ANCSLEEP BLOG

Endometriosis is a common uterine disorder that can cause painful, abnormal growth of the uterus. This can lead to severe cramps and heavy bleeding during menstrual cycles, so severe that women can miss days of work, become bedridden, and have their entire lives interrupted. 

Endometriosis also interrupts sleep, which can exaggerate the pain, and emotional distress already experienced with endometriosis. Continue reading to find out more about how endometriosis can affect sleep, and what can be done to mitigate the disruptions. 

Anxiety and sleep apnea are two distinct disorders that can have a connection, making both of them worse. Sleep apnea is a common medical condition that causes you to stop breathing momentarily throughout the night. Your body has to wake up in order to begin breathing again. The cessation is normally caused by a blockage in airway caused by relaxed muscles or a large tongue. 

Anxiety is a mental health disorder that involves excessive worry and fear over rational and irrational causes. Anxiety can be debilitating and interfere with individuals' ability to live life. 

Both anxiety and sleep apnea are able to disrupt sleep and cause major sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation, can inturn, make both of those conditions worse. The entire situation is a terrible spiral, that if well-controlled, can truly lead to a much better quality of sleep. 

Continue reading to find out more about this connection, and how you can overcome this. 

The relationship between exercise and sleep is well-established. Aerobic exercise is fantastic for helping you get a good night's rest. However, cardio is not the only form of exercise that can positively benefit your sleep.

Did you know that you should also be including at least two days of strength training in your routine. Resistance training may help improve your sleep as well as cardio, as well. One study showed that individuals who regularly completed resistance training had better and longer sleep than those who just did cardio exercise. Continue reading to learn more about what that means for your sleep and exercise training.  

Our breathing function is the most vital aspect of our survival, besides a beating heart. When we are unable to do that well, this can be problematic and lead to a number of various health disorders. One of these is lung cancer. A lack of sleep can both increase our risk of developing lung cancer and worsen the prognosis if it's already diagnosed. 

The idea of cancer can be very alarming and disruptive towards sleep efforts. Sleep health is more important than making sure you aren't grumpy the next day. Getting the recommended number of hours of sleep each day can help reduce your risk of developing some very serious diseases, including lung cancer. Continue reading to find out more about this connection, and what you can do to reduce your risk. 

Nerve pain has many causes, including diabetic neuropathy, trauma, sciatic, lupus, arthritis, and the list goes on. It is a very unsettling pain with very little relief. The pain can range from bothersome tingling to unbearable shooting pain down your leg. For some, this pain seems to intensify at night, making sleeping almost impossible.

The sad part about this symptom is that getting good sleep may actually buffer some of the pain from the neuropathy. So, if you are able to manage your sleep, then you may be able to reduce some of your pain. Continue reading to find out more about why your nerve pain is so poor at night and what you can do to get good sleep. 

"Don't go to sleep with wet hair, or you'll be sick" is a word of caution, as old as time. Mothers warned their daughters about the risks of going to sleep with their hair wet. No matter how tired you were, it was important for you to at least blow dry your hair to avoid this impending illness.

But is that actually true? Continue reading to learn more about the truth about sleeping with wet hair. 

Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder of widespread pain and stiffness in muscles and joints. About 4 million people in the US have fibromyalgia, and although the cause of this condition is unknown, patients can treat and manage their symptoms through medication, therapy and lifestyle changes. 

Sleep disturbances are common in those with fibromyalgia. For some, a lack of sleep can actually exacerbate their pain symptoms and lead them to a vicious cycle of pain that ruins sleep and lack of sleep that increases pain. This can make life seem almost unbearable and ruin every aspect of one's life. However, by practicing good sleep hygiene and adapting healthy sleep habits, one can alleviate fibromyalgia-related sleep issues. Continue reading to learn how to manage fibromyalgia through sleep. 

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease that involves certain joints and bones in various regions of your body. It can be very painful and discomforting, as well as debilitating. One way that it really disrupts life is by interrupting one's ability to sleep. 

Sleep can be vital in the healing and rehabilitation process. However, the pain from OA can cause many barriers to getting that sleep. Continue reading for more information on the relationship between OA and sleep, and how you can get good rest if you do have OA.  

Not sleeping enough can have severe consequences for your health and daily functioning. But did you know one of those affects is on your eating habits? Being tired has been shown to increase the number of calories that you consume. Your diet also decreases in quality and can cause an increase in body weight.

Part of this relationship is due to hormonal changes in the body that make it more difficult to balance hormones responsible for metabolism. Continue reading to learn more about how sleep and your appetite are connected.   

Sleep is one of the most vital pieces of human health. It is necessary for almost all bodily functions to run optimally, and without it, there are so many things we can't do. Our bodies turn into "low battery mode" and simply focus on getting us through the day. But, when we get great sleep, then we are able to accomplish so much because we feel good, motivated, and well-rested. 

One barrier to getting good sleep may actually be our mattress. If we are sleeping on an old, lumpy and uncomfortable mattress, then no matter how much time we spend in bed, it doesn't matter. Our bodies flop around all night trying to find a comfortable position to lie in. If this sounds like you, then it may be time to replace your mattress. Continue reading to find out if you have a couple of years left, or if you're overdue for a new set of springs.