5 Tips to Wind Down for a Better Night's Sleep

Sleep plays a vital role in maintaining good health and well-being during every stage of your life. During the time you’re asleep, your body works to support healthy brain function, encode memories, and maintain your physical health.

In children and teens, sleep helps support their growth and development. And for any age group, not getting enough sleep over time can raise your risk for chronic health problems. It can also affect how well you think, learn, work, react, and get along with others.

At Interventional Psychiatry Group, Dr. Jim Pang, Jr., Dr. Shannon Pitts, and our expert staff are well-versed in diagnosing and treating sleep-wake disorders, including insomnia, narcolepsy, restless legs syndrome (RLS), and sleep apnea. If you aren’t getting the shut-eye you need, the team offers five good tips on how to help your body help itself.

Common sleep-wake disorders

There are a number of sleep-wake disorders that can disrupt your ability to get a good night’s sleep, which is generally viewed as 7-9 hours a night. These include:

Insomnia

This common sleep disorder makes it hard to fall asleep or stay asleep. It may also cause you to wake up too early and not be able to fall back to sleep, leaving you feeling tired when you get up and draggy throughout the day.

Many adults have short-term insomnia, which is usually due to stress or a distressing event. Chronic insomnia, though, lasts for three months or more and drains your energy, affects your mood, your health, your work performance, and your quality of life.

A sleep study can reveal the underlying cause. If that’s treated, you may be able to get proper, restorative sleep.

Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological disorder that interferes with the brain's ability to control sleep-wake cycles. People with narcolepsy feel very sleepy throughout the day but can't stay asleep for long periods of time at night.

In a normal sleep cycle, people enter REM (dream) sleep after about 60-90 minutes. The brain keeps the person’s muscles limp during this period to prevent them from acting out their dreams.

In people with narcolepsy, the boundaries between wakefulness and sleep are less distinct, and elements of sleep and wakefulness can mix. People with narcolepsy frequently enter REM sleep within only 15 minutes and can experience the muscle weakness and dream activity of REM sleep while they’re awake.

Although there’s no cure for narcolepsy, some symptoms can be managed with a combination of medications and lifestyle changes.

Restless legs syndrome

Restless legs syndrome is a condition that produces an uncontrollable urge to move your legs, usually when you’re lying down for the night. It may be accompanied by other uncomfortable sensations in the legs. The constant movement can disrupt your sleep, interfering with your ability to handle daily activities.

Lifestyle changes may help. Warm baths or massaging the legs before bed can relax the muscles. You can also apply warm or cool packs to lessen uncomfortable sensations.

Regular, moderate exercise may relieve symptoms of RLS, and cutting back on caffeine can help, as well.

Sleep apnea

Sleep apnea is a condition where you stop breathing while you’re sleeping. A lack of oxygen activates a survival reflex in the brain that wakes you up just enough so you start breathing again. While that keeps you alive, it also interrupts your sleep cycle, preventing restorative slumber.

The most common form is obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), where the soft tissues in your throat relax into your airway as you sleep, blocking air movement.

Sleep apnea causes a number of complications, particularly excessive daytime sleepiness to the point you nod off, even when driving or operating machinery. It can also lead to high blood pressure (hypertension), heart disease, and other serious complications.

OSA can be managed using a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine, managing underlying medical conditions, or wearing an oral appliance that keeps your airway open.

5 tips for getting a better night’s sleep

Whether you have any of these conditions or not, there are lifestyle changes you can make to get a better night’s sleep. Here are five:

Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day
Don’t work, eat, or watch TV while in bed
Don’t use devices like computers or smartphones for a couple of hours before bedtime
Don’t eat too much before heading to bed (may cause heartburn)
Take a warm bath or have some herbal tea before bed

The more calming your bedtime routine, the more likely you’ll be to have a restful night’s sleep.

Having trouble getting a good night’s sleep? The specialists at Interventional Psychiatry Group can help. Call our office serving the Cordova community of Memphis, Tennessee, at 901-752-4900 to set up an evaluation, or book online with us today.