Quality sleep plays an integral role in your quality of life as well as plays an important role in the healing and recovery of your body and muscles. Depending on your age and activity level, the optimal hours of sleep you may need will vary. However, regardless of age, everyone should be getting at least 7 hours of sleep each night. If you’re not getting enough quality sleep, this can be a key contributor to chronic pain. Today, we’re sharing some tips on how to improve your sleep:
1. During the day, participate in more physical activity. Staying active helps aid in restful sleep during the night. Make the goal to reach 150 minutes a week of physical activity. If this will be new to you, make sure to work closely with your Physical Therapist to determine the exercises that will be most beneficial for you and decrease your risk of injury.
2. Increase the amount of time spent outside. A lack of Vitamin D is linked to a risk of sleep disorders. Make an effort to get outside and enjoy the sun’s rays.
3. Avoid caffeine after midday. Caffeine can impact your ability to sleep greatly. Choose a time each day that you will stick to as a guideline to limit caffeine intake.
4. Set a sleep schedule for yourself and stay consistent to it. You can’t expect your body to stay up until midnight one day then be ready to go to bed at 9:00 pm the next.
5. Create a relaxing bedtime routine. This will look different for everyone. Some helpful tips we would recommend would be limiting screen time after a certain time, playing some relaxing sounds or music, dimming bright lights, and participating in something that relaxes you such as journaling or reading.
When you increase the quality of your sleep, you’ll see an increase in the quality of your life. If you do find yourself experiencing chronic pain when you wake up in the morning, give one of our clinics a call. Our Physical Therapist can help diagnose this pain and effectively treat it. Looking for a clinic nearest to you? Give us a call at 801-571-0099.