Sleep is essential at any age. Sleep powers the mind, restores the body, and strengthens virtually every system in the body. National Sleep Foundation guidelines advise that healthy adults need between 7- 9 hours of sleep per night. Getting the recommended hours of good quality sleep has multiple benefits for our bodies such as:
- Boost your immune system: When your body gets the sleep it needs, your immune cells and proteins get the rest they need to fight off whatever comes their way
- Help prevent gaining weight: If you don’t get enough sleep, your body produces a hormone that boosts appetite, which can lead to increased snacking
- Reducing stress: when you don’t sleep enough you get more stressed as your body releases more stress hormones ( cortisol)
- Strengthen your heart: Not getting enough sleep can lead to heart health problems like high blood pressure or heart attacks. the stress hormone mentioned above (cortisol), triggers your heart to work harder
- Increases Productivity: sleep has been linked to improved concentration and higher cognitive function
- Improved mood: Being rested helps your energy levels soar. When your energy is up, life’s little challenges won’t annoy you as much
- Improved memory function: During sleep, your mind is processing and consolidating your memories from the day.
- Increased exercise performance: Sleep helps with hand-eye coordination, reaction time and muscle recovery.
What does sleep have to do with physiotherapy?
Sleep quality and quantity can have an effect not only on your pain levels but also on your likelihood of getting an injury and your tissue healing time.
When you don’t sleep very well your central nervous system becomes heightened releasing cortisol (stress hormone) which can make everything a bit more sensitive, therefore the pain from your injury will feel more intense.
When you sleep your body goes into regeneration mode and it heals, hence why sleep is often referred to as ‘restorative’. Now if the quality of your sleep is altered or the amount reduced this means that the nutrients and chemicals your body uses to repair are less available and therefore an injury will take longer to recover from.
In addition to this tendons, ligaments and muscles are not being fully restored and a lack of sleep reduces your reaction time therefore you are more likely to get injured.
The benefits listed above of sleep-increased exercise performance are also invaluable to physiotherapy. As part of your rehab, we are often working on strengthening your muscles and improving your exercise performance. Depriving yourself of sleep can have a negative impact on strength and power.
How can I improve my sleep and quality of sleep?
There are many practical steps you can take to aid sleep and sleep quality
- Your bedroom should be a relaxing environment. Try to minimize external noise, light, and artificial lights from electrical devices. Make sure your bedroom is a quiet, relaxing, clean, and enjoyable place with a comfortable temperature.
- Reduce electrical items in the bedroom such as televisions, mobile phones, and laptops. Replace using your mobile phone as an alarm clock with a natural waking alarm clock.
If you want to book an appointment with a specialist physiotherapist or have any questions do not hesitate to contact us at 01223 914140 or e-mail us at enquiries@vineryroadstudios.co.uk