insomnia facts:

Are you one of the third to a half of the adult population experiences insomnia in a given year? CLICK HERE for more insomnia facts.

ULTIMATELY, THE CURE for insomnia is not that complicated, but it may be difficult for some people to follow. I hope to motivate you with the promise of success. Understanding which type of insomnia you suffer from will help you understand how the treatments work and will motivate you to follow an insomnia treatment regimen. 

Types of Insomnia

Before we talk about what to do if you struggle with sleep, we should go over some medical sleep terms: 

·      Primary insomnia is when you cannot sleep because of stress and/or poor sleep conditions. With primary insomnia, no medical condition affects your sleep.

·      Secondary insomnia is when your sleep is negatively affected by a medical condition or medication. For example, say you have a torn rotator cuff in your shoulder, so you cannot get in a comfortable position, which negatively affects your ability to fall asleep. Throughout the night, you are awakened by the pain when you roll onto that shoulder.

·      Sleep onset insomnia is when you have difficulty falling asleep.

·      Sleep maintenance insomnia is when you have trouble staying asleep.

·      Acute insomnia lasts less than a few weeks or months and ends without treatment.

·      Chronic insomnia last more than three months.

Insomnia and Sleep Facts

A third to a half of the adult population experiences insomnia in a given year. Less than 10 percent of this population suffers from insomnia that is not due to a medical condition (primary insomnia) for more than a month.[1]

Studies have suggested that to be healthy, a person should strive to get seven to nine hours of sleep every night.[2] If you routinely get less than six hours of sleep, you are at a high risk of obesity,[3] cancer,[4] and early death from disease.

Negative Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Your Health

A big part of being well is sleeping well. To be well, you need to sleep well, and to sleep well, you need to be well (both mentally and physically).

When you don’t get enough sleep, you are usually sleepy the following day. When you are tired, you are not likely to feel like doing much, let alone exercise. If you do less physical activity, your muscles will weaken, and your caloric requirement will lessen.

When you are tired, you are less likely to plan or prepare healthy meals. Combine this with moving less, and you will likely gain weight. Obesity increases your risk of health conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and more.

Furthermore, when you are tired, it is harder to think well and make good decisions. Plus, your brain chemistry is altered by sleep deprivation, making you more vulnerable to depression.

Research has linked long-term sleep deprivation to an increased risk of hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, heart attack, and stroke.[5]

Sleep Deprivation and Pain

When you are sleep deprived, your brain becomes more sensitive to pain. Plus, pain relievers do not work as well when the brain is sleep deprived.[6] We don’t exactly know why, but sleep is imperative to neurological health. If our nerves are not healthy, they are more irritable and are easily stimulated to transmit pain to our consciousness.

Inversely, pain can also negatively affect sleep. Pain can keep you partially aroused, preventing you from obtaining deep sleep and generating restorative delta brain waves (more details about brain waves in future chapters).

As a result, you may experience a vicious cycle of pain, sleep deprivation, pain sensitivity, more pain, less sleep, and so on. This can lead to conditions like fibromyalgia, as well as a range of cognitive, attention, and emotional deficits.

[1] Liu et al., “Prevalence of Healthy Sleep,” Morbidity and Mortality.

[2] National Sleep Foundation.

[3] Szewczyk-Golec, Wozniak, and Reiter, “Interrelationships of the Chronobiotic, Melatonin,” Pineal Research.

[4] Irwin, “Why Sleep Is Important for Health,” Annual Review of Psychology.

[5] Institute of Medicine Committee on Sleep Medicine and Research, “Extent and Health Consequences of Chronic Sleep Loss and Sleep Disorders,” Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation.

[6] Lautenbacher, Kundermann, and Krieg, “Sleep Deprivation and Pain Perception,” Sleep Medicine Reviews.

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I always suggest they discuss this with their chiropractor to be sure the positioning is ideal for the conditions that they are working on (i.e., right shoulder tendonitis patients should avoid sleeping on the right side).

So if you are looking for advice on how to sleep well, and would like to see how chiropractic treatments can help you sleep better, we are the chiropractors for you.

You don't have suffer. Why wait?

Drummond Chiropractic, LLC
Your Insomnia and Sleep Health Experts
565 N Walnut St,
Bloomington, IN 47404
(812) 336 - 2423