The Basics of a Good Night’s Sleep
The Greek Goddess Hygeia was the Goddess of Good Health. Thus her name has become synonymous with preventative medicine practices to improve the quality of life. Sleep hygiene refers to the common sense and environmental aspects that contribute towards a good night sleep, and are often considered cornerstones of sleep medicine.
Doing your best to create a restful environment and a bedtime routine can improve the quality and duration of sleep. A restful environment includes the following:
- A darkened room. The room does not need to be pitch black if that is uncomfortable for you, but ideally the windows should have shades to allow for early morning sleep. All red, blue and green lights must be covered up or out of direct eyesight from the bed. Sleeping in darkness allows the production of melatonin, a key hormone to regulate sleep production. Try an eye mask if you cannot regulate your light easily such as in a hotel or guest bed.
- A comfortable temperature. It is common to be woken up when a room becomes too hot. Most people sleep sounder in a cool sleeping temperature, with fresh air if possible.
- Be comfortable. Update your pillows, bedding and mattress if needed.
- Quiet. Wear earplugs if you live in a loud neighborhood, or have early morning buses or trucks that may wake you up. Light sleepers are often disrupted by slight noises, interfering with much needed REM hours.
Anyone who has children knows that a bedtime routine signals it is time to wind down from the day. As adults, we are not as different as we think from our inner 3 year-olds. With all that we do in a day, having a routine that signals “rest” (or to be technical, activates the parasympathetic nervous system) can be a key factor in settling down to real sleep. Some examples of bedtime routine include:
- a bath or shower
- lighting candles in the bedroom while you undress and get ready for bed
- a cup of tea with herbs to improve sleep
- relaxing music
- read a book or magazine
- a meditation
The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) recently announced newly developed, age-specific recommended sleep durations based on a systematic review of the current scientific literature. For children and teenager groups, NSF revised all recommended sleep ranges. Overall, wider appropriate sleep ranges for most age groups are recommended by NSF. A summary of the new recommendations includes the following:
- Newborns aged 0–3 months: Sleep range narrowed to 14–17 hours each day
- Infants aged 4–11 months: Sleep range widened 2 hours to 12–15 hours
- Toddlers aged 1–2 years: Sleep range widened by 1 hour to 11–14 hours
- Preschoolers aged 3–5 years: Sleep range widened by 1 hour to 10–13 hours
- School-age children aged 6–13 years: Sleep range widened by 1 hour to 9–11 hours
- Teenagers aged 14–17 years: Sleep range widened by 1 hour to 8–10 hours
- Younger adults aged 18–25 years: Sleep range is 7–9 hours (new age category)
- Adults aged 26–64 years: Sleep range did not change and remains 7–9 hours
- Older adults aged 65 years or older: Sleep range is 7–8 hours (new age category)
“The National Sleep Foundation Sleep Duration Recommendations will help individuals make sleep schedules that are within a healthy range. They also serve as a useful starting point for individuals to discuss their sleep with their health care providers,” National Sleep Foundation CEO David Cloud said in a press statement.
The new recommendations were developed with expert input from sleep, anatomy, and physiology, as well as pediatrics, neurology, gerontology, and gynecology. The results were published in Sleep Health: The Journal of the National Sleep Foundation. Restorative sleep impacts many body systems including hormones, mental health, and metabolic function. Sleep hygiene is only the tip of the iceberg of insomnia, but it is a keystone of sleep health.
Whether you are having trouble sleeping for just one night, or have a lifetime of ill sleep in your past, take the time to implement the above steps, and rule out medications, herbs and caffeine as interfering factors. Be your own best parent, and create a nighttime routine for “bedtime”. You may just sleep like a baby.
Submitted by Masina Wright, DO Candidate 2019 and Stephen Drapeau RPh, JD of Coastal Pharmacy and Wellness.
ELM™ | Maine
