10 Tips To Help Prevent Sleep Problems From Causing Bad Grades
Sep 29, 2008 Children Sleep Problems
It has been felt for some time now that too little or low quality sleep in teenagers leads to a drop in grades at school, however it was not until quite recently that a research study confirmed that teens with poor sleeping habits do in fact suffer from lower grades.
Here are 10 simple tips to make sure that an otherwise healthy child does not suffer from sleep problems and gets the level of sleep needed to do well in school.
1. Decide upon a regular time for going to bed and try not to vary this by more than a few minutes from day to day.
2. Make sure that you get up at the same time each morning, regardless of whether or not it is a school day. Teenagers commonly have a lie-in at the weekends and during school holidays and, rather than helping to make you feel better, this just disrupts your sleep pattern.
3. If you find that you are unable to get to sleep within approximately 20 minutes of climbing into bed then do not merely lie in bed trying to get to sleep, as the more you try the more difficult it will get. As an alternative, get up and do something like reading a book or listening to some relaxing music. As soon as you start to feel tired, climb back into bed and you should fall asleep in next to no time.
4. Do not be tempted to stay up late doing homework or getting ready for a test. Although this may appear to be the solution to a particular problem in the short term, and may keep you out of trouble for turning your homework in late or get you through a test, in the longer run your overall performance will fall and any shorter term gain will quickly be lost.
5. Do not be tempted to take a nap in the afternoon school. Should you find that you are so tired you cannot keep your eyes open then go ahead and take a nap but for no more than an hour.
6. Do not consume any type of drink that contains caffeine after 3 o’clock in the afternoon. This of course means tea and coffee, but also includes chocolate drinks and colas.
7. Do not eat a heavy meal close to going to bed. You obviously should not go to bed feeling hungry and having a light snack prior to bedtime is fine, but climbing into bed on a full stomach can make it difficult to fall asleep and affect your quality of sleep.
8. Although teenagers will sometimes spend a lot of time in their bedroom and turn it into more of a 'living' than a 'sleeping' room, avoid using the bed for anything other than sleeping. Do not sit in bed reading, writing, playing games, watching TV or anything else but keep it only for sleeping so that your body associates climbing into bed with going to sleep.
9. Avoid strenuous exercise within several hours of bedtime. If you want to play baseball or engage in other sporting or strenuous activities then do these shortly after finishing school and not an two or three hours before you go to bed.
10. When it comes to bedtime see that your bedroom is quiet, dark and cool. Do not close your bedroom up, turn up the heat and get into bed to watch TV. Rather, turn the heating down, open the window a bit if possible to allow in some fresh air and have the room as dark as possible.
Follow these 10 tips and within no time at all your quality of sleep will improve, you will feel much more awake and active during the day and your grades will improve.
Tags: Insomnia, sleep disorder, sleep problems
Do You Know What’s Keeping You Awake at Night?
Sep 23, 2008 Insomnia
There are many factors which might play a part in keeping you sleepless during the night. For instance, issues such as when you get out of bed in the morning and the time at which you fall sleep at night, as well as how long before bedtime you finished eating, can all impact a sound sleep. By simply examining your frame of mind or your worries and concerns, you might be able to figure out just what the cause of your insomnia is.
When you understand the source of your sleep troubles you will be in a better position to treat your insomnia, even though it might be the result of a health issue.
External Causes of Insomnia
Is your bedroom a haven of relaxation? Or is it merely an annex of your workplace? If you answered yes to the latter question, then it just might be your surroundings which are contributing to your insomnia. It's important that your bedroom be peaceful and calming.
Once you realize that your bedroom is not a soothing place, then you can work out how to transform it. Making it comfy and pleasant will help to put an end to your sleeplessness. Also, redecorate with light-blocking blinds or heavy drapery to keep out the light. This goes a long way towards curing insomnia.
Do you drink a lot of coffee throughout the day? If you have more than a couple cups, it's bound to aggravate your sleeping problems. Indeed, overindulging in caffeine or alcohol is a leading cause of chronic insomnia.
