The difficulty to fall or stay asleep at night, resulting in non-restorative sleep, is known as insomnia. And it’s a fairly prevalent problem that saps your energy, your attitude, and your capacity to operate during the day. Insomnia can lead to major health complications if left untreated.
Below are the different methods we have gathered to help you beat insomnia and sleep better at night.
1. Insomnia can be treated with a healthier sleep environment and regimen.
A peaceful, comfortable bedroom and a relaxing night routine are two effective weapons in the fight against insomnia. Both of these factors can have a significant impact on the quality of your sleep.
• Avoid taking naps.
Napping during the day can make sleeping at night more challenging. Also, limit your nap time to 15 minutes.
• Before going to bed, stay away from stimulating activities and stressful situations.
Checking social media messages, having lengthy talks or disagreements with your spouse or family members, or catching up on work are all the things you should stay away from.
• Make your bedroom as quiet, dark, and chilly as possible.
To mask outside noise, use a sound machine or earplugs, keep the room chilly with an open window or fan, and block out light with blackout curtains or an eye mask.
• Maintain a consistent sleep routine.
Every day, including weekends, support your biological clock by going to bed and waking up at the same time. Even if you’re fatigued, get up at the same hour every day.
• Before going to bed, turn off all screens for at least an hour.
Electronic screens generate blue light, which interferes with your body’s manufacture of melatonin and makes you not sleepy.
2. Anxiety that prevents you from sleeping or staying asleep can be alleviated.
If sleep worries are interfering with your ability to relax at night, the following measures may be beneficial.
• When you can’t sleep, get out of bed.
Make no attempt to push yourself to sleep. Your anxiety will only become worse by tossing and turning. Get out of bed, go outside, and do something calming like reading.
• The bedroom should only be used for sleeping and sex.
It’s harder to avoid your bedroom from becoming your office today because so many of us work from home, but if you can, don’t work, use your computer, or watch TV in your bedroom. The idea is to link the bedroom with sleep alone.
• Move the clocks from the bedroom out of view.
When you can’t sleep, anxiously counting down the minutes, knowing that you’ll be fatigued when the alarm goes off, you’re setting yourself up for insomnia.
3. Insomnia medications and sleep supplements.
It’s easy to use sleep aids for assistance when you’re tossing and turning at night. But first, here’s some background information.
Many nutritional and herbal supplements are touted for their sleep-inducing properties. Even if they’re labeled as “natural,” sleep aids might have negative side effects and interact with other prescriptions or supplements you’re taking. Consult your doctor or pharmacist for more information.
Melatonin and valerian are the two supplements having the most data supporting their usefulness for insomnia.
• Melatonin.
Melatonin is a hormone that your body naturally makes at night. Melatonin is a hormone that aids in the regulation of your sleep-wake cycle. Melatonin is also available as a supplement over-the-counter. While melatonin isn’t for everyone, it could be a good insomnia cure for you—especially if you’re a natural “night owl” who goes to bed and wakes up much later than others.
• Valerian.
Valerian is an herb that is having modest sedative properties that may aid in better sleep. The quality of valerian supplements, on the other hand, varies greatly.
Schedule an appointment with a sleep specialist if you’ve tried a wide range of self-help strategies without success, especially if insomnia is affecting your mood and health. As much supporting evidence as possible, including information from your sleep diary, should be sent to the doctor.