Sleep is essential for our health. In fact, in order to be healthy, most people should strive to sleep for at least 6 hours a night, if not more. Over the years, this equates to roughly a third of our lives which is devoted to sleep.

But many people suffer from a lack of sleep for tons of different reasons. In this article, we’ll discuss the topic of sleep issues and investigate whether or not chiropractic care can help those who don’t get enough sleep each night. 

Having Problems Sleeping?

If you’re someone who has poor sleeping habits, you’re not alone. Millions of people report feeling tired and fatigued due to a lack of sleep. Many more people report symptoms of insomnia on a regular basis.

A lack of sleep can occur for any of the following reasons:

  • Stress. Stress can wreak havoc on every system and process in the body. When your stress level is high, it can be really hard to shut down at night and go to sleep. In these cases, it’s critical that you find ways to destress so that you can get good sleep each night. Meditation, exercise, and many other tools can help you decrease stress and get better quality sleep.
  • Poor bedtime routine. Many of us are guilty of having a poor bedtime routine. For instance, using a cell phone before bed, eating in bed, and having bright lights shining (or loud noises streaming) into your room at night can keep you from falling asleep when you want to. Furthermore, hitting the snooze alarm or getting up too early or too late can also lead to lower-quality sleep.
  • Painful conditions. If you are dealing with a painful condition, it can be very hard to fall asleep and stay asleep. Pain signals to us that we need to wake up and address the issue, rather than sleeping through it. Therefore, you need to find a way to get comfortable at night. Extra cushions, warm compresses, or other methods should be used to help you fall asleep when you’re experiencing pain.

Of course, there are many other reasons why a person might not get sufficient quality and quantity of sleep. It’s important to determine why you’re having trouble falling asleep so that you can figure out the best solution for your needs.

Solutions to Sleep Problems

Some of the top sleep solutions are quite simple in nature. For example, if you are constantly being woken up by ambient light or noise in your room, consider wearing a sleep mask and/or headphones.

Alternatively, if you find that you can’t get to bed before midnight, try waking up earlier to reset your internal sleep clock. This may sound counterintuitive, but if you set rigid sleep and wake times, you’ll be more tired at the same time every night and you’ll be ready to wake up at the same time every morning. 

Plus, chiropractic care can help a lot with sleep issues. In the next section, we’ll outline the ways in which your chiropractor can help you sleep better each night.

Chiropractic Care and Sleep

The central nervous system maintains intimate connections with every part of our body during sleep. But sleep is a very interesting phenomenon. During sleep, our brain shuts down many nonessential functions so that we can rest and recover for a few hours each evening. 

If our spines are out of alignment, our central nervous system may not be able to function optimally with regard to sleep. Luckily, chiropractic adjustments realign our spines, enabling us to experience improved sleep quality and quantity.

If you are having trouble sleeping and want to experience improved sleep, contact our team at At Last Chiropractic, the Lithia chiropractor. Book your appointment now!