People often like to tell one another that they only slept for 6 or 4 hours the previous night. Sure, this does make you sound like a badass, but this is something that you really shouldn’t boast about. Not getting the right amount of sleep is bad for your health. And if you have trouble falling asleep easily, then you should be more concerned. Irregular sleep cycles are unhealthy. They put a toll on your body and make it harder for you to function. And if you continue maintaining unhealthy sleeping patterns, you become more susceptible to developing health problems. One health problem that is always caused by bad sleeping habits is insomnia.
Insomnia has become a rather common health condition in the past few decades. This is largely thanks to the fact that so many people have developed bad sleeping habits. Most of us sleep late at night and then wake up early in the morning. This deprives the body of its required amount of sleep. It also upsets our biological clock; upsetting our body’s idea of when should it prepare itself for sleep. When left unchecked, things can become pretty serious. The body’s ability to produce the chemicals that are needed to induce sleep becomes compromised. Once this happens, we start feeling sleepless even when the body is exhausted.
It is important to maintain a balance in our body’s functioning. This is why one should be very concerned about their sleeping patterns. There are a number of ways one can go about improving their sleeping patterns. You can check out Zenbev if you are interested in natural remedies. The right herbs take on a daily basis can counter the imbalance created in your body and help you get back on track. Natural remedies are far safer than conventional drugs. They don’t have any side effects and they don’t subject your body to any harsh chemicals either.
But before you get into trying out different remedies, you should first try and improve your health sleep cycle. A great way to do this is by practicing sleep hygiene.
What is Sleep Hygiene?
Sleep hygiene is a term used to describe the development of healthy sleeping habits. These habits help you regulate your sleep pattern and ensure that your body gets the right amount of sleep. There are a number of things that you need to do, and some habits that you need to eliminate.
What to Do
- The very first step is to develop a regular sleep pattern. Set a time for getting into bed and for getting out of it. Your goal will be to stick to this routine throughout your entire week.
- Incorporate some kind of physical activity into your daily routine. Just make sure that you don’t do anything intense before bedtime.
- During day time, expose yourself to as much daylight as possible. This helps set your biological clock.
- Do something that relaxes you before bedtime. Take a warm shower or read a book while lying in bed. Practicing muscle relaxing exercises can help you unwind yourself as well.
- Make sure that the room you sleep in is as comfortable as possible. Keep the lights low, the temperature right, and noises to a minimum when you are in bed.
- Avoid using your phone before bed. If you cannot do that, at least find some way to reduce the amount of blue light being emitted by your screen. Blue light can really upset your sleep pattern.
What Not to Do
- Avoid consuming caffeine or any other kind of stimulants after noon. This includes sodas, chocolate, and nicotine as well.
- You should also avoid consuming alcohol at night. It makes you feel sleepy at first but can actually deprive you of sleep later on in the night.
- While in your bed, don’t do any work or watch anything. You shouldn’t let your brain associate your bed with anything else other than sleep and rest.
- Also, don’t sleep at odd times. Try not to fall asleep in the middle of the day. This can greatly upset your sleeping routine.
Sleep hygiene is a great practice. It can help you gradually reset your sleep pattern. People suffering from mild insomnia should really give this a try. It can help them bring their condition under control and reverse it as well. Sleep hygiene can even help you improve more severe cases of insomnia. Best of all, it keeps you away from conventional medication. Keep in mind that this practice may not work for everyone. We would advise that anyone with extreme insomnia should consult a physician before making any attempt to fix themselves. Conditions like insomnia can really take over your life if you do not take the right precautions at the right time.
If you suspect that your sleeping problem is caused by more than poor sleep hygiene, it’s best to consult your doctor or a sleep specialist. It’s natural to have poor sleep quality for one to two nights, but if you’re not getting enough sleep every night, something bad must be at play.
About 70 million Americans grapple with sleeping disorders, like insomnia, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, and restless legs syndrome. If you suspect you have a sleeping disorder, you can get diagnosed by a sleep specialist and receive proper treatment to help you rest better at night.
People with certain sleeping disorders like sleep apnea may need a CPAP machine to help them breathe and sleep better. If you have one of those, you should know how important it is to keep it clean and sanitized to avoid infections. Other patients may need to undergo surgery or take safe medications for their sleeping disorders.