6 Ways to get Better Sleep this Spring

Categories: Sleep Disorders

sleep betterSANTA CRUZ, SCOTTS VALLEY CA

Nearly 70 million Americans suffer from sleep deficiency, according to the National Institutes of Health. Whether you have a difficult time staying asleep or still feel tired when you wake up, there are many causes to chronic daytime fatigue. Unfortunately, ignoring sleep loss may increase your risk of chronic conditions like heart disease, stroke, insulin resistance, memory loss, and inflammation throughout the body. Therefore, it’s essential to pinpoint what’s causing your sleep loss so that you can seek the best treatment. So today on the blog, our airway dentists in Scotts Valley share how to get better sleep this spring.

First, ensure you have healthy sleep hygiene.

Here are several ways to improve your sleep hygiene to see if improving these areas may help you feel more restful throughout the day.

  • Maintain a sleep schedule: Aim to get eight hours of sleep each night, which may mean prioritizing how you spend your evenings, sending the kids to bed early, and putting away electronics and turning off the TV so you can get to bed on time. Most healthy adults should aim to get between seven and eight hours of sleep each night. Getting fewer than seven hours of sleep will likely leave you feeling chronically fatigued and reliant upon caffeine, sugar, or power naps to get through the day. Also, maintain the same going to bed and waking up schedule on the weekends and your days off from work.
  • Avoid alcohol, tobacco, and stimulants like caffeine too close to bedtime: Using these substances too close to bedtime or overconsumption could interrupt your sleep, lead to insomnia, or cause you to wake frequently throughout the night. Ideally, limit your alcohol consumption and don’t rely on it to help you fall asleep.
  • Create a peaceful bedroom: Maintain a soothing, relaxing, cool, dark bedroom to train your brain that it’s time to wind down for the night. Avoid watching TV or looking at other screens like an iPad or your cellphone. You may find that taking a hot bath, or using calming essential oils or a noise machine helps induce sleep so that you can rest peacefully. Be sure to keep the temperature just right so that it is not too hot and not too cold, although it’s better to keep your room a little cooler because most people get hot while sleeping. Additionally, add blackout curtains or shades to your bedroom windows if your wakeup time is after sunrise.
  • Skip the power naps: Sometimes, a short, 20-minute power nap is necessary, but you shouldn’t rely on naps daily to revive your energy. If you find that you feel like napping most days, then reassess your bedtime and aim to hit the hay a little earlier every night for a couple of weeks to see if you feel more energized throughout the day.
  • Get more exercise: Exercising or taking walks daily helps relieve stress, increase blood oxygenation, and is likely to make your brain and body tired when it’s bedtime. Therefore, incorporate daily exercise or short walks into your daily routine. Plus, exercising may help your waistline if you’re also eating a healthy diet most of the time.
  • Get a sleep apnea screening: If you make these recommended adjustments to your lifestyle and still feel tired and experience daytime fatigue, we recommend an airway screening to see if you could be at risk for sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a sleep-breathing condition that interrupts the brain’s ability to remain in a deep sleep. If you have sleep apnea, our airway dentists in Scotts Valley can collaborate your care so that you can manage your condition. Most of our sleep apnea patients find relief from their symptoms by wearing a custom oral appliance that is comfortable and quiet and doesn’t require a CPAP machine.

Sleep apnea treatment in Scotts Valley, Los Gatos, and Santa Cruz, California

Sleep apnea can ruin your life and affect your mood to the point where you miss out on family activities, or your work performance suffers. To learn more about sleep apnea screenings or to schedule your appointment today, contact Ebrahimian Integrative Dentistry by calling (831) 438-4411.