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According to the national sleep foundation, 75% of all adult Americans have reported one or more symptoms of insomnia in the past year. It is also reported that while the average adult requires eight or more hours of sleep per night, the average amount they actually get is 6.9 hours. This insomnia is often times due to practices of poor sleep hygiene.
Symptoms of insomnia include difficulty falling asleep, frequent night awakenings, inability to fall back to sleep, disturbed quality of sleep (due to unusual dreams) or just poor sleep in general (Handbook of Nonprescription Drugs). For these symptoms there are many treatments that can be used including both prescription and nonprescription methods.
The best way to treat insomnia would be through the practice of good sleep hygiene. These promote the ability to fall asleep, stay asleep and also provide a better quality of sleep. Some of these practices include:
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Using the bed for sleep only (no television or reading in bed)
Establishing a regular sleep schedule (go to bed at the same time each night)
Making the bedroom comfortable (avoid extreme temperatures, noise and light)
Engaging in relaxing activities before bed (television and reading, just not in bed)
Avoiding large meals prior to bed
Avoid daytime napping
Avoid caffeine and nicotine within 4-6 hours of bed (these are stimulants which make it difficult to fall asleep)
Avoid alcohol within 4-6 hours of bed (does not allow the body to get deep sleep, causing a feeling of tiredness in the morning and throughout the day)
Avoid large amounts of liquid prior to bed
If these practices are established falling and staying asleep should be easier, there should be less awakenings result
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ing in better quality of sleep and less fatigue in the morning. The reason sleep hygiene is important is that it is often the cause of poor sleep. Employing these practices will often times fix the problem instead of masking it with medications. The disadvantage of this is that better sleep will not happen overnight. Good sleep hygiene it will take about 1-2 weeks before a difference is noticed unlike medications which will work much sooner. Overall changing your sleep practices should provide the best sleep without the adverse effects that medications cause and produce long term results as opposed to medications which most are only to be used short term.
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8120 Parallel Parkway
Kansas City, KS 66109
(913) 334-1660
6238 N. Chatham Road
Kansas City, MO 64151
(816) 746-1475
1015 N.E. Rice Road
Lee's Summit, MO 64086
(816) 525-1479
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13600 S. Blackbob
Olathe, KS 66062
(913) 782-2039
2724 W 53rd St
Fairway, KS 66205
913-236-4983
6900 W. 135th Street
Overland Park, KS 66223
(913) 814 WELL (9355)
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Sprint Campus
6450 Sprint Parkway
Overland Park, KS 66251
(913) 315-8646
Merriam Town Center
5800 Antioch Rd.
Merriam, KS 66202
(913) 831-4140
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