hey dr. pound here with heal better fast and today we’re talking about three tips to help you sleep better now tip number one is watching the room temperature now this is very important because a lot of people may feel like they have to be warmer to go to sleep because they want to be comfortable but decreasing our body temperature actually helps us fall asleep it’s how our bodies transition to that sleep mode and so a good room temperature for sleep is anywhere between 60 degrees and 67 degrees Fahrenheit now it’s important to know that if you have kids or a baby in the room and you’re trying to keep it warmer for them 65 to 70 degrees is ideal for kids however again if you go above that 67 degree temperature just know that it may take you a little bit longer to fall asleep so make sure that when you adjust the thermostat at night but when you’re ready to go to bed that temperatures in that ideal range for falling asleep it’ll help you fall asleep easier tip number two is using melatonin now this is pretty commonly known that if you take some melatonin that it can help you fall asleep faster however a lot of people don’t understand how the melatonin works or what it is melatonin is a hormone that can be found produced in the body by the pituitary gland and this is a hormone that’s used to regulate our sleep cycle and so it’s important to know that this is naturally occur in our bodies but if you do supplement with it that it can alter that natural mechanism how it does that is essentially your body knows that it’s going to receive the melatonin at night and so it won’t produce it naturally anymore and so when you’re using melatonin just use it sparingly and use it for short periods of time if you go to costco you can find a really good supplement of melatonin five milligrams that you put under your tongue let it dissolve it’s pretty high-quality and it does work a lot of my patients get really good success using this mell time again it is simply a hormone to help you fall asleep it won’t necessarily help you stay asleep at night but it will help you fall asleep faster and so again it is a supplement you should you temporarily if you’re having trouble falling asleep it’s a good supplement to use and tip number three is good sleeping posture this is really important because all of us sleep a little bit differently some people sleep on their back some people sleep on their side some people sleep on their stomach and some people toss and turn all night but sleeping posture is key to making sure you don’t get in a position that’s gonna cause discomfort throughout the night when we think about posh drop-in times to think about sitting up and standing up or walking straight but we often forget that we spend 4 6 8 hours of night sleeping in the same posture and if you’re sleeping in a posture that can be harmful to the body it’s going to cause sleep disruptions so what’s a posture that can be harmful to the body well if you’re sleeping on your stomach you usually have to turn your head one way or another what this causes is this causes undue strain on the neck when your neck is turned that will lead to abnormal wear and turn the neck and lead to a possible kink in the neck and you don’t want to wake up with one of those so if your stomach sleeper and you’re trying to avoid that kink of the neck what can you do well good sleeping posture consists of maybe taking a body pillow and laying on your stomach over the pillow and then putting a pillow underneath your head that’s supportive that’s adjustable and height so you get the right height so you can still sleep somewhat on your stomach but so your heads not cranked so much at night this is really great for stomach sleepers and oftentimes my president my patients who become pregnant they’ll notice that it’s just like a body pillow it prevents them from laying on their stomach and so they’re forced to lay on their site and they can oftentimes find a good position on their side to sleep in the second position on your back a lot of people with back pain may burrs may switch over to sleeping on their back because they feel like it feels better but remember if your legs are straight that could cause extra strain on the back so if you want to take pressure off of the back all you have to do is stick a pillow underneath your knees keep your knees slightly bent at night and sleeping on your back can become comfortable the other key is to make sure your neck has proper support when you’re laying on your back so you want a pillow it gently cradles the curve in the neck naturally that’s adjustable and height that’s not too high not too low that provides a great amount of support behind your neck if you want to adjust your pillow at home and you just want to try a different height the pillow take a towel roll it up in a roll put it behind your neck oftentimes this acts just like a neck roll pillow and provide a little extra support to your neck while you’re sleeping on your back the third posture sleeping on your side it’s a great posture as long as you’ve got a great pillow to support your neck and what is a great pillow well it’s a pillow that actually is the perfect size for you so if you go and buy a pillow that maybe someone else likes but it’s not the right size for you maybe your shoulders are different sizes maybe your neck curve is a different size maybe your bed a softer and so you sink into your bed maybe your mattress is firm and so you don’t think very much all these play a part in finding the right height to pillow so if you can find a pillow with a good height that matches and keeps your nose Center to your sternum that’s gonna help you achieve the best sleeping posture on your side and that is one of the third tip on how you sleep better fast so my name is dr.
pound your clinical director at traverse health and I help people feel better fast if you’re finding trouble sleeping and you’ve tried all these tips give me a call eight-zero one nine eight zero zero zero zero two and we’ll see you as soon as possible we’ll see if there’s a problem that’s actually preventing you from sleeping good at night and it may not be just the pillow it may not be that you can’t shut your brain off at night it may not be just the room temperature there may be a problem actually preventing you from sleep well so again if you’d like to get checked out and you’re in the Lehigh area give me a call eight-zero one nine eight zero zero zero zero two if you call me right now usually we can see you today or tomorrow again doctor pound here with heal better fast you.
