It is said that young love is so passionate, it takes your sleep away. So if you cannot sleep at night, love may be a reason. But if you cannot sleep even when you are not driven by love, you may have a sleeping disorder called insomnia. We cannot help you with your love life but we sure can give you insomnia treatment. In this article, we will tell you how to cure insomnia. Do you greet people with “morning” instead of “good morning”? Well, it would not be a good morning if you did not sleep in the night. This is the story of insomniacs. But don’t worry, read on to find insomnia treatment. Let’s begin.
What Is Insomnia?
Insomnia is defined as a type of sleeping order. People who suffer from this disorder have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or both. Millions of people worldwide suffer from insomnia regularly.
This disorder makes it difficult for people to perform their everyday functions properly. Insomnia also causes great damage to the overall health of a person.
So if you are an insomniac and wish to sleep peacefully, open your eyes wide for this post:
Key Insomnia Treatment:
1. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I)
CBT-I is considered the first line of insomnia treatment. It is an effective way to cure chronic sleep problems from its roots. The point of CBT-I is to change the beliefs that affect your sleeping abilities. It is an approved method of treating insomnia without the intake of sleeping pills.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy includes regular visits to a psychiatrist. The doctor would help you in identifying the facts and beliefs that keep you awake at night. The doctor would also help you in scheduling your sleeping pattern.
The overall notion is to overcome the negative emotions that cause sleep disturbance. CBT-I is an evidence-based theory and has proven useful in curing insomnia.
2. Pill for sleep refill
The primary way to treat sleeping disorders should be through lifestyle changes. However, your doctor may temporarily turn to medications if your symptoms are severe. Plenty of drugs are available in the market to help cure insomnia.
It is advised that only medicines prescribed by a practicing clinician should be taken. The type of medicine you would be prescribed would depend on your condition. Drugs can cause side effects and have a negative impact on health. Relying on medication for curing insomnia is not an answer, you need to treat the underlying factors.
3. Home Remedies for Insomnia
Set a timetable- One of the simplest steps to cure insomnia is to follow a routine timetable for sleeping. A healthy sleep pattern gradually leads to a habitual routine that affects your sleeping abilities. You can draw a timetable and stick to the sleeping part of it. Make it a point to sleep at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning.
Eventually, you would automatically feel sleepy and wake up around that time. This routine will impact your body’s sleep cycle.
Your timetable should also be followed on weekends and vacations. Your body doesn’t take holidays when it comes to sleeping habits. The daily cycle will help in insomnia treatment.
Get into your sports shoes and sweat- Research has proved that there is a link between exercising and insomnia. Exercising regularly improves sleeping habits and the quality of sleep for insomniacs. One of the reasons why physical activity helps attain sleep is because of your body temperature.
Your body becomes hot after exercising and the post-exercise drop in the temperature promotes sleep. Physical activity before 4-5 hours of bedtime is effective in improving sleep. Exercising also helps in reducing stress and anxiety. It helps your body relax and sleep peacefully at night.
Say no to power naps- Avoiding naps during the day can largely impact how you sleep at night. A part of CBT-I, sleep restriction therapy, is aimed at reducing or eliminating naps. For some people, a small power nap during the day results in energetic and productive hours. But if you suffer from insomnia, these power naps can make your nights lengthier and more restless.
So if you wish to get a full good night’s sleep, then totally avoid naps. If you have to take a nap necessarily, restrict it to 15 minutes at most. The timing you choose for napping is also important. Don’t take a nap in the afternoon or later.
After all, nap time is for babies. So as an adult, you should avoid napping and save your Zzzzzs for the night.
Break up with smoking- Smoking cigarettes leads to disrupted sleep. On one hand, it can wake you and make you alert temporarily. But on the other hand, it has long-term effects and can lead to major sleep problems.
Nicotine also leaves us feeling lethargic and tired. Smoking interferes with your restorative sleep and causes insomnia and other similar conditions. So let go of your relationship with smoking and sleep peacefully.
Also, Read about: Why should I Quit Smoking?
Is caffeine keeping you up?- Caffeine is a famous stimulant. It affects our body’s nervous and other systems. The most immediate effect of consuming caffeine is wakefulness. Thus, it can make your condition worse if you already have difficulty sleeping.
Caffeine also transitory increases blood pressure. Chemically, caffeine suppresses melatonin which disturbs your body’s normal wake cycle. So cut down on your caffeine intake.
