| Do you find yourself tossing and turning at night, staring at the ceiling, counting sheep, or watching the minutes go by? Sleep deprivation is considered a public health epidemic by the CDC. The lack of sleep can wreak havoc on your cognition and mental health as well as your physical appearance! I think most of us can relate to this! Sleep deprivation and deficiency affects people of various ages, ethnicities and races. There are many factors that cause a person to struggle sleeping. Some of these factors include: |
*Working long hours or odd hours.
*traveling
*alcohol and caffeine consumption
*Certain drugs
*stress and anxiety
Sleep is tremendously important to a persons overall health. Lack of quality sleep has been linked to certain medical conditions such as heart failure, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke and depression.
Here is a list of things you can do on your own to improve sleep:
1. Make time to sleep. Busy people often squeeze sleep out of their schedule. Make sleep a priority!
2. Go to bed and wake up the same time everyday.
3. Use the hour before bed as quiet time. Avoid strenuous exercise and turn off computers, tv’s, cell phone and anything that produces artificial light. Light signals the brain that it’s time to get up!
4. Avoid large heavy meals before bedtime. Also avoid alcoholic drinks several hours before bedtime.
5. Keep the bedroom quiet, cool and dark.
5. Get outside and be physically active every day.
6. Take a hot bath before bedtime to relax.
Talk to your doctor about any sleep concerns you have. There are sleep studies you can participate in that will tell your doctor if you have sleep problems and how severe they are.
Make sleep a priority and your overall health and wellness will greatly improve!
For more wellness tips, contact Nicole Durham with Definitive Nutrition Analysis at wellness@jonesphysicaltherapy.com and like/follow DNA on Facebook!
