In this first installment of "Your Health," we will discuss the crucial role of sleep in your road to wellness. Through a series of ongoing articles we will explore the aspects of health which fall under the umbrella buzzword of "wellness." We hear this word all the time on television and read about it in the newspaper and magazines but who is defining it? Wellness can be accurately described as the point along the health spectrum between "excellence" and "perfection." It is the polar opposite of disease and death. There is no pinnacle of wellness. The value lies in the journey and specifically within the implementation of certain behaviors and habits that make up a "well" person. These factors might include a healthy diet, active lifestyle, low blood pressure, appropriate height:weight ratio and low mental stress. At what point does excellent health become perfect? There is no such point of arrival to perfection because health is dynamic and always changing.
The first aspect of wellness we will explore is sleep. While an optimally functioning nervous system and a well adjusted spine are the single most important aspect of wellness for this Missoula chiropractor, sleep and nutrition are a tie for second explanation. An optimal functioning nervous system free of disturbance is only made possible through a well adjusted spine. The spine protects the nervous system which is the master controller of the body. As a person becomes stressed physically, chemically or emotionally, this can lead to disturbances in the nervous system that only a chiropractor can detect and correct. Sleep on the other hand is under your control. How much sleep is appropriate for you? How much sleep are you actually getting? It is quite common to encounter patients with an 80-120 hour/month sleep deficiency. These patients average 5-6 hours of sleep per night and need 7-9 to feel their best. Do you fall into this category?
A sleep deficiency can have marked effects on your overall road to wellness. Usually the sleep deprived individual is stressed, chronically tired, irritable and in many cases a "people-pleaser." This type of person feels compelled to be the perfect child, the perfect parent, the perfect worker, friend etc...It is no surprise that this type of person eventually burns out. They cannot maintain this lifestyle without adequate rest. Most often the sleep deprived person develops insidious aches and pains. They do not understand why their neck or lower back hurts. This is the person who always complains of "sleeping wrong." How can you sleep wrong? In this case, the bodies' own innate intelligence is fighting back as a defense mechanism to the stress it is under from a lack of sleep. The unexplainable pain is a built in distress signal the body uses to put the person down and force them to rest.
Unless you are an elite athlete training hours/day and burning thousands of calories, you should not need more than 7-9 hours of sleep per night. If you need less than 6 hours see a doctor and if you need more than 9 see a psychologist. It is quite possible that compounding emotional and psychological factors are contributing to your need to sleep so much.
The most critical factor to quality sleep is your comfort. Most people find they do best on a firmer bed. If you are not sleeping, you will not recover from stress, your workouts or your life. You will not heal. In today's fast paced society, we all find sleep to be a premium at times. This is why it is crucial to maximize the quality of the sleep we do get. "Invest in your rest." Consider those words.. Make the price of the bed a non-issue. I guarantee you will thank me for it.