Anxiety, pain, and sleep are a vicious triad of issues.
- When you’re anxious, pain feels worse, it is hard to sleep
- When you’re in pain, it is difficult to sleep, and anxiety rates are higher
- When you don’t sleep well, pain feels worse, and more things make you anxious
Once someone is in the cycle, it is difficult to break it.
Pain medications are very rarely the answer.
The type and quality of sleep is much different and less restful with medication.
In an interprofessional conversation recently I learned some things about sleep I want to share with you.
- This topic is so important I learned there is a growing field of sleep dentistry. The alignment of the jaw can impact sleep apnea.
- This topic is so important that there is a growing focus on sleep hygiene by physical therapists.
- This topic is so important that there is a growing emphasis in the chiropractic field within craniosacral therapy to include the muscles and physiology around the airways.
- As sleep and its impact on function is better understood, there is data 15-30% of men and 10-15% of women have sleep disordered breathing, mostly sleep apnea.
- When you don’t get good oxygen while sleeping, all of the organs have to work harder.
- Rather than healing sleep, overall function can decline throughout the body.
Do you prioritize your sleep?
What are your techniques to get good sleep each night?
Click HERE to find some tips to help.
