Do you have a hard time falling asleep? Maybe you can fall asleep quickly, but have trouble staying asleep. If so, you are one of millions of people who have insomnia.

Some insomniacs are chronic, life-long sufferers while others experience a short period of having difficulty sleeping—maybe while going through a stressful situation. Insomnia can be caused by a variety of reasons. If you’re still having issues after ruling out a sleep disorder like sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome, there are steps you can take to help improve your sleeping life.

Use Blue Blockers

You, like nearly everyone, probably spend a lot of time looking at your screens. Maybe you use a computer for work, while intermittently checking for text messages on your cell phone. When you’re finished working for the day, you might review the social media that you didn’t have a chance to keep up with while you were working.

Perhaps after dinner, you like to relax by binging your favorite show on your favorite streaming network. It’s finally time to go to sleep, but you can’t. You’re tired but can’t seem to fall asleep. What’s the problem? Maybe you need to think about lens replacement for your glasses. Even if you don’t wear glasses, it might be a good idea to get some non-prescription blue blockers.

Many people aren’t aware that most of the devices you use throughout the day give off a blue light that makes it difficult for your brain to know when it’s time to go to sleep. A few hours of exposure to bright daylight has been shown to help people get better sleep at night.

Unfortunately, nighttime light, especially the type emitted by screens, throws off your circadian rhythm, messes up your sleep hormones and confuses your brain about what time it is. Those in the medical field repeatedly encourage people to turn off the TV, dim the lights and stop using phones several hours before bed. That may not be an option for many of you.

A couple of hours before bed might be the only time you get to relax or do things you enjoy, like watching your favorite show! That’s where replacing the lenses of your glasses comes in.

Blue-light-blocking lenses are exactly like what they sound. They reduce the amount of light coming off the screen. This helps your brain to be less confused about what time of day it is, allowing your body to fall into its natural circadian rhythm, helping you to fall asleep.

Practice Good Sleep Hygiene

When people see the word “hygiene,” they often think of cleanliness or relate it to personal hygiene. While sleep hygiene might include taking a bath or shower before bed, it’s more about keeping the same set of habits every night as part of your pre-bed ritual. What are the essential components of good sleep hygiene?

Primarily, it’s about having a routine that you follow every night (and part of the day, too). For instance, studies have shown that exercising earlier in the day can help you fall asleep at night. Avoiding caffeine for six to eight hours before bed helps too, as does making sure you don’t smoke in the evenings.

Nicotine is a stimulant like caffeine, and it can be equally disruptive to sleep. How many people enjoy a nightcap before bed? Unfortunately, this is something the experts recommend avoiding too. Alcohol may help you fall asleep, but once its effects wear off, you could easily wake up and be unable to fall back asleep.

Comfort is often an overlooked part of bedtime routines. It’s important to think about the temperature in your room. Cool, dark rooms usually allow for the best sleep. How clean are your sheets? Having clean, nice smelling sheets will not only help you sleep better, but it will lower the chance of having dust mites and pollen in the bed with you. An allergy attack in the middle of the night would definitely be disruptive to your sleep! Think about how old your mattress is. An old mattress is likely to have more allergens stored inside. Also, the older your bed is, the less likely it is that it will have retained its shape and comfort level.

A sagging mattress could lead to back pain that wakes you up in the middle of the night or prevents you from getting comfortable altogether. If your mattress is more than nine or ten years old, it’s probably time to think about getting a new one.

 Download Sleep Hygiene E-book

Find Ways to Relax

Now that you’ve established a nighttime routine, you need to find ways to relax before bed. Maybe you’ll want to use your new lenses to watch TV now that your circadian rhythms aren’t being disturbed.

Reading before bed has long been known to lower stress levels, though you might want to consider a book that’s not too action-packed. You could listen to calming music, possibly while taking the bath that may now be part of your bedtime ritual. While vigorous exercise should be reserved for the daytime, some gentle yoga stretches before bed may help you wind down.

Many people find prayer or meditation relaxing. If that’s not something that appeals to you, you might be better served by a simple deep breathing technique: breathe in deeply for four seconds, hold the breath for four seconds, then slowly exhale for four seconds. Repeat this sequence until you fall asleep.

If none of that is works for you, you may benefit from guided imagery. The United States military developed a technique to help those in the armed forces fall asleep within two minutes. They found that 96% of people following this program were able to reap the benefits of nodding off within two minutes if they followed the program for six weeks. The technique is not difficult to follow.

You start with some deep breathing and clearing your mind. Next, while continuing to take deep breaths, you relax the muscles in your face and neck. Then, relax the muscles in your arms and legs one by one. Lastly, you visualize specific images like being out on a lake while rocking back and forth in a canoe or being wrapped in velvet, lying in a hammock in a dark room. If it can help military personnel fall asleep in war zones, maybe it can help you too!

If you’ve been having a hard time falling or staying asleep for over a month, it’s definitely time to consult your doctor to rule out a sleep disorder. However, if you’ve already talked with your doctor, or you’ve only recently been experiencing difficulty with your sleep patterns, some of these techniques may work for you.

Consider getting some blue-blocking lenses for reading or watching your screens, establishing good sleep hygiene practices and finding the best ways to relax. Hopefully, you’ll be sleeping in no time.

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.