If you need caffeine, the best time is before 2 pm. So that the body gets enough time to restore and be naturally ready for sleep by night.
Also, Read about: How Much Coffee is Okay?
Bid farewell to heavy meals before bedtime- Heavy meals before bedtime can cause difficulty in sleeping. This is because the metabolism of your body increases once you eat.
And if the metabolism increases right before you were going to sleep, you can have a tough time. This can lead to disturbed sleep or no sleep at all. The ideal time to have dinner is 2-3 hours before your bedtime.
Keep calm and meditate- A famous quote by Dalai Lama says that “Sleep is the best meditation”. But what if you cannot sleep? The answer is also meditation.
Meditation effectively helps in the management of stress, anxiety, and depression. Therefore, it improves your sleep quality.
Meditation techniques make it easier to fall and stay asleep. It is a safe method that you can try at home. Meditation can be performed along with other insomnia treatment methods like CBT-I and drugs.
It is also helpful for mindfulness and overall health. You can choose from a wide range of meditation techniques. You can listen to soothing music, and do breathing exercises and concentration exercises to cure insomnia.
Essential oils for essential sleep- The health benefits of essential oils are no secret today. Essential oils are extracted naturally from certain plants and are of great advantage to humans. They are good for your hair, skin, mind, and sleep. The scents from certain essential oils help cure insomnia.
It is true that scents have a strong influence on how we feel. Our sense of smell is directly related to our brain’s center of memory and emotion. There are some scents that help you feel lighter. The greatest benefit of essential oils for insomnia treatment is that there are no side effects.
Lavender, vanilla, jasmine, and sandalwood are some oils beneficial for good sleep. You can rub a few drops of these oils on your palm and forehead before going to bed. You can take the aroma of essential oils by adding them to hot water and inhaling their steam.
Relax, relax!- We have already discussed how CBT can help cure insomnia. But, we understand that not everyone can afford to go to a psychiatrist on a regular basis. So, here is an alternative.
Take time to relax. There are various relaxation therapies that you can perform anywhere, anytime to get a sound sleep.
- Solution1: Breathing exercises- In this relaxation therapy, you only have to bring your focus on your breath. Sit comfortably, close your eyes and concentrate on breathing in and out.
- Solution 2: Focus on your muscles- All you have to do is sit comfortably, take a deep breath and hold it. While you are holding your breath, you have to project your energy toward your muscle groups. Start with your toes and move upwards covering all the muscle groups in your body. These techniques will help in gaining peaceful sleep at night.
Take a break from technology- Our elders always insist on us enjoy the real world and stay away from our gadgets. We all are in a close relationship with our gadgets, especially our mobile phones.
Sometimes this relationship brings more problems than joy. It not only affects the health of your eyes and mind but also your sleep. If you are using your mobile phones, laptops, or kindles before going to bed, your sleeping patterns would be largely disturbed.
For those suffering from insomnia, the environment in which you sleep should be a priority. Exposing yourself to bright lights before trying to sleep can have a counter effect on your health. You should switch off your mobiles and other gadgets at least 2 hours before going to bed.
Make a To-do list- We all share one common partner- it is called stress. Most of the time, stress keeps you away from a peace-loving sleep. Anxiety and depression have proven to make the conditions of insomnia adverse. Here is a tip to control the effects of stress on insomnia.
You can make a list of things that are worrying you. And keep the list aside. The purpose of this activity is to train your mind. You can worry about the contents of the list later in the day.
That way you can literally put your worries and stress aside at least for the night and manage insomnia.
Make silence your companion- One of the symptoms of insomnia is that people wake up very easily. A small crackling sound of a window can wake them up in an instant. So to control or cure insomnia, it is important to sleep in total darkness and silence. It is suggested that you shut your doors and windows and sleep without any lights nearby.
A Word From Credihealth
Error 404: SLEEP not found. Does your brain also reflect the same message? Do you have trouble sleeping at all? In the above article, we have tried to enlist home remedies for insomnia.
We hope that these solutions would help you deal with insomnia. So that it is easy and accessible for you to manage your sleep.
However, if your symptoms worsen, we recommend you contact a specialized doctor as soon as possible.
Also, Read about: Difficulty Sleeping? It Might Be Insomnia
For more information and FREE personalized guidance, talk to Credihealth Medical Experts.
