Did you know that 35.2% of US adults don’t get enough sleep? If you aren’t getting seven hours, you should consider why and how it’s affecting your health and wellbeing.
Maybe you’re staying up late on purpose, or perhaps you have one of the most common sleep disorders. If that’s the case, you should figure out the problem so that you can address it.
Here are some sleep disorders you should know.
Sleep Apnea
One of the most common sleep disorders is sleep apnea. It may start off with mild snoring, which doesn’t seem like a huge problem except for the noise.
However, snoring is a sign that your throat closes as you sleep. If it closes too much or too often, it can lead to sleep apnea, which happens when the snoring cuts off your breathing.
Be sure to learn more about sleep apnea doctors here to help get the diagnosis and treatment you need.
Insomnia
If you’ve ever struggled to fall asleep, you’ve probably experienced a bout of insomnia. Many people will have a sleepless night occasionally, such as before a stressful or exciting event.
However, insomnia can become chronic, and it can affect your energy throughout the day. There are also different types of insomnia, such as sleep onset or sleep maintenance insomnia.
Insomnia can occur with other conditions, such as anxiety and depression.
Sleep Paralysis
Sleep paralysis is when someone wakes up but can’t move. You can experience it when you drift off to sleep or as you’re waking up, and it can be disturbing.
It’s one of the most common sleep disorders, but there isn’t always a clear cause. In some patients, the cause is a mental health condition, or it can be a medication side effect.
Being able to figure out the cause can help you treat the problem.
Parasomnias
Parasomnias refer to abnormal behaviors during sleep, such as sleepwalking or sleep eating. It’s not uncommon for these conditions to occur with another problem, such as sleep apnea.
The treatment depends on the cause, and it may be as easy as getting off of a medication. However, you may need to take other steps to protect yourself, especially if you sleepwalk.
That way, you can keep yourself from walking into a dangerous situation when you’re asleep.
Restless Leg Syndrome
One of the most common sleep disorders that can affect you when you’re asleep and awake is restless leg syndrome (RLS). This condition makes your legs feel uncomfortable, so you feel like you have to move them.
Moving your legs in your sleep can cause you to wake up. What’s more, a majority of people with RLS also have Periodic Limb Movement of Sleep.
That condition makes your legs jerk or twitch throughout the night, which can affect your sleep.
Don’t Let the Most Common Sleep Disorders Keep You Awake
Some of the most common sleep disorders can be annoying at best or dangerous at worst. Whether you have sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, or something else, you should seek treatment.
Then, you’ll be able to get the sleep you need to function throughout the day. Even if you can’t cure your condition, you can mitigate it with the help of a doctor.
Do you want to learn more? Check out our family life section for similar content.