Sleep Issues - Causing Skin Conditions?
Yes, your sleep problems can be causing skin problems. Sleep
is our time to internally refresh, restore and heal. Anything that interrupts this process can
lead to the skin looking less than its best.
All of us have gotten up and looked in the mirror after a bad night’s
sleep and noted the dark under-eye circles and the dull cast to the skin. The bad sleep and the diminished skin
appearance are directly related.
Anything that triggers poor sleep can make us look, and feel tired and
older.
Inadequate sleep:
whether it is odd working hours, stress, a baby in the house, insomnia,
or anything else that prevents us from sleeping, it is going to result in
daytime tiredness, under eye circles and a dull cast to the skin. We can slather on all the lotions and potions
we want, but if we don’t address the problem it won’t get any better.
If you do shift work,
try to create an environment where you can get maximum rest when you do get to
sleep. Consider a device that will
create white noise and blank out the potentially interruptive sounds. Solicit the support of family and friends that
“x” hours you need to be sleeping.
Rotating shifts are even harder as your body’s natural Circadian rhythm
is fighting with the schedule you need to keep.
Our body’s natural desire is to sleep when it’s dark and be awake in the
light.
Stress: we all know the hazards but often don’t think about
them showing up on the skin. They
do. Each of us needs to find ways to
deal with the stresses in our life and there are a lot of them. Family, babies, marriage, divorce, work,
bills, friends, all can be stressful.
Even exercise or a change in routine can be stressful to the body and it
will need time to adapt. Stress affects
our hormone levels which affects about everything else. Be prepared with your little emergency kit if
stress triggers skin breakouts. Try some form of meditation or relaxation to
reduce stress before you go to bed to sleep better. Yes, that cup of herbal tea
is a more restful nightcap than anything else. No caffeine of any form
including sodas or chocolate for 4 hours prior to bedtime also is a great help.
Baby: It’s nothing
new that a baby in the house will mess with your sleep. So what is a mom
supposed to do? Go with the flow. If you have are at home with the child, the
best answer is probably napping. When
you put the baby down, take a power nap.
This may help you feel more refreshed and rested in the evening when the
rest of your family is home and hoping for a bit of companionship and a meal. If you are back at work and napping when baby
does isn’t an option, try catching a power nap at lunch. Learn to do a bit of self-hypnosis and you
can feel rested and refreshed in 15 minutes. The slow cooker is your friend. Not only do slow cookers create very tasty
and lower glycation meals, you can start it in the morning and forget it. No
time to do it in the morning because of family and baby demands? Consider making it a family together time and
assemble it the night before. Get everyone involved and let them help. In the
morning, just put it on the heating base and turn it on.
Snoring: Well this was a new one for me. Yes, snoring can
mess with your sleep - and I don’t mean
waking your partner and them being grouchy.
Snoring loudly enough to wake yourself or your partner may mean sleep
apnea. Sleep apnea can be a potentially
life threatening disorder if untreated.
During the sleep cycle breathing stops and starts multiple times. The problem is easily recognized in men
because they tend to snore loudly. Women though, (my doctor told me) are much
sneaker and harder to discover. Women may or may not suffer from loud snoring but
still have sleep apnea. The problem with
sleep apnea is the interrupted breathing means that the brain is not getting
its routine oxygen supply. This is what
can lead to some pretty nasty health problems. Here is a listing of the symptoms
and information from the Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sleep-apnea/basics/symptoms/con-20020286 I don’t have many of the classical symptoms
like daytime drowsiness, but I do have sleep apnea. Learning and treating this
I can avoid the health problems and wake up refreshed in the morning.