It has turned to Winter, the clocks have gone back and the nights have drawn in and its this time of year that many of us have difficulty waking up in the morning. One of the biggest hurdles in reaching good health is a lack of sleep. Outlines here are a number of good reasons why optimal sleep is so important. Sleep is the cheapest and easiest way to boost our health, quality sleep is the easiest way to optimise our health.
Nagging aches and pains and injuries are not helped by disrupted sleep patterns. Our body physically repairs itself between the hours of 10 o’clock at night and 2 o’clock in the morning and psychologically repairs itself between the hours of 2 o’clock in the morning and 6 o’clock in the morning. Getting to bed late in the evening means you are cutting your physical repair time and early morning starts for work and school means cutting your psychological repair time. We gradually awaken in the morning between 6 and peak at around 9 o’clock and our sleepy hormones are released from 6 in the evening which encourage us to wind down and begin that repair process. Stimulants such as tea and coffee that release caffeine into the blood stream can slow the process of getting to sleep. It is recommended that we reduce our caffeine levels of an afternoon to reach optimisation by the evening.
Electrical devises such as TV’s, iPad’s and alarm clocks can also alter the electronic magnetic frequency and slow our ability to get to sleep in the evening. To get the best value out of our sleep we need to be getting to bed by 10 o’clock and waking no earlier than 6 in the morning. In order to recover quickly from injuries, prevent injuries and stay mentally and physically alert its important on focusing your sleep patterns and trying to get to bed at a decent hour.
For those patients that suffer from neck pain first thing in the morning on getting up, it can sometimes be the case that their position sleeping at night can be partly causing the problem. I recommend patients sleep on one medium sized pillow, that’s medium to firm in nature. If needed, grab a hand towel roll it up into a sausage shape and stuff it into the bottom of your pillow case so while your head is on the pillow, your neck is supported by the roll. This encourages normal alignment of your spine and eases tension through the night.
Sweet dreams everyone!
