Sleeping tips

There is no way to guarantee a good nights sleep, especially for anyone suffering pain or sleeping disorders. However, there are a number of actions that can be taken to assist and encourage a good nights sleep.

How to get a good night's sleep

• Sleep on a good quality mattress that suits your sleeping style. If your bed is old, check it for firmness, sagging and lumps and if it is not in tip-top shape, replace it.
• If you have back ache or muscle pain after sleeping, you may be advised to buy a new mattress, or consider buying an orthopedic mattress.

If you continue to have sleeping problems, consult you doctor and follow the suggestions below.

• Environment - ensure that your bedroom is a comfortable and relaxing place and one that induces sleep. Try not to use it for other purposes like a study, or for watching TV.
• Atmosphere - make sure that daylight cannot enter your bedroom during your sleep. Black-out curtains can be a good idea for those with a south facing window.
• Do not get up - if you wake up during the night, resist the urge to get up and make a drink, read a book or sit down for any period of time. Drinking tea or coffee will make getting back to sleep far more difficult.
• Prepare for bed - avoid eating heavy foods or drinking caffeine for at least two hours before you go to bed. If your stomach is active it is harder to sleep.
• Save up your sleep - avoid napping during the day, this will only make getting to sleep at night more difficult and will prevent a regular sleeping routine. If you have to nap, do so for no longer than 20 minutes.
• Clear the mind - try to let your mind go blank once in bed and do not keep active thoughts going. Doing so stimulates the brain and makes it difficult to sleep.
• Routine - try to go to bed at night and get up in the morning at a regular time so that your body clock follows a pattern.
• Ritual - prepare for sleep with a regular and relaxing pre-sleep ritual. This could involve reading for a short time, turning the volume down on a TV 20 minutes before you go to bed, or thinking calming thoughts. In other words something that slows things down and makes you less active and less attentive.
• Everyone is different - do not be concerned if you feel that you are not getting enough hours. The brain benefits considerably from just 4 hours of sleep. Further more, staying in bed for more than 8 hours does your body no additional good and may in fact do the reverse.
• Look for an explanation - if you wake up during the night, try to find out why (you need to think about this at the instant that you awake). Was it the result of a nightmare, were you too hot or too cold, or were you disturbed by a sound. If you can determine a cause, see if there is a remedy.