The importance of quality sleep cannot be overstated – from keeping your appetite in check to regulating your blood pressure and cholesterol, the proper amount of sleep ensures your body is functioning at its best. To get you started, here are 4 products designed to help improve sleep quality.
1. Sleep Cycle App
Sleep Cycle App tracks your sleep patterns and wakes you up during light sleep. During sleep, you go through cycles of sleep states including light sleep, deep sleep and a dream state referred to as REM-sleep. A full sleep cycle lasts about 90 minutes and is normally repeated several times through the night.
Sleep Cycle uses sound analysis to identify sleep states and track your movements with each sleep phase. It uses a wake up phase within a 30-minute time frame of your desired alarm time. During this phase the app signals your body to wake up softly when you are in the lightest possible sleep state.
How it works? The Sleep Cycle app takes advantage of your body movements. You set a 30-minute window in which you want to wake up and set your phone in bed with you. Once that window is reached in the morning, the app will wait until you’ve entered light sleep before bringing you out of rest. As a result, you feel well-rested.
2. Noise Reducers
Noise reducers have quickly become the tool of choice for many light sleepers. They help eliminate and reduce the effects of unwanted distracting noise by creating the sound of white noise. Noise reducers screen, mask, condition and create a static sound barrier designed to separate you from auditory interruptions.
Inexpensive noise reducers may only allow you to create one or two types of sound that can be adjusted for volume. They may come in compact and travel-sized packages, commonly used by travelers at risk for transient insomnia. Infants also benefit from noise reducers because their sleep cycle is more often in and out of light sleep.
Sophisticated noise reducers are more expensive, but for good reason. Many of them are designed specifically as a sleep aid, clinically tested and outfitted with an assortment of engineered acoustic sounds to block noise and promote sleep. The type of background sleep soundscapes you may find in noise reducers include:
- Waterfall
- Roaring surf
- Rain
- Thunderstorm
- Rainforest
- River or stream
- Wind
- Night-time forest sounds (birds, crickets, frogs, owl)
3. Adjustable Beds
Adjustable beds have multiple medical and health benefits. It adjusts more closely to the contours of your body and alleviates back pain. If you snore, an adjustable bed can help alter the direction of the gravity so that it does not obstruct your windpipe. You can reduce the sound of snoring and improve the quality of sleep by propping yourself slightly with adjustable beds.
This is particularly important for those who have sleep apnea, a condition in which the individual wakes up intermittently throughout the night because they briefly stop breathing. Sleep apnea not only severely damages the quality of sleep, but can be dangerous if the sufferer stops breathing for too long. Altering your position won’t help all forms of sleep apnea, but it can have a positive effect on some types of obstructive apnea.
4. Sleep Masks
Sleep masks are simple sleep aids designed to block out light letting your eyes relax and allowing your body to ease into darkness and slumber. All types of light sources can disrupt your sleep; sleep masks help cover your eyes and protect them from these disruptions.
Sleep masks may include hypoallergenic materials, luxury materials like silk and satin, aromatherapy scents, built-in ear covers, and contours that don’t place pressure on the sensitive areas around your eyes.
Schedule a Consultation
There are numerous factors that contribute to inadequate and poor sleep in children and adults. Thankfully, sleep aids and innovative products are designed to help improve sleep quality. If you or someone you know is suffering from inadequate sleep, it may be time to discuss a prevention and treatment plan with your doctor. Join our many satisfied patients, and schedule an appointment with Dr. Shukla today.
