The Importance of Good Sleep for your Health

Who doesn't love a good nights sleep? I know I do!
There isn’t much else out there that will get you feeling all refreshed and ready for the next day ahead more than 40 winks of sleep. Its surprising to know though that so many people do not get enough sleep each night (and this is particularly true when people are injured and in pain). So todays blog is all about why sleep is so important for you, and to share with you some ways to get a better nights sleep.

Why is sleep so important?

Sleep is actually the time when most of our growth and healing takes place. A key hormone - Growth Hormone gets released into the blood stream to help repair soft tissue structures all around the body. This only happens when you enter the deepest part of your sleep - REM (Rapid Eye Movement sleep). So if you only sleep lightly you won’t heal and/or recover that well.

What is good ‘quality’ sleep?

The recommended sleep amount for sufficient growth/repair is 7-9hrs for an adult. Why?? Sleep is broken down into 4 key stages and a whole cycle takes about fours hours to complete. For optimal sleep, it is recognised that most people need 2 full sleep cycles (with the 4 stages in each) and should ideally not be disturbed!

So classic things like: midnight toilet trips, snoring partners, a pet in the bed, newborn baby feeding or just too much alcohol or caffeine will all cause disturbed night sleep and upset the sleep cycle. Research (from back in 2014) has shown that when people get less than seven hours of sleep per night, they are 1.7 times (17%) more likely to sustain an injury compared with people who got more than eight hours!

So let’s discuss ways to improve your sleep then!

6 ways to get a better nights sleep.

No caffeine before bed.
As we all know, caffeine is a stimulant and that will not put your body in a relaxed state before bed so no coffee/tea!
Get the bedroom environment cool, dark and quiet.
Is your bedroom dark enough (i know it sounds obvious) but light will wake you up. Think about window blinds/curtains - are they shut tight enough not to let light through, and is the room cool enough? Remember cooler is better for sleep.
Invest in good pillows.
Too many people I see in my clinic here in Rhos on Sea do not invest much in a decent pillow or mattress to sleep on, yet we all spend about 1/3 of our lives asleep! Look after your neck and spine in bed with something comfortable and quality-made. One good pillow should be all you need if you sleep on your back (or possibly two if you sleep on your side).
Set your phone/tablet to night-shift mode (or just turn it off).
Most smartphones have a setting call night-shift mode which turns your phone screen a yellow colour after a set time each night. The white-light you normally get from phones and TV screens will end up waking you back up. So if you like to browse social media in bed, then nightshift mode can certainly help. However, what would be better though is not using any technology 30mins before bed at all (but who does that!)
Get some exercise!
Sometimes people can’t get to sleep because they are truly not tired enough. Fact is many people sit for their jobs and do not move much. The good news is a moderate amount of exercise (30-60mins) during the day can help to induce some tiredness and contribute to better sleep. From about 9pm onwards you should wind down and stop.
De-stress and relax!
Stress is the cause of so many problems, but just before bed is not the time or the place to be feeling tense! Hot baths/showers can always help along with some mindfulness / relaxation techniques - like the headspace app or just simply journaling and writing down positive thoughts from the day.
If you are not good at ‘switching off’ from things then may be its worth trying some therapies like: Massage or Acupuncture (which we offer here at the clinic?) They both can really help people to relax you more and induce a better sleep.