of disc degeneration over a 10 year period

50% of whiplash patients report chronic pain 15 years after the trauma

39% of the victims show degenerative changes after 5 years

Attorneys know that pain and disc problems might not even show up for 1 to 2 years after the crash.

The disc is made up of a jelly  filled center called the nucleus pulposis.  The nucleus is surrounded by a tough outer layer called the annulus fibrosis.  The annulus is made up of layer after layer of fibers arranged diagonally.  If the first layer goes up and to the right, the second layer goes up and to the left.  This cross pattern makes the disc very strong for weight bearing and normal movements.

The research from Yale was conducted by a world famous spine researcher named Manohar Panjabi,  PhD.   He found that the stresses caused in a whiplash crash can tear the fibers going in only one direction, ie up and to the left.   This can explain why some disc injuries do not show on MRI until later.

If the every other layer is damaged the protrusion will not show until normal stress tears through the uninjured layers.  This might explain why minor movements “cause” a disc protrusion.   The weakness was already there, the stress finally broke through the remaining fibers.

When the fibers tear,  the jelly of the nucleus will leak through that layer and put pressure on the nerve.   If it causes the disc to protrude, it can trap the spinal cord or a spinal nerve.  Both can be very serious problems.   Trapping a spinal nerve can cause pain, numbness, tingling, burning pain or even loss of muscle strength.  Trapping the spinal cord causes the same problems in a larger area of the body.

If you are involved in an automobile collision, be sure to have your spine checked.  There is no such thing as “Just Whiplash.”

Patrick R. Lowe D.C.

Dr. Patrick Lowe is a chiropractor in Louisville, KY.   He has dedicated hundreds of hours of research and class time on auto collisions and their effect on the human body.  He enjoys working with crash victims and uses a comprehensive approach  to helping them regain their health and lifestyle.   You can contact Dr. Lowe at Lowe Chirorpractic & Wellness  10306 Shelbyville Rd, Louisville, KY 40223 or by emailing doclowe1000@aol.com                                                                 www.lowechiro.com