Up All Night? Six Ways to Treat Your Insomnia

Sleep is essential to the human body’s ability to function, yet there are millions of people who struggle to fall asleep every night due to insomnia. There are few things more frustrating than lying in bed, exhausted, without being able to fall asleep. While there are many different insomnia treatments out there for sufferers of the condition to try, these are six of the most effective:

 

Melatonin Supplements

Melatonin is a natural hormone your body produces at night to make you fall asleep easier. Inadequate production of melatonin often manifests in difficulty getting to sleep and insomnia. This problem is easily treatable with a melatonin supplement. The normalized levels of melatonin in the body help sufferers of low melatonin-induced insomnia fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.

 

Sleeping Pills

While sleeping pills are not a long-term solution to insomnia, they can be used to provide sleep during your worst nights. There are prescription sleeping pills specifically made to treat insomnia, but prolonged used of these drugs can result in dependency and worsen the insomniac’s condition.

 

Proper Sleep Hygiene

Designating a specific time and place to go to sleep—and sticking to your designations—is one of the best ways to practice good sleep habits. When you go to bed at different times, or in different locations, your body’s sleep schedule and recognition response get confused. A sleep systems expert from Crowley Furniture Mattress Store often advises people to set aside their bed for sleeping purposes only, as reading, eating, etc. on your bed causes your body to respond to it as it would an active place, rather than a restful place. Only use your bed when you go to sleep at night, and be sure to keep roughly the same sleeping hours every night. This will restore your body’s natural sleep-recognition cycle and help you get to sleep faster.

 

Avoiding Alcohol

Many people think that a drink or two will actually word as a sleep aid, since it relaxes and tires the drinker out. While a drink will make you sleepy, alcohol actually prevents the body from sleeping properly by blocking the REM cycle. Since this cycle is necessary for deep sleep and a sense of restfulness, those who drink before bed will usually wake up feeling as if they did not sleep at all.

 

Getting Out of Bed

A common habit of many insomniacs is rolling around in bed for hours, trying to fall asleep. Doing this, however, raises stress levels, making it even harder to get to sleep. If you are having trouble sleeping, try getting out of bed and participating in a relaxing activity until you feel tired. Read a book, take a bath, or drink a cup of tea—do whatever you find works to lower your stress levels and allow you to get back to sleep.

 

Abdominal Breathing Exercises

 

Relaxation techniques are a great way to prepare the body sleep. Deep breathing with your chest, stomach and back will slowly help you become more relaxed. Breathing exercises like this clear the mind and send calming signals through the body, stopping the release of the stress hormones which are often responsible for insomnia.

 

There are many possible causes of insomnia, so it may require a lot of trial-and-error with treatments to determine what, exactly, works for your insomnia.

Categories: body, breathing exercises, fall asleep, insomnia, nbsp, night, sleep, Sleeping, sleeping pills, Stress Levels, treat

Seniors: Get a Better Night"s Rest With These Tips

As we age it becomes increasingly difficult to get a good night’s sleep, as our sleep patterns change dramatically. The great restful sleep we used to enjoy in our younger days gradually dissipates until it’s difficult to even fall asleep, let alone be well rested. By the time we reach 70, our night time sleep has shrunk by almost half meaning we get just 6.6 hours, compared to 11.6 when we are infants. There are a number of problems which can interfere with our ability to sleep, from dietary complaints to bone problems, which should be examined by a GP, but these are some ways to improve your sleep pattern. From lifestyle changes to simply being more active, your lifestyle choices could be to blame for your lack of sleep. These are easily modified though, so that you can rest and sleep for longer – effective sleep is vital for our wellbeing.

 

Exercise is a great way to help your ability to sleep. Studies suggest that seniors who exercised slept an average of 50 minute more each night than those who led a sedentary lifestyle. In addition to that, women who were physically active rated their quality of sleep far higher than those who didn’t exercise. A brisk walk could be enough each day to improve your ability to sleep – if you’re new to exercise, build up to regular exercise to avoid injury and stress to the body. Changing your routine could actually help seniors to fall asleep more easily. Light meals in the evening are advised, such as fish and vegetables instead of spaghetti, as this will cut the risk of a disturbed nights sleep. The same can be said of liquids right before bedtime, which will only increase the need to wake up in the middle of the night needing the bathroom. It’s also helpful to avoid stressful activities right before bed, so save the tax forms or potentially stressful phone calls until the morning – they will only serve to upset a calmed mind. A nice warm bath and reading a book, or listening to music, to help you calm your mind before bed can be beneficial for many people.

If you live in a busy area, or are easily woken by noises outside, this will lead to a regularly disrupted sleep. Ear plugs can solve this problem fairly easily, helping to block out any unwanted noise to help you drift off peacefully and get a restful nights sleep. There are many varieties to choose from and they’re easily found – your local supermarket or pharmacy should stock them. Paradoxical thinking can also be effective – this works by tricking your body into trying to stay up as late as possible, instead of trying to fall asleep. This technique has proven effective for many people over the years. There are various variations on this concept, which may be worth looking into if your other changes haven’t work. Medication can be used, of course, but should be an absolute last resort. You should speak to your GP if you think you may need sleep medication to help you sleep more thoroughly, and this should be monitored closely as it is easy to form a habit with these pills. You may find that a combination of the above changes leads to a better nights sleep, but if there are health problems you have which are leading to a disrupted sleep these should be solved first – for example, people with arthritis often struggle to sleep because of the pain. Resolving these issues with the help of your GP could help you regain your sleep pattern again.

Categories: Age, disrupted sleep, easily, exercise, fall asleep, night, nights, nights sleep, seniors, sleep, sleep pattern, techniques