How's Your Health?
Coffee is a real problem, but the reason for your insomnia could be considerably more alarming than that. It might be a medical condition which is keeping you up at night, especially if you have just received the news of a problem from your doctor.
The bad news and your awareness of the problem might keep you anxious and awake when you should be sleeping. Heart disease, hypertension, and Parkinson's are just a few of the diseases which contribute to insomnia.
If you think there's a possibility that you might have any of these diseases then you should make an appointment with your physician to find out for sure, especially if you've made unsuccessful efforts to unwind before bed in calm and peaceful surroundings.
Insomnia is often ignored as a minor inconvenience, but it might indeed be disguising a more severe illness. It's important to find the causes of insomnia.
Keira Adams is a health and wellness writer who is a frequent contributor to Insomnia Relief, where you can learn all about the causes, cures and treatments for insomnia.
Tags: causes of insomnia, Insomnia, sleep problems
Using Surgery To Prevent Snoring
Sep 22, 2008 Snoring/Sleep Apnea
If snoring really aggravates your sleeping partner then it may be time for you to consider surgery to prevent snoring. Surgery for some people is a radical method to resolve their snoring dilemma but for a number of people it is the only way to stop. There are quite a few types of surgeries that can be performed but not all of them have the same success and every surgery has its own pros and cons.
If you find yourself making chainsaw noises at night then schedule an appointment with your doctor to check out your snoring problem especially if you have tried all the snoring prevention device and over the counter remedy to no effect.
Widening Airways
Surgery to prevent snoring works to widen the airways and relieve your breathing. One procedure that is used to prevent your snoring is Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty. It’s quite a mouthful and it certainly does a lot. When you go under the knife you will be removing your tonsils, part of the soft palate and the uvula.
Surgery to prevent snoring using this procedure appears to be temporary. Only about half of patients who have undergone treatment using this surgical procedure report any improvement after two years. Using this procedure to prevent snoring appears to be temporary. Others find that inside two years they have the same old problems once more with snoring.
Laser Procedures
There is a surgery to prevent snoring that uses lasers if you find that the cost of the above procedure seems to be too much for you then. . You will shorten your uvula with this procedure. Lasers are also used to vaporize parts of your soft palate with this surgical procedure.
This procedure uses only local anesthetic compared to the general anesthetic used in the above procedure
This is a recommended procedure if you have already had your tonsils removed. However you should be warned that it is not completely effective. Although their snoring was much better than before, many people who have undergone the procedure reported that their sleeping partners were still not happy with their snoring.
Palate Stiffening
Surgery to prevent snoring that involves stiffening the palate of the mouth is also performed. It is considered quite effective for many people, with a high rate of people finding relief in the long term. Though in the short term more than 90% of people are able to cure their snoring problems using this procedure. If you think that you could benefit from surgery to prevent snoring then you should talk to your doctor about having this procedure done. Although not completely effective it may help to reduce your snoring problems.
Tags: Prevent Snoring, stop snoring, surgery to prevent snoring
Control Snoring By Making Lifestyle Changes
Sep 22, 2008 Snoring/Sleep Apnea
People often joke about snoring and there are people who do not take it very seriously.
On the other hand snoring at night may possibly be a sign of a sleeping disorder, or other serious illnesses. It can drive couples apart, as it creates tension in the bedroom when you are continually waking up your partner.
You can now purchase a large selection of over the counter snoring cures, but before you head to the pharmacy learn how to control you snoring with a few lifestyle changes. Looking at your habits before bedtime can help you understand why you are snoring and teach you how to control snoring.
Create A Healthy Lifestyle
Learn how to control snoring by having a healthy lifestyle. Has your snoring increased lately due to an increase in your weight? Did you know that the two are related? Obesity and being overweight in general can contribute to snoring. An excessive amount of throat tissue or floppy throat tissue leads to snoring. One way to beat this is by increasing your exercise. Losing weight can assist in managing your snoring.
