Sleep hygiene

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Sleep hygiene

Sleep hygiene is like personal hygiene - it’s something that affects all of us. I’ve tried to sum up all the information I could find. If you want to know more then follow up the references at the bottom of this piece - there’s plenty more out there!

Sleep hygiene is made up of many different practices which foster good quality night-time sleep and daytime alertness. I have collated these into a variety of areas, but I would give my usual advice - there’s a lot of information here, but you will be more successful if you pick one or two of these ideas and work with them. Otherwise you might feel a bit overwhelmed and that’s not going to help you sleep at all!

Body rhythms

Try to get into a routine of wakefulness in the day and sleepiness at night. This sounds like a no-brainer, but in fact to achieve it you have to re-train your body. Lots of ‘Don’ts’ in this one!

·        Don’t nap in the day, however tired you are.

·        Don’t go to bed at night until you are sleepy.

·        Get up at the same time each day, seven days a week, however much sleep you have had.

·        Don’t lie in, even after a bad night.

·        Don’t catch up on sleep at the weekends, because it will disrupt your sleep patterns even more.

The bedroom

This needs to be quiet and relaxing. De-clutter it and make it a comfortable space for sleep and sex - because that’s all you’re allowed to do in bed!

·        Make sure the room’s not too hot, so keep a window slightly open.

·        Use good curtains to keep the light out.

·        Don’t read, work, play games, text or watch tv in bed.

·        Hide your alarm clock so you can’t clock watch in the night

·        Don’t stay in bed if you have not fallen asleep after 20-30 minutes. Get up, go to another room, read or watch tv, and try again later when you are sleepy.

·        This one sounds easy but is hard to do - don’t take your problems to bed. I find it helpful to keep reminding myself that bed is for sleeping, not thinking.

Before bed

·        Avoid stimulants like caffeine, nicotine and alcohol for at least four hours before sleep. I know alcohol helps you to get to sleep initially but then as your body metabolises the alcohol it wakes you up later in the night. And remember that chocolate has caffeine in it - boo!

·        Vigorous exercise helps you to sleep but again it should be at least 4 hours before sleep so your core temperature has returned to normal. Yoga before bedtime can help you to relax though.

·        Find yourself a relaxing bedtime routine that works for you, with no studying or anything that might upset you emotionally in the last 90 minutes before you hit your pillow.

(Thorpy 2003; Choices 2011a; Tidy 2011)

Mobile phone research

There has recently been some publicity around research into the effects of mobile phones and radiofrequency exposure on sleep (Lowden et al. 2011). This research had several important limitations that were not mentioned in subsequent media reports in The Mail, The Independent and on Channel 4’s Freaky Sleepers. I’m not proposing to explore all of the problems with the conclusions drawn from this research, but would just like to point out that only 71 people took part in this study, and also that they were exposed to unusually high levels of radiofrequency for abnormally long periods, inconsistent with real life exposure (Choices 2011b). However, the research does point to these high levels of exposure causing headaches in some people, and more studies need to be carried out.

References and further reading

Choices, N.H.S., 2011a. Insomnia - Self-help - NHS Choices. Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Insomnia/Pages/Prevention.aspx [Accessed November 9, 2012].

Choices, N.H.S., 2011b. Sleep and mobile phones - Health news - NHS Choices. Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/news/2007/January08/Pages/Sleepandmobilephones.aspx [Accessed November 9, 2012].

Lowden, A. et al., 2011. Sleep after mobile phone exposure in subjects with mobile phone-related symptoms. Bioelectromagnetics, 32(1), pp.4–14.

Thorpy, M., 2003. Sleep Hygiene. Available at: http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/ask-the-expert/sleep-hygiene [Accessed November 9, 2012].

Tidy, C., 2011. Insomnia (Poor Sleep) | Health | Patient.co.uk. Patient.co.uk. Available at: http://www.patient.co.uk/health/Insomnia-Poor-Sleep.htm [Accessed November 9, 2012].