4 Sleep Problems You Shouldn’t Ignore

This is Luke Douglas’s weekly health column. Luke runs the blog Ripped.me where he writes about training equipment, nutrtion, and fitness. Each week Luke is going to write about a new subject in the fitness field. This week Luke 4 sleep problems that you shouldn’t ignore. Enjoy.

Even though getting enough sleep at night is sometimes considered an unnecessary waste of time, the fact is that a good night’s sleep has many benefits you aren’t even aware of. However, many people are facing sleep issues that mustn’t be ignored, so stay with us and find out more about the four sleep problems you shouldn’t neglect!

Sleep Problem #1 – You grind your teeth

Grinding your teeth during the night can be really frustrating, especially because it can cause irreversible damage to your teeth. Of course, there’s more to it and its causes are much deeper than you can possibly imagine. Stress is the number one cause of teeth grinding, and it largely affects your sleep patterns. If you’re chronically stressed out, you’re likely to get a poor night’s sleep accompanied with grinding. The fact is that you probably aren’t even aware of it, but you’re actually conscious when you grind your teeth. It happens during short wakefulness during the night, when you wake up if something bothers you and subconsciously clench your teeth. Once you wake up, you’ll realize that your jaw is sore, which is why you should visit your dentist ASAP!

Sleep Problem #2 – You’re at a higher risk of sleep apnea

In case you didn’t know, sleep apnea is a serious disorder which occurs when your breathing is interrupted during sleep. It may cause you to stop breathing hundreds of times throughout the night, and this means your brain, as well as the rest of your body, may not get enough oxygen. The fact that men are susceptible to sleep apnea more than women is linked to the connection between testosterone and this disorder. Sleep apnea can also be connected to obesity and alcohol consumption, so make sure you lose some weight and avoid alcoholic beverages in general. Make sure to treat this disorder properly, since it can result in a growing number of health problems, like diabetes, headaches, high blood pressure, and even depression.

Sleep Problem #3 – You have morning headaches

As already mentioned, sleep apnea is likely to cause headaches, which is exactly why you may wake up with a devastating morning migraine. This is a mild form of apnea, also known as upper airway resistance syndrome, which basically prevents you from inhaling and exhaling properly and therefore stops you from getting rid of enough carbon dioxide. Storing excess amounts of it inevitably leads to a terrible headache. Of course, it doesn’t mean that you have sleep apnea if your head hurts right after waking up. Make sure you avoid pulling the covers over your head before falling asleep, since this way you won’t be trapped with all that carbon dioxide you’re breathing out. By the way, exercising is one of the most effective ways of dealing with headaches – so, pack your gym bag and have a great workout!

Sleep Problem #4 – You have too many other priorities

When your day is filled with business meetings, stressing out over your projects, working out, and spending quality time with your family, it can be really hard to sleep tight and get rest for the next day. In case you didn’t know, an average adult needs to sleep at least seven to nine hours a night, but most of us can actually cope with six.

On the other hand, trained athletes need more than that. They’re in training, so they require both more calories and more sleep. The sad fact is that you probably can’t manage to get even those six hours per night, and that simply has to change. Set your priorities, put yourself first, and determine which tasks can wait and which need to be completed immediately. Besides that, you should improve the quality of your sleep as much as you can, so make sure to get the best air purifier on the market in order to sleep tight every night. This device is an absolute must, no matter if you have sleep problems or not!

Not being able to properly sleep at night is extremely frustrating, so make sure you do everything you can to prevent that. Getting enough sleep isn’t a luxury, but a bare necessity, and you’ll feel much better as soon as you realize that!

If you have any questions you would like to see answered in a future post send them to me at charlessledge001 (at) gmail (dot) com. If you found value in this post then I would encourage you to share this site with someone who may need it as well as check out my books here. I appreciate it.

-Charles Sledge