Getting a good night’s sleep is vital in creating a healthy body. It is during deep sleep i.e, non rapid eye movement sleep or the Delta stage that the body repairs itself. Sleep disturbances are more and more common and are associated with many disorders, especially chronic pain syndromes like CFS/ME and fibromyalgia.
What is sleep?
Sleep is defined as a cyclic, temporary, physiologic loss of consciousness that is readily, promptly and completely reversed by the appropriate stimuli.
So How Much Sleep is enough?
This is age dependent – a baby needs 16hrs/day, a teenager 10-12 hrs/day and the average human 8 hrs/day. It is thought that the damage caused by sleep deprivation is cumulative and that you can’t really “catch up” Sleep disorders are common, serious, treatable and undiagnosed
What causes sleep disruption?
• Sleep apnoea – the cessation of breathing for 10 seconds or longer. A sign of this is excessive sleepiness during the day. This primarily affects males over 40 years of age. Obesity is the biggest risk factor.
• Hypopnia - decreased airflow and oxygen desaturartion of 3% or greater – this occurs when the tongue falls backwards and blocks the airway. This can lead to cardiovascular problems – possibly the reason why people die in their sleep. Oral appliances can be made to reposition the jaw and prevent the tongue falling back and blocking the airway so if you think this is your problem go and see your doctor or dentist.
• Insomnia – inability to get to sleep, or waking in the night
• Snoring – Laugh and the world laughs with you – snore and you sleep alone! Evidence indicates that chronic heavy snoring may be associated with increased long-term cardiovascular and neurological causes of death
• Tooth grinding - Who would think that something as innocent as your teeth could cause relentless headaches, neck and shoulder pain and such bizarre symptoms as dizziness and ringing in your ears, chronic sinusitis and sore throats? These are just some of the symptoms of Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction (i.e. your jaw joints not functioning properly)
Stress can trigger clenching and grinding of your teeth, and if you do this when you are asleep you will apply about 10x more pressure than when you are awake. This is the equivalent to running a “dental marathon” every night and can lead to a build up of lactic acid in the muscles around your head and neck. This in turn causes the blood vessels to constrict which reduces the amount of oxygen to the already exhausted muscles which then causes further lactic acid build up and the whole process is self perpetuating! Patients typically wake up in the morning with a headache and or neck and shoulder pain and feeling exhausted (no it probably wasn’t your pillow that was to blame for that crick in your neck!).
Depending on how well your top and bottom teeth mesh together when grinding will determine the severity of your symptoms. Unfortunately patients who spend all night grinding do not get enough deep sleep which in itself can be a cause of painful aching joints and muscles all over your body.
Luckily a well trained dentist will be able to help by making a simple plastic splint that is worn to prevent the grinding, allowing you to get a good night’s sleep and letting you wake up well rested and not exhausted from that “dental marathon”. This in itself will reduce stress levels by helping to restore your coping mechanism.
Click here to find out more about TMJ dysfunction and to find a UK dentist who has done extensive post-graduate training in how to treat this common problem.
Nutritional deficiencies
Dysregulation of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and norepinephrine are strongly associated with pain,depression and sleep disturbances. Essential fatty acids such as omega 3 are the basic nutrients that make triterpines that promote deep sleep so it is essential to ensure you are not fatty acid depleted.
Find out here if you are low on essential fatty acids
