Short but important facts you should know about Sleep and Snoring

What is sleep and why is it necessary?

Despite all the research around it, a lot about sleep is still a mystery to us especially your dreams …lol

Here’s what we do know: Sleep happens. Sleep is necessary for maintaining good health. And sleep is actually a very active period for your mind and body. During sleep, most people go through five different stages: 1, 2, 3, and 4, followed by Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. Every night, your body goes from 1 to REM, and then starts all over again. A good night’s sleep is full of these cycles, and the amount of time spent in each stage depends on many factors.

The first few stages are the state between being awake and falling asleep, where our minds wander as we relax after the day’s events. This stage of sleep is light and easily disrupted.

The next stage is the beginning of deeper sleep. You start to become unaware of your surroundings and harder to rouse. Your body temperature drops and your breathing and heart rate become regular.

These final stages involve very deep and restorative sleep. Blood pressure drops, breathing slows and muscles relax. Growth hormones release and tissues heal and rebuild. If you are having trouble reaching or maintaining this level of sleep you can try using SNORELESS anti snoring pillow to enhance your sleep.

For optimal health, about two of your eight hours of nightly sleep should be REM. On average, this stage takes up about one-quarter of a good night’s sleep. During REM sleep, your eyes move back and forth, your body becomes immobile as muscles are turned off and energy is given to your brain and your body. REM sleep is very restorative and contributes to a healthy immune system. Additionally, your brain is very active during REM sleep; this is the stage where you dream. Missing REM sleep is highly detrimental to your overall health, as well as your ability to perform normally the next day.

Here are some benefits of sleep;

Help your brain work properly, Improve concentration, Lower your stress levels, Assist in weight loss Improve cognitive ability, Heal muscles, tissues, and injuries, Boost your mood, Improve your memory, Curb inflammation, Lower blood pressure,  Help you stay healthy, and Decrease likelihood of mood disorders

 Why do we Snore?

Snoring is a condition caused by your nose and/or throat constricting the air that you breathe in while you sleep. This happens during sleep because the muscles that help bring air in while you’re awake are relaxed. When the air passage is obstructed, the tissues surrounding your nose and throat vibrate, making the audible sound we call snoring. Air can be blocked many ways - your tongue could position itself in the back of the throat, your nose could be congested due to an illness or a deviated septum, or you could have extra nasal or throat tissue that is much more prone to vibrate. Even your sleeping position or current stage during sleep can cause you to snore. This is part of why snoring is so common - there is a wide variety of causes. A more advanced and serious form of snoring, called sleep apnea, may make audible sounds, but it often presents itself by cutting off breathing and starting again multiple times per night. This disorder sometimes requires lab tests to medically diagnose. If you suspect you may have sleep apnea, you should consult your doctor.

 Snoring absolutely disrupts the sleep of the snorer. Often, snoring may wake you up from your sleep cycle. Or, even if you do not wake up, you are pulled out of the deeper stages of sleep, which can cause you to be exhausted and irritable in the morning.

Quality of sleep is just as, if not more, important than the amount of sleep you obtain and I personally recommend SNORELESS anti snoring pillow. While this is often how snoring is popularly portrayed, and while weight and gender are factors that can affect your likelihood of snoring, it can happen to anyone. Snoring can be caused by obesity, but not everyone who snores is overweight, and not everyone who is overweight snores.

While snoring seems innocent, it can truly harm your health and wellbeing. It could also be a symptom of much bigger problems, like sleep apnea.

Snoring can do much more than make you want to drink an extra cup of coffee in the morning. Especially if it happens nightly, snoring can affect your mental health, sleep quality, and a wide variety of organs, especially the heart and cardiovascular system. All of the amazing things that quality sleep can do for you - healing muscles, relieving tension, lowering stress levels - are hindered significantly when you snore.

If you’ve related to some of the issues listed above and you’d like to curtail or even eliminate your snoring, there are many solutions to choose from. However, it’s important to note that because the most common causes of snoring are factors that cause the airway to collapse, the most effective methods for treating snoring are those that prevent airway collapsibility.