A good night’s sleep is essential for overall well-being, yet many people struggle to get the rest they need. The importance of sleep cannot be overstated, as it plays a crucial role in physical health, mental clarity, and emotional balance. If you find yourself tossing and turning at night, it might be time to reassess your sleep hygiene. In this blog post, we’ll explore a variety of tips to help you improve your sleep and cultivate better sleep hygiene.
Establish a Consistent Sleep Schedule: Creating a regular sleep routine helps regulate your body’s internal clock. Aim to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends. Consistency reinforces your natural circadian rhythm, making it easier to fall asleep and wake up feeling refreshed.
Create a Relaxing Bedtime Routine: Develop pre-sleep rituals that signal to your body that it’s time to wind down. This could include activities such as reading a book, taking a warm bath, or practising relaxation techniques like deep breathing or meditation. Avoid stimulating activities like watching TV or using electronic devices right before bed.
Optimize Your Sleep Environment: Your bedroom should be a sanctuary for sleep. Keep the room cool, dark, and quiet. Invest in a comfortable mattress and pillows that support proper spinal alignment. Consider blackout curtains to eliminate any disruptive light, and use white noise or earplugs to minimize disturbances.
Watch Your Diet: Be mindful of what you eat and drink, especially in the hours leading up to bedtime. Avoid large meals, caffeine, and nicotine close to bedtime, as these can interfere with your ability to fall asleep. Opt for a light, balanced snack if you’re hungry before bedtime.
Limit Naps and Nap Strategically: While short naps can be rejuvenating, long or irregular napping during the day can disrupt your sleep at night. If you need to nap, keep it short (20-30 minutes) and schedule it earlier in the day.
Exercise Regularly: Regular physical activity promotes better sleep, but try to finish exercising at least a few hours before bedtime. Exercise releases endorphins, which can make it more difficult to wind down immediately after a workout.
Manage Stress: High levels of stress and anxiety can significantly impact your ability to sleep. Develop healthy stress management techniques, such as journaling, practicing mindfulness, or talking to a friend or therapist. Addressing stressors during the day can contribute to a more restful night.
Limit Screen Time: The blue light emitted by electronic devices can interfere with the production of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep. Aim to turn off electronic devices at least an hour before bedtime to signal to your body that it’s time to wind down.
Be Mindful of Your Sleep Position: Your sleep position can affect your quality of sleep. Experiment with different sleeping positions to find what works best for you, considering factors such as comfort and potential alleviation of snoring or sleep apnea symptoms.
Seek Professional Help if Needed: If you consistently struggle with sleep despite trying these tips, consider consulting with a healthcare professional. They can help identify any underlying sleep disorders or issues that may require specialized treatment.
Improving your sleep hygiene involves making intentional choices throughout the day to create an environment conducive to rest. By incorporating these tips into your routine, you can pave the way for a more restful and rejuvenating night’s sleep, ultimately contributing to improved overall health and well-being.
Contact the clinic today on 0578678904 or book now.
Light sleep actually occurs in two stages: NREM stages 1 and 2 sleep.
Think of NREM stage 1 as “falling asleep.” During this time, your muscles relax, your heart begins to slow down, and your body temperature dips. Your brain waves slow down moving from a regular, rhythmic pattern to one with less frequent, less regular waves. Stage 1 sleep usually only lasts a few minutes.
NREM stage 2 sleep makes up the bulk of your NREM sleep. During this stage of sleep your muscles relax and may jerk. Your respiration and heart rate slow down. And your body temperature drops.
REM SLEEP
Associated with dreaming and memory, REM sleep plays an important role in re-energising your body. REM sleep makes up 5-50% of your total sleep and is regulated by your circadian rhythm. Typically you get more REM sleep in the second half of your sleep.
DEEP SLEEP
Deep sleep is the most restorative part of your sleep cycle. Deep sleep includes your normal sleep and your naps. Deep sleep can make up anywhere from 0-35% of your total sleep. On average the adult range is 15-20% which makes up 1-1.5 hours of deep sleep a night. This usually decreases with age. When you’re in deep sleep your blood pressure decreases, heart and breathing rates are steady and your muscles relax. During deep sleep, your muscles repair and grow which is why you often get more after a hard workout. Your immune system refreshes and your brain flushed out toxins. Normally deep sleep occurs mostly in the early stages of the night so try to get a consistent bedtime routine to help this occur to its best potential.
