First, is it helpful to understand the stages of sleep. We usually pass through five stages of sleep.
- Stage 1: Light sleep. We drift in and out and can be awakened easily. Our eyes move slowly and muscle activity slows.
- Stage 2: Our eye movements stop and our brain waves become slower with occasional bursts of rapid waves called sleep spindles.
- Stage 3: Deep sleep. Extremely slow brain waves called delta waves appear, interspersed with smaller, faster waves.
- Stage 4: Deep sleep. The brain produces mostly delta waves. There are no eye movements and no muscle activity.
- Stage 5: REM sleep. Breathing becomes more rapid, irregular, and shallow. Eyes jerk rapidly, limb muscles become temporarily paralyzed. Dreams almost always happen in this stage, but may occur in other sleep stages as well.
Each cycle takes about two hours. Then the cycle starts over again with stage 1. As the cycles repeat, deep sleep periods get shorter and periods of REM sleep lengthen. Adults spend half of their sleep time in stage 2, 20 percent of the time in REM sleep, and 30 percent in the other stages. Infants start out spending about half of their sleep time in REM sleep.
It may seem obvious, but we often seem to miss the basic fact that these stages take time; so one of the first things you can do to help yourself is to give yourself enough time to actually sleep. Many people count the time they get in to bed until they get up as their "8 hours". But if you spend 20 minutes reading and another 20 minutes watching television, and then have to figure another 10 to 15 minutes to get to sleep, you just cut 1 hour out of your sleep time.
Additional Sleep Tips
- Keep a regular sleep-wake cycle. Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.
- Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine in the four to six hours before bedtime.
- Don't exercise within two hours of bedtime. Exercising five or six hours before bedtime may help you sleep more soundly.
- Don't eat large meals within two hours of bedtime.
- Don't nap later than 3 p.m.
- Sleep in a dark, quiet room with a comfortable temperature.
- If you can't fall asleep within 20 minutes, do a quiet activity somewhere else and return to bed when you're sleepy.
- Wind down in the 30 minutes before bedtime with a relaxing pre sleep ritual such as a warm bath, soft music, or reading.
If consistently applying these tips doesn't work, see your health care professional and discuss your sleep problems. It is important to make sure that your sleep problems are not caused by a serious physical illness. You should also review the medications you are taking to make sure that they are not causing your sleep problems. Last, but not least, there are medications that can help you sleep that are safe when prescribed by a physician and taken as directed.
There are over the counter nasal strips that are placed over the nose to widen the space in the nose and make breathing easier. Read labels carefully because these strips are only intended to treat snoring. The labels point out certain symptoms that require a doctor's care.
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