Can you remember the last time you woke up and felt well-rested and ready to tackle your day? Physically and mentally? If not, you are not alone. A lack of mental and physical energy is a common complaint these days. In fact, the American Sleep Association reports that an estimated 70 million people in the United States struggle with some sort of sleep disorder.
Quality sleep is a critical contributing factor to your overall health. We know that a few nights of poor sleep can lead to general tiredness and exaggerated emotional responses; what we might not be aware of is the laundry list of physical and mental issues that can result from chronic sleep deprivation. The list includes:
- Difficulty Concentrating
- Chronic Fatigue
- Irritability
- Memory Issues
- Weakened Immune System
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Low Sex Drive
Book Your First Sleep Improvement Exam
Exam includes in-depth whole-body analysis with provider, posture pictures and insight nervous system scans (provided if necessary). Consultation & plan of action will help you understand your care options.
Over time, chronic sleep issues can even lead to diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and seizures.
While most people may not be surprised by the far-reaching effects of chronic sleep problems, they are surprised to learn that chiropractic care can help with sleep issues. With regular chiropractic adjustments, people report they fall asleep more easily, stay asleep longer, and achieve better quality and quantity of sleep.
How Our Sleep Improvement Plan Works
1. Be Heard
And Understood
Quality time with a health professional, so you can be truly heard and understood, isn’t all that common. We understand that. This is why, on your first visit, you will meet with one of our doctors and share your health concerns and struggles so we can understand exactly why you are here and what you want to achieve. The doctor will determine what testing is necessary to find the source of your health concerns and answer the biggest question of all: Can Chiropractic Care Help?
2. Discover How We Can Help You
Every new patient should feel like they are making the right decision for their health. This is why our doctors explain what they are looking for in the testing, so our patients know exactly what is going on, instead of just being a bystander. We will share everything we discover from your testing and exams, including if we can help you. In the unfortunate event that we cannot help, our doctors will provide any additional resources they feel would be appropriate to assist you.
3. Achieve Your Health Goals Together
Whether you just want to be out of pain, or you want to get back to golfing without limitations, or you are desperate to get a restful night’s sleep, we will be with you every step of the way. We’ll achieve your goals
How Chiropractic Helps Improve Sleep in West Omaha, NE
Consultation and Specific Chiropractic Care
Most new patients don’t acknowledge their poor sleep quality on their first visit. When patients mention their sleep issues on a first visit, they consider it a side effect of other health concerns. For example, the patient may have trouble falling asleep because their back pain makes it difficult to find a comfortable sleeping position. Even when sleep isn’t a primary reason for seeking chiropractic care, many patients who start care in our office report experiencing improved quality of sleep.
Regardless of a patient’s primary reason for visiting our office, it is vital to assess the position of the bones in the spine. If there is a spinal misalignment, one or more vertebrae could be putting endangering pressure on the nerves exiting the spinal cord in those areas, interfering with the body’s ability to function optimally.
Posture and sleep positions are essential pieces of the puzzle when performing spinal assessments. When a misalignment is present in the spine, it compromises the body’s ability to relax. This can trigger poor sleep posture, increased tension, and an inability to get comfortable. If the results of an initial exam show that misalignments are present in your spine, chiropractic adjustments correct your spinal position and relieve the stress on the nerves. These adjustments can help ease tension and encourage blood flow, allowing muscles to relax and making it easier to fall asleep.
Therapeutic Exercises
Before you go to sleep, it is good to get your body into a more relaxed state. Simple exercises or stretches can help relieve tension from the day’s stressors. Here are three easy ways to begin the relaxation process when going to bed:
- Shoulder Reset—relieve tension in the shoulder area to relax and prepare for sleep. While sitting on the edge of your bed, lift your shoulders toward your ears and hold for ten counts. Then, while keeping your shoulders raised, pull them back (activating your upper back muscles) for ten counts. Then lower to reset.
- Side by Sides—relieve tension in the lower back and focus on your breathing to prepare yourself for sleep. Lay on your back with your knees bent and feet flat. Breathe in as you lower both legs to one side. Breathe out as you raise them. Lower your legs ten times in both directions while focusing on breathing deeply.
- Spreaders—this exercise focuses on your hip girdle and lower back. While laying on your back, bend your knees and keep your feet flat. As the title states, you will spread your knees & legs out and then back in like butterfly wings. Breathe in as your legs spread apart, and breathe out as your legs come together, repeating ten times.
Optimal Sleep Positions
Sleeping positions can play a significant role in getting quality sleep and simultaneously protecting your spine and nervous system. It is best to consult with your chiropractor about what is best for your spine, but here are some basics:
- Stomach Sleeping—This is generally not recommended as it does not support your spine.
- Side Sleeping—It is best to keep your spine as neutral as possible. This means you don’t want your head and neck angled down or propped up too much. Try finding a pillow that fits your body size to create as neutral an alignment as possible. You can also add a small pillow or blanket between your legs and knees to create a neutral lower spine. By choosing a sleeping position that promotes a neutral spine, you are reducing the tension and stress in the body, which could provide better quality sleep.
