10 Tips to Improve Your Sleep
In treating patients with chronic or persistent pain, one of the most common problems we encounter is significant sleep disturbance. Folks with pain are not only robbed of their sleep by their pain problem, but often times have difficulties due to an inactive lifestyle, the side effects of multiple medications, and the worry and anxiety that often accompany any chronic pain problem. By some accounts, 70 million Americans suffer from chronic sleep problems, and only 15-20% of these individuals will see a doctor for assistance.
Although there can be several causes of sleep problems, or insomnia, there are many treatments available without a trip to your doctor:
- Prepare a good sleep environment. Make sure you have a good mattress with appropriate firmness. The room should be sufficiently dark, slightly cool, and quiet. If you are someone who constantly checks the alarm clock when sleep is not forthcoming, turn the clock around so you can't see it!
- Unwind before bed. It is important to create a string of associations that let your body (and brain) know that sleep is coming. Try to develop a night time ritual to cue sleep. Brushing teeth, letting out the dog, checking the doors can all create a chain of triggers to ease you into slumber.
- Reduce caffeine, alcohol, and excessive liquids. I am always amazed at the number of patients I see who have no idea the amount of caffeine they consume per day. Soft drinks, chocolate, tea and coffee all contain caffeine that can have a cumulative effect on your sleep. Likewise, alcohol is a big NO-NO when trying to stabilize sleep. If you are going to drink alcohol, be careful of your mixers which may contain caffeine or excessive sugar.
- Avoid naps during the day. This seems counter-intuitive for people who struggle to get whatever sleep they can at night, but trust us, naps disrupt your sleep schedule. Do the best you can to tough it out until a reasonable sleep time to improve your sleep schedule.
- Engage in physical activity. This can be particularly hard if you hurt, but even a brisk walk on a daily basis can help burn off energy. Be careful not to engage in strenuous exercise too close to bed time, as your body will release endorphins and other neurochemicals that will amp you up instead of calm you down.
- Use the bed only for sleeping or sex. Remember, we are trying to create a strong association between bed and sleep. If you are reading in bed, watching TV in bed, or doing other things in bed, your body and brain are not sure if sleep is coming when you hop into the sack.
- If unable to sleep after 20 minutes, get out of bed. If you are tossing and turning in bed for hours you are not creating that strong association between bed and sleep. If you can't fall asleep right away, get out of bed and do something quiet until you are literally doing the sleepy head bob. Then get back in bed and repeat if sleep does not come.
- Set an alarm and get out of bed at the same time every morning (even weekends). Your wake up time is what ultimately resets your sleep clock and gets you back on track. Eventually, getting up at a consistent time will help you regulate your sleep.
- Only go to bed when you are sleepy. The need for a full eight hours of rest per night is not set in stone. We all require differing amounts of sleep, and to complicate things, the amount we need changes as we age. Determine how much sleep you need to feel well-rested, and go to bed when you are tired.
- Learn relaxation techniques to reduce muscle tension. We all carry tension in our muscles when we are stressed. Make sure to learn relaxation strategies to limit muscle tension. Feel free to start by listening to this one.
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