Health Benefits of Napping

By: Susan D. Denny, M.D., MPH

With the hectic pace of day-to-day life, many people don’t get the recommended amount of sleep each night. According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults typically need between seven and nine hours of sleep per night in order to function at their best. Getting a few less hours for even a few nights in a row can have the same effect as staying awake for 24 hours straight. And, over time, chronic sleep debt can contribute to fatigue, increased stress levels, reduced attention span, and declined cognitive performance.

One way to combat the effects of sleep deprivation—and repay some sleep debt—is to incorporate daytime napping into your schedule. The length of the nap and type of sleep you get during that nap help determine its potential health benefits. The table below identifies these benefits.

Nap Duration  and  Potential Health Benefits

10-20 minutes:
 Reduces sleepiness; improves cognitive performance; increases alertness, attention, and energy levels; improves mood; improves motor performance; reduces stress levels

20-30 minutes:
Enhances creativity; sharpens memory

30-60 minutes:
Sharpens decision-making skills, including memorization and recall; improves memory preservation

60-90 minutes:
Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which is critical for problem solving; helps make new connections in the brain; enhances creativity; reduces negative reactivity; promotes happiness
 

The following is a list of tips and tricks to help you make the most of naptime:

  • Choose a dark, quiet, comfortable place where you can relax.
  •  Try to limit the amount of noise and light in the room, and make sure the temperature is comfortable.
  •  Choose a time that works for you, and aim to nap at that time each day to establish a routine. You may find that restricting your naps to early afternoon (between 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm, or an hour or two after lunch) is less likely to interfere with your nighttime sleep patterns.
  •  Set an alarm on your cell phone, watch, or computer so you don’t sleep for too long.
  •  If you’re napping at the office, try closing your door and hanging a sign that says, “will return in 20 minutes.” Alternatives to this are napping in your car or on an outdoor bench.
  • Wherever you nap, bring along something that you associate with sleep. Some ideas include a sleep mask, neck pillow, relaxing playlist and headphones, cozy blanket, warm socks, and lavender essential oil to dab on your pulse points.
  • Keep in mind that longer naps may be accompanied by sleep inertia, or a period of grogginess that sometimes follows sleep. Give yourself time to wake fully before returning to any activity that requires a quick or sharp response.

 Your Partner In Health!
Susan D. Denny, MD, MPH

SPRING ALLERGIES ARE HERE!

New Allergy Clinic

Susan D. Denny, MD, MPH

If you are like me, your Spring sneezing and sniffles have begun.  In our area, tree pollen begins in March with grass pollen beginning in April.  A look at the Allergy Season chart for the Southeast reveals that we allergy sufferers can have symptoms anywhere from February through October in North Carolina. 

With the Spring sniffles you may be breaking out your Claritin, Zyrtec, Flonase or Pataday, or maybe all of these!  For some of us, it is hard to imagine enjoying a beautiful Spring day free of sinus congestion, headaches or itchy eyes without the use of some allergy medication.  Fortunately, there is hope for allergy sufferers.  Here are a few simple tips to help you reduce allergy symptoms and allergy medications while still enjoying the beautiful Spring weather.

  • Perform nasal rinses with warm saline water and a neti pot before bed.
    • DON’T open those windows and doors to let in “fresh” air.  This will increase the pollen counts in your indoor air.
    • DO use a high-quality indoor air filter such as IQAir or Austin Air Health Mate Plus to reduce indoor allergens.
    • Shower before bed, including hair rinsing or washing, to reduce nighttime exposure to allergens trapped on skin and hair.

While these steps may help to reduce allergy symptoms, elimination of allergies requires testing and treatment.  After trying and failing allergy shots myself, I am now treating the root cause of my allergies with allergy drops.  Allergy drops are clinically proven to be as effective in reducing and even eliminating allergies as allergy shots.  However, allergy drops do not require weekly visits to the office and are less expensive than weekly allergy shot copays. 

If you are interested in treating the root cause of your allergies and eliminating allergy symptoms for good, consider allergy testing and allergy drop treatment at Carolina Total Wellness.

https://carolinatotalwellness.com/allergy-drops.php