- Back Sleeping—This position typically provides the most support for your spine. When sleeping on your back, you need to consider your pillow size. Using a large pillow will prop your head, causing endangering stress at the base of your neck and potentially interfering with your sleep. Using a smaller pillow (or no pillow!) allows your spine to fall into its natural position, reducing tension in the body and promoting better quality sleep.
Gonstead Technique Chiropractic Adjustments
The doctors in our office are all trained in the Gonstead Technique, the most precise chiropractic method utilized to detect and correct subluxations. Once a person becomes a patient in our office, they will receive a sequence of adjustments designed by the doctor to address their unique subluxation patterns. With the goal of subluxation correction, our office looks to help alleviate aches and pains AND improve overall function within the nervous system. In addition to chiropractic adjustments, patients will have access to postural, exercise, and nutritional consultations to tackle their specific immunity concerns.
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Common Causes of Poor Sleep in West Omaha, NE
Various factors can cause poor sleep. Here are some of the most common causes:
Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is when sleep is interrupted due to breathing rhythms starting and stopping, resulting in low oxygen levels. Other conditions commonly experienced by people with sleep apnea include morning headaches, difficulty concentrating, excessive daytime sleepiness, and trouble staying asleep. Addressing your sleeping and spinal positions can help relieve sleep apnea. In addition, better sleep allows the body to build and repair better, helping you become healthier. An initial assessment with a chiropractor can include sleep and spinal position assessments.
Insomnia
Insomnia occurs when you have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or getting quality sleep. Often, people with insomnia suffer from other sleep-interfering symptoms like headaches, migraines, or sleep apnea. Healing and repair happen in the body during deep sleep, so if you continue to suffer from insomnia, you are not getting as much time for your body to perform these vital functions. As with the other causes of poor sleep, interference in the spine and nervous system can be the root cause of insomnia. Getting checked by a chiropractor and receiving adjustments can help alleviate insomnia and allow the body to heal and repair.
Stress
We deal with stressors every day. Stress lurks around each corner. While there are emotional and environmental stressors in life, chiropractors primarily focus on the physical or mechanical stressors that might be happening in your body. These stressors, also known as misalignments or subluxations of the spine, increase tension in your body and make it difficult to relax or sleep.
You may have noticed that all of these causes are interrelated. A person often suffers from many of these symptoms when experiencing poor sleep. And as you look at each symptom, you notice a common thread as a potential cause: misalignments of the spine. Because of this, anyone suffering from poor sleep would be wise to have their spine and nervous system checked by a chiropractor.
Back Pain
It is hard to sleep when you are uncomfortable or in pain. While over-the-counter medications can help resolve the immediate discomfort, pain usually returns as soon as the medication wears off. If there are misalignments in the spine, they put pressure on the nerves, causing that pain. By correcting those misalignments, you are not only going to reduce your back pain but increase your quality of sleep.
Headaches
Headache sufferers often report having interrupted sleep. In fact, individuals who report migraines as a health struggle are also very likely to experience insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea. Environmental stress can cause headaches, but physical and mechanical stress is more often the root cause. Dysfunction in your spine, nerve irritation, and tight muscles that may be causing headaches can also be the cause of poor sleep.
Spinal misalignments are often found to be the root cause of these issues. When a patient receives a series of adjustments to correct their misalignments (subluxations), the correction reduces the stress on the nervous system and allows the body to heal. As a result, patients will report better sleep, in addition to reduction of other symptoms.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can chiropractic in West Omaha, NE, help with sleep?
Chiropractors at Family First Chiropractic in West Omaha aid in patients’ sleep by improving the function of the nervous system, which allows for more optimal production of hormones, including the body’s natural melatonin production. In addition, less discomfort from problems such as neck and low back pain can be relieved by chiropractic adjustments, allowing for longer and easier sleep patterns.
Can being out of alignment cause insomnia?
Insomnia can have many source elements. The most frequent causes of lack of proper sleep are improper sleep posture, continuous pain symptoms, and hormone regulation. Chiropractic adjustments improve blood flow, decrease pain, and enhance relaxation, allowing the body to naturally enter the ever-important “rest and digest” healing phase.
What is the best sleeping position?
The best sleep position depends on the individual. Many patients are most comfortable on their sides, while others consider the back the best posture for sleep. The critical component is having a pillow that compliments your style of sleep. Whatever position a person sleeps in, the pillow height must allow the head and neck to stay in line with the rest of the spine.
Can chiropractic help with sleep apnea?
Chiropractic adjustments can reposition the jaw, ensuring your airway remains open while sleeping. In addition, chiropractic adjustments of the thoracic spine ensure proper communication of the nervous system to the bronchioles and heart, which increases blood movement and oxygen absorption.
Can chiropractic help with snoring?
When properly aligned, the spine allows the neck muscles to relax, which can help keep the airways open when sleeping. Chiropractic adjustments also provide proper cervical and thoracic alignment, which keeps the body in a natural position.
How do you sleep after a chiropractic adjustment?
Chiropractic helps to regulate the body and its Circadian rhythms, which allows you to not only stay asleep but also helps increase the quality of sleep. Increased blood flow post adjustment and greater range of motion will enable the body to relax and form better sleep patterns.
Book Your First Sleep Improvement Exam
Exam includes in-depth whole-body analysis with provider, posture pictures and insight nervous system scans (provided if necessary). Consultation & plan of action will help you understand your care options.