Do you stay up too late scrolling social media, binge-watching TV or tossing and turning because of anxious thoughts or pain? 
It’s important to understand that while a midday nap will probably replenish your energy enough to get you through your day, according to UMass Amherst Sleep Science Researcher Rebecca Spencer, it won’t necessarily negate the health risks that may come with insufficient sleep at night.
According to survey data from a 2020 study by the CDC, more than one-third of adults in the United States don’t get the recommended seven hours or more of sleep every night. Lack of sleep can be associated with a range of increased health risks including obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke and mental distress. It can also affect your temperament, mental focus, weight and pain tolerance.
Not only is the length of time you sleep important for health, but also the quality of sleep, in its different stages.
When we sleep throughout the night, we pass through several 90-minute sleep cycles. Each is composed of four stages: The first two are considered light sleep, where your muscles relax, your body temperature drops, and your heart rate and breathing slow as you doze off. The third stage, known as deep sleep, is when your eyes and muscles fully relax and your body does the important work of repairing and building bone, muscle cleansing your brain, boosting your immune system and processing memories. Rapid eye movement (REM) is the last stage of the sleep cycle. It is not as deep as the third stage, but it’s when you’re most likely to dream and is thought to be associated with learning, storing memories and regulating mood.
Even though a few hours of sleep at night and a nap during the day might add up to six or more hours total, it is not the same thing. Short naps of less than 90 minutes typically only include the lighter phases of sleep, not the deep, restorative night sleep.
The upside of napping is that a 20- to 30-minute nap can restore alertness without leaving you groggy or disrupting your sleep the next night.
Naps can also be particularly important for helping to keep those who don’t always work daytime schedules — such as airline pilots, commercial drivers, physicians or other shift workers — alert and sharp. And similarly, they can help older adults if age-related changes such as needing to use the bathroom at night interrupt their sleep.
If you find yourself in need of a nap keep it short — no more than 30 minutes — so it doesn’t interfere with your next night of sleep.
Other sleep tips include:
- Go to bed and wake at the same time every day
- No eating late at night
- Avoid sugars and caffeine after 6 pm
- Journal
- Turn off the blue screen
- Exercise regularly
- Get out of pain
- Try CBD or melatonin products
A chiropractor can help guide you to a better night’s sleep. Sweet dreams!
