Do you have trouble sleeping? A study by a leading medical journal indicates that more than 70 million adults in America alone suffer from sleep related disorders. While most people dismiss these problems and take them lightly, in reality, they are quite serious and demand immediate medical attention.

Incomplete sleep doesn’t just leave you tired and irritated; it affects your overall health and reduces the longevity of a person. Sleep disorders such as insomnia can also reduce your performance in day time activities such as your work and memory. A constant feeling of tiredness and irritation is also associated with other major complications, including anxiety attacks and depression, among others.

Common Sleep Disorders

Contrary to the common understanding, sleep disorders comprise a wide spectrum of ailments and are not limited to insomnia alone. Let us take a closer look at each of the sleeping disorders to understand them better.

•  Insomnia: Insomnia is a sleep disorder in which the person has difficulty not just in falling asleep
  but also staying asleep for long stretches of time. Poor quality sleep and unrefreshing sleep are
  also among the common complaints of insomnia patients.
• Sleep Apnea: A rather serious issue among sleeping disorders is sleep apnea. In this condition,
  the patient’s breath tends to get interrupted during sleep. Sleep apnea is further classified into
  obtrusive and central, which indicates the cause of the problem. While in the obtrusive problem,
  the soft tissue at the back of the throat collapses, in central sleep apnea, the brain simply fails to
  command the body to sleep. If left untreated, sleep apnea can increase in intensity and
  frequency over time.
• Restless Leg Syndrome: In the restless leg syndrome, the patient gets an irresistible urge to
  constantly move the legs while at rest. This feeling can occur not just during sleep, but also
  during other activities that require prolonged sitting at one place, including driving and watching
  a movie in the theater. Due to the constant feeling of restlessness, patients have a difficult time
  falling asleep.

Determine The Root Cause

In order to successfully manage your sleep-related disorder, the first concrete step is to determine the root cause. More than often, sleeping disorders are actually an expression of other problems that lie deep within. For instance, physical disturbances in the form of chronic pain or asthma can prevent your body from falling asleep. Similarly, psychological factors such as excess stress and anxiety could also prevent you from falling asleep.

At times hereditary factors are also responsible for conditions, such sleep apnea. So, finding out your family history from both parents’ side can also throw light on the root cause of the problem. However, it is important to keep in mind that even genetic problems can be effectively managed with proper care and medication.

Manage Your Problems

With the advancement of medical science, all problems today are more or less treatable, including your sleeping disorders. Suppose you feel that traditional medicines are not offering much help in your problem. In that case, you may opt for newer solutions such as CBD tincture, which excellently reduce stress and fatigue and help to induce profound sleep.

Apart from that, you can also try and frame a healthy sleep routine to improve your sleep pattern. For other physical problems such as chronic pain and bodily discomfort, solutions such as CBD cream for back pain is found to be very helpful for pain management without the side effects of too many painkillers. Now that you have a more wholesome idea of sleep-related disorders and their solutions; we hope it will help you to effectively manage your problems and step towards a healthier tomorrow.

Other Treatments for Insomnia

Acute insomnia often requires no treatment and symptoms usually go away on their own or can be cured by practicing better sleep habits. People who regularly suffer from insomnia and feel that their symptoms are impacting their daily lives should seek treatment by scheduling an appointment with their primary care physician. Oftentimes treatment for secondary insomnia requires treating the underlying medical/psychiatric condition that is causing insomnia as a side effect.

Cognitive and Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia

Cognitive and behavioral approaches may be taken that help a person change behaviors that are causing insomnia and others that help promote better sleep practices including relaxation and meditation techniques, breathing exercises, learning to associate the bedroom with sleep and sex only, keeping a regular bedtime/wake schedule, and other sleep hygiene practices.

Medical Treatments for Insomnia

There are over-the-counter and prescription sleep aid medications available to help with symptoms of insomnia. However, it is not recommended to use the over-the-counter medications as their effectiveness and side effects may vary and be undesired. It is best to discuss possible sleep aids with your primary care physician. Typical medications for insomnia include benzodiazepine hypnotics, non-benzodiazepine hypnotics, and melatonin receptor agonists.If another sleep disorder is the underlying cause of your poor quality sleep troubles, a sleep study may be necessary to diagnose and treat the sleep disorder.

If you live in the state of Alaska and believe that a sleep disorder such as sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, or narcolepsy made be causing you to experience insomnia, schedule a call for a free consultation by clicking the link below with Alaska Sleep Clinic.

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