Get Better Night Sleep Naturally
Get better night sleep naturally as a psoriasis sufferer is essential. People who have a condition such as psoriasis may have difficulty resting at night. According to the statistics, psoriasis and lack of sleep go together in more than half of those affected.
Scratching the skin while you sleep can cause the spread of disease manifestations on healthy parts (Kebner’s phenomenon) and in this way it aggravates the general condition of the sufferer. In addition, a shortage of sleep interferes with the proper functioning of the nervous system. In turn, this stress of the body causes the exacerbation of psoriasis.
As a result, patients fall into a harmful pattern. The more serious the form of the disease, the less sleep the sufferer will have and the more the disease progresses. Despite the fact that it is impossible to completely cure psoriasis, there are very effective routines that one can follow to slow down the progress of the disease, even when you are dealing with psoriasis and sleep.
Causes that disrupt the healthy sleep of a person with psoriasis
Nocturnal itching and psoriasis
The symptoms of psoriasis, especially itching, occur both at night and throughout the day. But sleep is an action in which self-discipline is greatly reduced. Thus, it is impossible to avoid scratching the itchy areas of the skin, as it will be possible while you are awake. This can lead to plaque trauma, which causes little bleeding and the onset of new flaring. Plus, you can soil your clothes and bed sheets with blood stains.
Psoriasis and sleep apnea
A number of studies have been carried out to help recognize potential issues linked with psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and quality of sleep. Those with psoriasis and sleep disorders should take special note to the following symptoms: difficulty in falling asleep and problems while asleep, night-time awakenings, snoring, daytime sleepiness, restless leg syndrome, lack of air, and shortness of breath.
Most of these signs may signal a possible sleep apnea. Apnea is a kind of sleep complaint that is characterized by breathing pauses, in addition to delayed breathing or a weak breathing during sleep. As claimed by existing records, nearly 40% of patients suffering from psoriasis also suffer from sleep apnea.
Depression and psoriasis
Most researchers have revealed a link between sleep disorders and depression. Depression can be generated by a variety of elements, which includes a condition such as psoriasis. In the event that you are depressed, this can be the main reason for your sleep problems. Follow your health every day if necessary, and get an appointment with a physician if need be to comprehend what triggered your unfavorable emotional condition.
How to get better night sleep naturally for people with psoriasis
Psoriasis and a shortage of sleep are directly related to relapses and worsening of the disease, along with the deterioration of the general condition of the body. On the other hand, a good night sleep favors the restoring of strength and truly encourages the natural healing of psoriasis. Here are some simple tips that can dramatically improve your sleep:
Respect a good rhythm of sleep
You must respect your sleep pattern even over weekends. Physicians prescribe lying down and getting up more or less at the same time every day, as well as on the weekend. This will regulate your inner clock. Avoid sleeping during daytime. In case you absolutely want to have a snooze during day, Make sure that your sleep must be short (an hour at most), and not too close to the evening.
Prepare your sleep
Ascertain that the temperature of your room is appropriate. A great number of dermatologists agree that it is better to sleep in a cool room than in one with the temperature that is above standard. It is advisable to aerate the room before going to bed. Fresh air significantly helps sleep better.
Use blinds, shutters and/or curtains to darken the room. The light decreases the amount of melatonin hormone, which contributes to your sleep. In a dark room, your body creates even more melatonin, which gets you to enjoy a better sleep.
Make sure your bed is cosy and that your bed linen and nightwear are neat. Avoid washing your clothes with products that may cause skin irritation.
To fight against insomnia, disconnect all electronic devices or leave them in another room of your home. If you are hypersensitive to noise, use earplugs while you sleep.
Keep your moisturizer near the bed. If you wake up suddenly at night because of itching, you can apply this cream to itchy areas.
Tips for sleeping well with psoriasis
Relaxing baths
Before going to bed, it will be useful to take a bath. It’s a good way to calm down and relax. The water should be lukewarm and by no means hot. The optimum temperature is between 33 to 37.5 degrees Celsius / 91 to 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Consider adding Dead Sea salt in your bath. That’s excellent for most skin disorders, and extremely relaxing too. The duration of these procedures should be limited and should not exceed 30 minutes at a frequency not exceeding three times a week.
Hydration and protection
Regular skin care with gentle cleansing and regular hydration help to relieve itching. Maintaining a balanced hydration of your skin will significantly reduce a lot of the symptoms of the disease. It is important to choose a quality moisturizer without aggressive additives. The moisturizer should be applied to your skin immediately after a shower or bath. To avoid scratching the affected areas during sleep, prefer to wear the clothes that cover the skin lesions well or put on soft cloth gloves before going to bed. It’s also a great way to preserve the beauty of your hands.