More on how to improve these cycles of sleep next week.
You did it. You survived pregnancy and labour and now have a beautiful little person that will enrich your life! And all the little pains of pregnancy will magically go away right? In a perfect world, yes. But for many women, they find that their body is not quite what it used to be. This is especially true for the pelvis. We have talked about the pelvis, and how it changes during pregnancy before, but what happens with the pelvis after pregnancy and birth?
All about the Hormones:
Remember those lovely hormones that help prepare the body for the birth process? Relaxin is one of the main ones, and it does just what it’s name implies, relaxes things. It relaxes the muscles and ligaments so that the joints in the pelvis can spread to allow the baby to pass through. Relaxin remains in your system after the birth and can continue to cause problems for months after the baby is born. If you are breastfeeding, it may be even longer.
The pelvis continues to be unstable in most women after the birth of their baby.
Getting back to Normal:
After the maternal hormones have settled down back to a normal level, the pelvis can go back to being stable, although in some women, it remains unstable for years after the children are born. Even when the pelvis is stable again, that doesn’t mean that it has become stable in the right position. We see many women with pelvises that have stabilised, but did not stabilise correctly. Meaning one or both sides are out of balance, thus causing a lot of discomfort when walking, lifting the baby, or bending.
What about Treatment?
Don’t fret, this can all be corrected with proper treatment. Using different types of manual therapy on the pelvic ligaments and muscles including Active Release Techniques (ART®) and specific exercises to improve your core strength. To help the pelvis heal, it’s important to keep active, which may be difficult to do when you are in pain. We recommend gentle exercise such as light walking as a great way to start.
Book an appointment today to get your pelvis checked and get back to feeling like yourself again!
Yours in Health
The Lawlor Clinic, Portlaoise
Specialising in the treatment of Pregnancy Related Disorders
The two most important purchases in life are a good bed and a good pair of shoes!
Our health and recovery is dependant on getting good quality sleep and our mattress will play a vital role in this happening.
Patients commonly come to the clinic suffering from back pain, sciatica, neck pain or headaches as a result of a bad bed which may be too old, too firm or too soft. If you wake up with aches and pains having not gone to bed with any soreness then this is a sure sign that you need to change your mattress.
We get asked frequently in the clinic, “what’s the best mattress?”, or “how do I choose a mattress?”, so here are our top tips for picking one.
Think Orthopaedic: You don’t need to spend thousands of euros to find a good mattress. Best to go for a quality orthopedic mattress, with a good warranty and/or return policy.
Test It Out: Always test out the mattress before you buy it! When you are in the shop lie on the bed for 15- 20 minutes, if it doesn’t feel comfortable move on to next one. We also advise against buying your bed online as you will have no idea about the comfort levels.
Rotate and/or Flip: Rotate or Flip your mattress every 6 months to even out wear patterns.
New Mattress: Mattresses need changing every 8-10 years! So those of you that have had yours the last 20 years, its time to update!
If you would like further information on buying the perfect mattress or would like to book a consultation with one of our Chiropractors if you suffer from Back Pain, Sciatica, Neck Pain or Headaches please contact us today.
January is one of the busiest months in the gym as people try to get their fitness back on track. In the clinic we see an increased number of patients who have suffered from a gym related injury such as back & neck pain, sciatica, ankle sprain and shoulder pain.
Here are our top tips to stop you getting injured on your return to fitness
Proper Assessment and Screening: It’s important you know how your body is moving and of any physical limitations that might prevent good pain free movement. A good screening can also highlight potential areas of weakness that causes injuries to occur. Ask your medical and health professional for a functional movement screen (FMS).
Stay Hydrated: Increased training levels means that you will need to increase your water intake. Add himalayan pink salts to your water as a natural electrolyte
Warm Up: A 5 minute cardio session prior to a gym workout will get the core temperature up and prepare the body properly for each session.
Sleep: The best recovery tool on the market is sleep. Make sure you get a solid 8 hours a night.
No Pain No Gain: No one should train or do an exercise that gives them pain, this causes the body to move differently and compensate around the pain.
Overtraining: 3-4 gym sessions are optimal for maintaining good fitness levels. For proper recovery, training 6-7 times a week will only lead to injury.
If you would like a functional injury prevention screening or you are suffering from a gym related injury please contact the clinic for a consultation.
