Here at Foster Chiropractic Clinic, Sports & Wellness, we care about your overall health and well-being. One of the most important aspects of a healthy lifestyle is getting a good night’s sleep. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that adults get between 7-10 hours of sleep each night, but reports show that almost one-third of adultsare getting less that than. Living a life that is sleep deprived can be detrimental to your health, as sleep deprivation has been linked to obesity and depression, and people who aren’t getting enough sleep are known to get sick more often due to a lowered immune system. It can also lead to dangerous behavior such as drowsy driving.

We wanted to share some ways to help make sure you’re getting a good night’s sleep each and every night. We want you to have the energy to do all the activities you enjoy during the day, whether it’s being alert at work and school to working out or playing with your kids.

Practice Good Sleep Hygiene

We often associate hygiene with keeping clean, things like taking a shower and brushing our teeth on a regular basis. But the definition of hygiene is the practices conducive to maintaining health and preventing disease, which means good sleep habits are also included in healthy hygiene practices. Some easy steps to follow to help you get a good night’s sleep include:

· Keeping a regular time for going to bed and waking up each day, whether it’s a weeknight or a weekend. Staying up late and sleeping in on a weekend might seem like a good idea at the time, but it only makes it harder to get to sleep when you go to bed earlier on Sunday night.

· Avoid caffeine after noon.

· Keep your bedroom dark and cool to promote good sleep.

· Avoid watching TV or looking at your phone right before going to bed.

Become Pillow “Wise”

In addition to your bedtime routine, the condition of the bed you sleep also plays an important role in getting a good night’s sleep. Good posture is just as important while you’re sleeping as it is when you’re standing or sitting. If your spine isn’t aligned during the night you could suffer from neck or back pain, headaches and restless sleep caused by snoring.

A good mattress to support your spine is an important part of a good night’s sleep. What’s firm enough (but not too firm) will be different for every person, but make sure it’s not so squishy that you feel like you’re free-falling when you get into bed. Researchers also found that regardless of the price or brand of beds, people reported better sleep when sleeping on a new mattress. If your mattress is over 10 years old, it might be time to replace it.

Your pillow also plays an important role in sleep quality. Having a pillow that supports the head and neck properly is as important as a good mattress in keeping the spine properly aligned. That means your favorite pillow that you’ve spent years breaking in might not be the best pillow for your back. A pillow should adapt to the contours of your neck and provide the right support to keep the spine in a natural position. Without that support, you could suffer not only from poor sleep and restricted spine function but also tension headaches.

Chiropractic pillows are a good option for ensuring the proper support during sleep, and we recommend the Pillowise products. Made in the Netherlands, these pillows have a high-quality Memory foam center and a removable, washable cover. We custom-fit these pillows to your unique head and neck shape to ensure you a good night’s sleep on a comfortable pillow that properly supports your spine.

Come in today to see how comfortable the Pillowise products are and how they can help you get quality rest and feel better during the day.