A Daydreamer » sleep problems and chiropractic

Food For the Hungry Teen Brain

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 19:33:04 +0000

As a concerned chiropractor I am not only interested in the health of the musculoskeletal system of my patients’ bodies, but in the overall health of their entire body. After all, despite the best efforts of some in the medical community to focus on “body parts,” as if the human body were an automobile, the human body is, in fact, an elegant, holistic system. In order for individuals to be maintain health and wellness, it is important that they eat right, move right, and sleep right, the “trifecta” for good health, so to speak. Over the years, I have noticed that the last one, i.e., getting enough sleep, can show up more quickly in a variety of poor health conditions, than the other two. Why is sleep so important, and why is the lack of it so detrimental to a person’s health? Well, for one thing sleep is “food for the brain.” During sleep, important body functions and brain activity occur.

Human beings of every age require sleep, though recent research is finding that as we age, we need slightly less. Seniors often have trouble sleeping often as the result of the aging process. They want to get a good night’s sleep, but can’t seem to most of the time. However, it’s those who can sleep, and need sleep even more than their elders, that I am writing about here: Those wonderful, energetic, daydreaming, sleep-skipping teens!

Teens who skip slip look bad, feel moody, and perform poorly in school, in the classroom and on the field. Not getting enough sleep can limit a teens ability to learn, listen, concentrate and solve problems, and to forget important information like names, numbers, his or her homework, or even a date with a special person. In addition, teens who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to get sick, have an accident, or get injured. A brain that is “hungry” for sleep will get it, sometimes when least expected. Drowsiness and falling asleep at the wheel cause more than 100,000 car crashes every year.

It is important for parents and teens to make sleep a priority. Naps can be a good “pick me up,” and help a teen to work (and play) more efficiently, but naps that are too long or too close to bedtime can interfere with regular sleep. Remember, no pills, vitamins or drinks can replace good sleep. Furthermore, consuming caffeinated drinks, such as coffee, tea, carbonated beverages, and chocolate close to bedtime can interfere with restorative sleep.

So, daydreaming is great. It’s what teens do best! But, remember, they need to get around 9 hours of sleep each night in order to stay healthy and safe enough so that those daydreams can come true!

Technorati Tags: teenagers and sleep

Do You Sleep Like a Dolphin?

admin — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:33:20 +0000

Do you sleep like a baby or do you sleep like a dolphin? Baby’s sleep deeply with their muscles relaxed and their mind at ease. Doesn’t that sound wonderful? When was the last time you slept that way? Unfortunately, most of us sleep like dolphins, which is to say not completely asleep and not totally awake. Dolphins turn off half their brain and close one eye, allowing them to be partly asleep and partly awake at the same time. Stress from our day-to-day life can keep our muscles tense at night and our mind on “repetitive stress mode,” reliving the day’s events. That’s why I have a biofeedback therapist in my chiropractic clinic who teaches our patients how to breathe like a baby, and how to help relax both body and mind, so that they can sleep like a baby at night.

Technorati Tags: biofeedback, dolphins, good night's sleep

Daydreaming About a Good Night’s Sleep

admin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:26:24 +0000

As a chiropractor, I treat many older people. Over the years, I have noted that as men and women age, the quality of sleep they get at night alters drastically, especially among women who are post-menopausal. I’d often attributed the sleep differences between my particular male and female chiropractic patients, to stress levels, mainly because the women who complained about not getting enough sleep were more “tightly-wound” than most of men who came to see me. However, a new study conducted by researchers in the Netherlands, indicates that even though elderly women in a sleep study reported shorter and a poorer quality of sleep, they were actually getting longer and less-interrupted sleep than the elderly men in the study.

The participants, aged 59 to 97 years old, were asked to wear an accelerometer that measured their sleep activity, and also to keep a sleep diary for six consecutive nights. According to the study, the female participants reported an increase in the time it took them to fall asleep, a shorter sleep time, and poorer sleep quality than the male participants reported. However, after examining data from the accelerometer measurements researchers discovered that the women had actually slept longer and experienced less sleep disturbances than the men. In fact, the study found that men actually overestimated the amount of sleep they got and the quality of their sleep. In other words, the men may have been “daydreaming” about getting a good night’s sleep!

Technorati Tags: sleep quality, sleep research

Are You A Day Dreamer, But Awake All Night?

admin — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:36:21 +0000

Insomnia seems to be common these days, and people are walking out of drugstores with over-the-counter sleep aids or they’re leaving the office of their medical doctor with prescriptions for drugs that promise to give them a good night’s sleep. As a chiropractor, I hear from my patients that most of the time, the non-prescription meds don’t work at all for them, and that even if the pills their medical doctor prescribes may work for a while, they are well-aware of the harmful side effects of these drugs, including addiction. That is why many people, like my patients, are choosing a natural alternative, like chiropractic, to help them sleep at night.

What is causing people to miss out on a good night’s rest, and what can be done to change the trend? I, for one, meet a lot of people who are simply stressed out. Stress causes pain in the body because it creates muscle tension. It also interferes with the nervous system, which includes the digestive and autoimmune systems. With so much going on in the body, is it any wonder that people who are stressed can’t sleep?

Chiropractic adjustments remove nervous system interference in the body and stimulate relaxation centers in the brain. In addition, most chiropractors teach their patients how to breathe in a way that helps reduce stress responses.

So, if you’re a day dreamer, but not a night sleeper, give your chiropractor a call and get the help you need.

Technorati Tags: chiropractic, chiropractor, insomnia, stress