10 Easy Fixes to Start Sleeping Better
Every once in a while, everyone has a rough night of sleep. Whether we are excited, stressed, or prevented from sleeping due to light or loud noises, it is totally normal. However, if you experience difficult sleep night after night and it is beginning to negatively impact your life, you need to take a look at your sleep hygiene. If you’re looking for ways to improve your sleep, there are several things you can start incorporating today. Keep reading to learn ten ways you can improve your sleep hygiene, including addressing snoring issues with a sleep apnea specialist.
What is Sleep Hygiene?
Sleep hygiene refers to both your sleep environment and behavior. Signs of poor sleep hygiene include:
- Having a hard time falling asleep
- Experiencing frequent sleep disturbances
- Suffering from daytime sleepiness
- Lack of consistency in sleep quantity or quality
Sleep hygiene does not cure sleep disorders. If you try the following tips and still aren’t seeing improvement, it is important to speak with your doctor. Sleep apnea causes many of the same symptoms, but it is a much deeper health issue that requires treatment.
Commit to a Sleep Schedule
Something you can start doing tonight for a better night’s sleep is to commit to a sleep schedule. Choosing a bedtime and an awake time will get your body into a circadian rhythm, allowing for better sleep. Even if you don’t have anything to do that day, it is important to wake up at the same time and begin your morning routine.
While there is nothing wrong with staying up late every once in a while, it is important to commit to a sleep schedule, especially in the early stages of fixing your sleep habits and getting your body back on track. Choosing a bedtime and an awake time helps you not become overtired, which can cause stress levels to rise and prevent you from getting a good night’s sleep. When choosing a bedtime and an awake time, aim for 7-9 hours of sleep.
Take Your Bedroom Seriously for Sleep
Your environment is an important aspect of getting good sleep. Take a look at your bedroom and ask yourself these questions:
- Do I do anything else in this bedroom other than sleep and intimacy?
- Is too much light coming in through my windows in the morning?
- Is it too warm in my room?
- Is it too noisy in my room?
- Is my room too stimulating with bright lights, a television, and other distractions?
If you answered yes to one or more of the following questions, it is time to take your bedroom more seriously and set a good environment for sleep. This could mean investing in blackout curtains, a sound machine, removing distractions, and limiting activities in your room other than sleep and intimacy.
Develop a Bedtime Routine
What does your bedtime routine look like? Do you put on your PJs, get in bed, turn out the lights, doom scroll your phone for a while, and then hope to fall asleep? If so, it’s time to scrap your bedtime routine and start something new.
Here are some tips:
- Do something relaxing. Within an hour before bed, do something to signal to your body that it’s time for bed. This could include a bath, a hot shower, reading a book, stretching, or listening to calming music.
- Consider meditation. Listen to a guided meditation, a calming audiobook, slow music, or soak in some silence before bedtime. Avoid anything too stimulating and allow your body some time to get calm.
- Treat yourself. While you’re fixing your sleep hygiene and getting back on track, treat yourself with a relaxing face mask, a heating pad or heated blanket, or a massage.
Know What to Avoid Before Bed
While you start to incorporate new practices into your bedtime routine, it is important to know what to stop doing, as well. There are some things to avoid doing right before bed, or in the hours before bed, that can help improve your sleep. Some of these include:
- Heavy meals. Start eating a light, healthy dinner. If you find yourself in a position where you may need to eat a heavier meal, eat it earlier in the day. In general, avoid eating 2-3 hours before bed.
- Caffeine. Stop drinking caffeine before lunchtime so that your sleep is not impacted.
- Exercise. Exercising too soon before bed can impact your sleep. Instead, change your workout regimen to be earlier in the day, which will help positively impact your sleep. If you need to exercise before bed, choose something light, such as stretching or yoga.
- Screens. This is a tough one to hear, but screens can negatively impact sleep. Avoiding your phone or the television an hour or two before bed can greatly improve your sleep.
Managing Your Stress Levels
According to the American Psychological Association, Survey findings show that stress may be getting in the way of quality sleep. American adults report sleeping an average of 6.7 hours a night, less than the minimum recommendation of seven to nine hours.6 In addition, 42 percent of adults report that their sleep quality is fair or poor, and 43 percent report that stress has caused them to lie awake at night in the past month.
Many report that their stress increases when the length and quality of their sleep decreases. When they do not get enough sleep, 21 percent of adults report feeling more stressed. Adults with higher reported stress levels (eight, nine, or 10 on a 10-point scale) fare even worse — 45 percent feel even more stressed if they do not get enough sleep. Five percent of adults with lower reported stress levels (one, two, or three on the 10-point scale) say the same.
