Improve Your Sleep Quality

At Nova Rehabilitation Acupuncture and Chiropractic we are concerned with your overall wellness. Central to your health and well-being is your quality of sleep because every system of our body requires sleep to recover from yesterday’s use. If you are not progressing through adequate sleep cycles during the night, you will start the new day ill-prepared because your body has not resolved yesterday’s wear-and-tear. If you are struggling with pain and any health issue, you will certainly benefit by improving your sleep quality because the  body does its best healing and tissue repair during sleep.

Creator: PeopleImages Credit: Getty Images Information extracted from IPTC Photo Metadata Woman sleeping. Digital image. Getty Images. 04 June 2020,

Chiropractic and acupuncture treatment helps many people sleep better and more comfortably.

Here are additional lifestyle strategies to help get better sleep:

1. 1. Blue light from electronic devices tricks the brain that it’s still daytime, so it is important to reduce blue light exposure in the evening. Switch off your electronic device and read a book instead.

Gooley, Jo David F Dinges. “Investigating the interaction between the homeostatic and circadian processes of sleep-wake regulation for the prediction of waking shua J., et al. “Exposure to Room Light before Bedtime Suppresses Melatonin Onset and Shortens Melatonin Duration in Humans.” The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, vol. 96, no. 3, Mar. 2011, pp. E463–72. PubMed Central, doi:10.1210/jc.2010-2098.

2. Train your body to function on a set loop, by being consistent with sleep and waking times.

3.  Keep away from alcohol at night because it can negatively affect sleep hormones. It will disrupt your circadian rhythm.

Issa, F G, and C E Sullivan. “Alcohol, snoring and sleep apnea.” Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry vol. 45,4 (1982): 353-9. doi:10.1136/jnnp.45.4.353

Röjdmark, S et al. “Inhibition of melatonin secretion by ethanol in man.” Metabolism: clinical and experimental vol. 42,8 (1993): 1047-51. doi:10.1016/0026-0495(93)90021-f

4. Optimize your bedroom environment. Try to minimize disruptions such as external noise, light, and temperature. Try room darkening shades, an eye mask and ear plugs.

Libert, J. P., et al. “Relative and Combined Effects of Heat and Noise Exposure on Sleep in Humans.” Sleep, vol. 14, no. 1, Feb. 1991, pp. 24–31. PubMed, doi:10.1093/sleep/14.1.24.

5.  Minimize food consumption late in the evening because it can negatively affect sleep quality and natural release of hormones. Insulin and human growth hormone are inhibitory to each other: if one is elevated it will decrease the production of the other. After we eat we produce insulin to metabolize the sugars in the food we ate. So if your insulin is elevated during sleep it will decrease your body’s production of growth hormone, which is used during sleep by every system of the body to repair from yesterday’s use. Stop the bedtime snack, especially the sweets.

Jalilolghadr, Shabnam et al. “Effect of low and high glycaemic index drink on sleep pattern in children.” JPMA. The Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association vol. 61,6 (2011): 533-6.

Vander Wal, Jillon S. “Night eating syndrome: a critical review of the literature.” Clinical psychology review vol. 32,1 (2012): 49-59. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2011.11.001

6. Minimize liquid consumption 1-2 hours before bed. It can improve sleep quality and may decrease chances of waking in the night.

Asplund, R. “Nocturia, nocturnal polyuria, and sleep quality in the elderly.” Journal of psychosomatic research vol. 56,5 (2004): 517-25. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2004.04.003

Marschall-Kehrel, Daniela. “Update on nocturia: the best of rest is sleep.” Urology vol. 64,6 Suppl 1 (2004): 21-4. doi:10.1016/j.urology.2004.10.072

7. Exercise helps enhance every aspect of sleep and is known to reduce symptoms of insomnia. Even a 20 minute walk every day is better than no exercise at all.

Reid, Kathryn J et al. “Aerobic exercise improves self-reported sleep and quality of life in older adults with insomnia.” Sleep medicine vol. 11,9 (2010): 934-40. doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2010.04.014