Smoking is bad for you; learn how to control your snoring by trying to reduce or even quit your smoking habit. Smoking or even being exposed to second hand cigarette smoke, causes breathing problems. A lot of smokers experience lung and nasal congestion. This is further complicated by the fact that smoking relaxes the throat muscles, which can results in snoring. Giving up smoking will help control snoring as well as improve your overall health.
Looking at things such as excessive alcohol will also show you how to control snoring. Before bedtime avoid alcohol. If you have to drink alcohol before you sleep limit yourself to one or two drinks at most. You will find that cutting down on alcohol helps to prevent snoring.
If you have trouble getting to sleep and take sleeping pills then this could be another reason that you are snoring. Sleeping pills also sedate the muscles in the throat making them go lax and eventually you will start snoring.
Did you know that the way you sleep can control your snoring. Lying on your back will encourage snoring while lying on your side will help prevent snoring.
It can be difficult to sleep on your side if you have been sleeping on your back for a long time. One way to train yourself to sleep on your side is to place a tennis ball in a sock and pin it to the back of your pajamas. This way whenever you sleep on your back you will be prevented from doing so and slowly you will start sleeping on your side.
These lifesytyle changes can not only help you control snoring, but help in all other areas of your life.
Tags: Control Snoring, How To Control Snoring, Prevent Snoring
Stop Snoring Remedies
Sep 19, 2008 Snoring/Sleep Apnea
Snoring is a very common problem, especially in adult men. Snoring is the blockage of airflow when you are sleeping, and the loud sound of snoring is nothing more than the palate and the throat rubbing against one another in an effort to gain air. Snoring is a relatively harmless problem, but it is a problem none the less. What are the stop snoring remedies?
There are a few simple steps that can be taken in order to cure snoring without having to head to the doctor’s office. In some cases these steps may not be successful as your snoring problem could be the result of a more serious problem such as enlarged adenoids or tonsils, in which case you should consult a doctor. Check out some of these preventative measures that are explained below.
1. Sleeping on your back: Sleeping on your back can be a big cause of snoring. In this case you will want to make an effort to move your sleep position to sleeping on your side. Although it is hard to control exactly how you sleep, there is a trick that will greatly help you to sleep on your side. If you will take a tennis ball and put it in a sock and then put it in the back of your pants (around the small of your back) you will roll over on your back only to quickly roll back onto your side.
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2. Keeping a close watch on the substances that you intake: Things like smoking and drinking in excess can definitely lead to snoring. It is recommended that you do not drink at least four hours before going to sleep as alcohol relaxes the throat muscles and constricts the air flow. Also, antihistamines and sleeping pills will have the same affect as alcohol thus making it hard for airflow.
3. Watch your weight: If you are overweight or are in the beginning stages of gaining some extra pounds, make an effort to shed those pounds. When you gain weight or are already obese, fat will store up around your neck and will cause the throat to become constricted. This constriction will greatly reduce the amount of air that you take in, thus causing you to snore. If you are overweight make an effort to lose weight by exercising on a daily basis and by eating a healthy and balanced diet. By taking this step you will greatly increase the chances to cure snoring.
4. Try over the counter remedies: There are many medicine and herbal remedies that can be used to help in snoring. There are different medicines, creams, and even devices like nasal strips that will cure snoring in a major way. Before purchasing any of these herbal or synthetic remedies be smart and read up about them. Check online and print consumer articles that help in determining which remedy is right for you. Know that all humans are designed differently so you may have to try a few out before finding one that works for you.
Although snoring is a common problem and these stop snoring remedies should help in many cases, still it is a problem that should not be taken with a grain of salt. Often times snoring can be a product of sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is when you stop breathing for short periods of time when you are sleeping (usually around 10 to 12 seconds). If these suggestions seem not to work for you, it is a good idea to consult with your doctor to make sure that you do not suffer from sleep apnea. Take these preventative steps and sleep better by using these cures for snoring.
Tags: cure for snoring, cure snoring, cures for snoring, snoring cure, snoring remedies, stop snoring