Find ways to manage your stress levels as best as you can. This may include exercising, relaxation, spending more time outside, or finally speaking with a therapist to find new ways to cope.
Level Up Your Bed and Pillows
Remember: Your sleep environment is very important in getting good, quality sleep. This can include investing in new bed and pillows to make your environment more comfortable, relaxing, and ideal for great sleep.
If getting a new bed and pillows isn’t in the budget, you can still give things a refresh. Wash your pillows (yes, the whole pillow!) and your comforter in your washing machine by following the care instructions on the tag. This will help remove dust and other allergens that could be getting in the way of a great sleep.
You can give your mattress a refresh by vacuuming it, deodorizing it with baking soda, flipping it over, and rotating it.
Avoiding Naps
Naps can be beneficial in many ways. However, if you are having a difficult time getting good, quality nighttime sleep, your naps may be the culprit. Naps should be short and early in the day to be beneficial. If you do nap early and keep them short, it might be time to avoid them completely for now until your nighttime sleep gets a little more on track.
In addition, naps can start a vicious cycle of disrupted sleep and the need for more, or longer, naps. It might be a tough few days, but cut them out completely and go to bed a little earlier to improve your nighttime sleep.
Incorporate Daytime Practices for Better Sleep
Good sleep hygiene isn’t just about how ideal your bedroom is or the things you do right before bed. What you do during the day also impacts your sleep. There are a few daytime practices you can start incorporating for better sleep, including:
- Get outside. Sunlight will help your body in many ways, including your mood, stress levels, alertness, and circadian rhythm. Spending more time outside and getting that vitamin D will help you fall asleep faster and deeper.
- Exercise. As mentioned earlier in this blog, exercising early in the day will help your body become tired, allowing for better sleep.
- Limit caffeine and alcohol. Stop drinking caffeine after lunchtime—3 pm at the latest. Avoid alcohol, as it can negatively impact your sleep, as do other sedatives.
Know How Your Health Plays a Role
Your health plays a role in your sleep, which can add another layer of challenges to sleep hygiene. Addressing your health concerns can help you get better sleep, such as:
- Mental health issues such as depression and anxiety
- Chronic pain
- Chronic congestion and allergy issues
- Obesity
- Sleep disordered breathing
- Restless leg syndrome
- Chronic illnesses
One of the best things you can do for your overall health, including for your sleep, is to eat healthy and exercise. If you are suffering from a chronic condition or mental health issue, speak with your doctor to address these issues.
Address Snoring Issues
If snoring is keeping you up at night, whether your own or your partner’s, it is time to address it by speaking with a sleep apnea specialist. Snoring is the hallmark symptom of sleep apnea, which is a very dangerous sleep condition that requires treatment.
Sleep apnea treatment does not have to involve a CPAP machine. You can have quiet, noninvasive, effective treatment through the Vivos Method in as little as 18 months.
Snoring isn’t just a bad habit, it is a symptom of a dangerous health condition that can lead to cardiovascular issues such as stroke, heart attack, high blood pressure, diabetes, cognitive issues, and much more.
Get Better Sleep with Gorman Health and Wellness
Dr. Gorman is part of the breathing wellness movement, which aims to increase awareness and improve treatment for sleep-related airway conditions, such as sleep apnea.
He has partnered with organizations focused on collaborating with dentists to apply the sciences of Craniofacial Epigenetics (the study of cranial modifications caused by gene expression as opposed to genetic code alteration) and Pneumopedics® (the practical application of oral appliance therapy and non-surgical airway remodeling) in the management of sleep apnea.
Together, the application of these sciences allows for the underlying causes of airway obstruction to be treated in 98% of cases, resulting in a high success rate among sleep apnea patients. For every sleep apnea case at our practice, Dr. Gorman will gather patient data and determine the patient’s specific needs based on home sleep test results, dental impressions, CT scans, and images.
Our state-of-the-art technology, combined with Dr. Gorman’s expertise in sleep disorders, enables him to develop the most effective treatment plan for each individual’s unique case, resulting in improved daytime and nighttime breathing for the patient.
“I have been helping people suffering from Sleep Apnea with a non-invasive, clinically approved treatment method. This method has allowed my patients to sleep with far fewer events per hour, allowing them to get rid of their CPAP and BiPAP machines. Imagine not having to use one of those machines, getting back a much greater quality of life along with the benefits of being able to breathe better.” – Dr. Gorman.
For more information on Dr. Gorman and getting better sleep, contact us today.
