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Health & Fitness

Keeping the "Good" in "Goodnight"

Expert advice from a sleep medicine physician on building habits to support more restorative sleep.

I bumped into a friend last week and, after the ritual hugs, she remarked,” Gee, you look really tired.” She was right. Several restless nights had left me looking weary with telltale circles under my eyes.

So I read up on recommendations from a sleep medicine expert at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. Manpreet Sanghari, M.D., a physician at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) Sleep Center, recently blogged about insomnia, the condition that involves difficulty in falling asleep, staying asleep or both. 

According to Dr. Sanghari, most adults have experienced insomnia at some point in their life. In his blog, he offers several simple remedies to help reduce sleepless nights. Here’s a sampling of five ways to prep yourself to snooze (there are many more ideas in his full blog):

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  1. Establish a set sleep schedule:  Have a consistent bedtime and more importantly a fixed wake up time on daily basis, including on weekends.
  2. Buffer zone:  Create a transition time (usually 30-60 minutes) between your day activities and sleep, to help you prepare for sleep.  A relaxing bedtime routine during this time is desirable, such as reading, soft music, meditation or prayer.  Avoid screen time (computers, TV, smart phones and tablets) close to bedtime.
  3. Avoid or limit naps:  If you absolutely need to nap, keep the nap time before 3pm and limit nap to less than 30 minutes.
  4. Avoid or limit caffeine, alcohol and nicotine intake: Caffeine and nicotine are stimulants that make insomnia worse. Alcohol may initially make you drowsy, but it usually causes increased awakenings during the later part of the night.
  5. Get regular exercise:  Daily routine of 20 to 30 minutes of exercise may help.  Avoid exercise in the four hours before bedtime.

 

Dr. Sanghari also recommends that those of us who suffer from sleeplessness keep a two week “sleep diary” and share it to our primary care doctor. The sleep summary can help the doctor identify sleep patterns and habits.

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You can learn more about sleep disorders, services and resources on the Palo Alto Medical Foundation’s Sleep Medicine website.

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