June
17, 2014
You can
start by putting your smart phone away
Difficulty falling asleep or staying
asleep also spells trouble for your waking hours.
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At night you lie in bed, watching the clock and stressing
out that you will have to get up in a few hours. During the day, you’re
exhausted, sleepy and unfocused.
You’re not alone. At least 40 million Americans suffer each
year from sleep disorders such as apnea, narcolepsy or restless leg syndrome, says
the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Another 20 million experience occasional sleeping problems.
The amount of sleep each person needs depends on many
factors, including age. For most adults, the best amount of sleep
is seven to eight hours a night, the NIH says. Some people, though, may
need as few as five hours or as many as 10 hours of sleep, the NIH
says.
If you are sleep-deprived for a long period of
time, talk to your doctor. Over time, loss of
sleep can affect your overall health and well being. Chronic sleep problems
also may indicate an underlying medical problem.
If you’re experiencing mild, occasional problems with
sleep, try these simple strategies from sleep expert Charles Bae, MD. Dr. Bae sees patients at
Cleveland Clinic’s Sleep Disorders Center.
1. Treat getting enough sleep as if
it is as important as taking a medicine.
With all the demands on our time every day, you
might put a good night’s rest at the bottom of your
priority list. But Dr. Bae says we need to schedule adequate time for sleep.
“It’s very easy to stay up late and burn the candle at
both ends,” Dr. Bae says. “However, when you do that, you quickly run into a
problem of dealing with sleep deprivation.”
2. Develop a sleep schedule and
routine.
Go to bed at the same time each night and get up
at the same time each morning. Sleeping in on the weekend makes it more
difficult to wake up early on Monday morning because you have re-set
your sleep cycles.
It also is important, Dr. Bae says, to do some relaxing activity such as
taking a warm bath or reading a book before bedtime. By making these activities
part of your bedtime ritual, you can train yourself
to associate these activities with sleep. This association will help you
to move more easily into slumber.
3. Put away the smart phones
and tablets.
Electronic devices keep your mind humming —
and far from the relaxed state you need to
achieve before bedtime. Dr. Bae says it’s a good idea to put away devices
like smart phones and tablets 30 minutes before bed time.
4. If you do wake up during the
night, avoid looking at the clock.
“The minute you look at that time it’s not just looking at
one number,” Dr. Bae says. “You start mental calculations, you think about how
long it’s been since you’ve been in bed and what you have to do the next day.
And before you know it, a long time has passed and that cuts into your sleep
time.”
The anxiety of being unable to fall asleep can contribute to
insomnia. Instead of clock-watching and worrying, get
out of bed after about 20 minutes. Do
something relaxing like reading, watching television, or listening to
music until you feel drowsy.
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