Practice the breathing exercises
If you wake up often enough during the night and afterwards find it hard to fall asleep or cannot sleep, try using the relaxation methods. The breathing exercises and meditation have already helped a lot of people.
To stabilize your breathing before going to bed, you can try a very simple exercise:
Slowly inhale deeply by counting from 1 to 10. Hold your breath for a few seconds, then exhale slowly, counting from 10 to 1. Repeat this breathing exercise in at least five times to feel calmer.
Clear your head
If because of anxiety you cannot fall asleep, it is important to get rid of your concerns. This will make you fall asleep more easily and sleep well in general. If you experience such difficulties, it is recommended that you make a list of your unresolved issues before going to bed. In this way, you will free your mind of negative thoughts.
The next morning, you will get enough rest to solve these problems. If your state of anxiety or depression does not go away, you should contact a specialist for professional help. The therapist can give you recommendations adapted to your case.
Physical activity
Many studies show that outdoor exercise can help fight insomnia. Talk to your doctor before starting all kinds of physical exercises. Lend your intention to aerobics, athletic walking, jogging, swimming or cycling. Once your doctor approves the discipline that’s right for you, do this sport at least 30 minutes five times a week. Some doctors recommend to sufferers of psoriasis and lack of sleep to include 15-minute stretching exercises. The key is not to do physical activity just before going to bed, this can lead to sleep problems and worsen the process of falling asleep.
Other relaxation techniques
In addition to relaxing baths, yoga or meditation, there are many other ways to relax before going to bed. You can drink a cup of hot herbal tea, listen to soothing music or read a good book. Warning: if you want to drink a hot drink to relax, do not drink it just before going to sleep, because your sleep will be disturbed not by the manifestations of psoriasis on the face, but by the will to go to bathroom.
Cotton nightgown
Dermatologists recommend choosing soft cotton clothes to sleep better. It turns out that cotton does not rub your skin and therefore does not irritate areas affected by psoriasis. On the other hand, synthetic and artificial fabrics can cause itching and painful sensations, which in turn can wake you up or make your sleep disturbing. In addition, cotton is considered the most breathable fabric that maintains optimal body temperature during sleep.
Do not abuse …
Alcohol can disturb your sleep, especially if you consume alcoholic beverages shortly before going to bed. Therefore, you should prefer plain water or light tea. Do not eat hard-to-digest food and avoid large portions before going to bed. Undigested food makes it difficult to transition to sleep, especially if you eat foods that contain a lot of sugar. On the other hand, it is not advisable to go to sleep on an empty stomach, because you can wake up at night because of hunger. Try to avoid drinking coffee and eating foods that contain caffeine in the afternoon.
Say no to the cigarette
There are a multitude of reasons why people who suffer from psoriasis and lack of sleep should not smoke. In addition to obvious risks like cancer and cardiovascular disease, smoking can make your psoriasis worse. It can also make your sleep worse, especially if you smoke at night.
Antihistamines
Often, the complex treatment of psoriasis and lack of sleep in patients may include taking antihistamines. Some antihistamines have a calming effect and help to fall asleep more easily. But before taking these medications, be sure to consult your doctor.
Thanks for reading
John
If you know of any way to get better night sleep naturally that proves to be successful and would like to share your experience with us, you are welcome to do so here below. Any questions? Please use the box below and I, or someone, will respond as soon as possible. If you are creating your own psoriasis home remedies that work, please do share them with us. Also feel free to share this socially. I will be very much appreciate it!
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Hi John
You’ve outlined some great tips for getting sleep with a skin condition. I suffer from eczema and it is bad at the moment and really affecting my sleep which in turn affects my day. I find it really affects my mood when I am tired and in pain. People who haven’t suffered from these conditions don’t really understand the impact they have on your daily life. Would you agree?
Regards,
Megan
You are absolutely right Megan, a good night sleep is everything in life, for you and the people around you. It is not something that you should neglect.
I guess that you have consulted a dermatologist to make sure that it is eczema, as it is often mistaken with psoriasis. Anyway, you can treat them in pretty the same way. The difference is that eczema can be treated completely, and psoriasis cannot be completely cured, yet.
If the treatments you are following are not working, you should explore other technics, while remaining with the natural idea in order to avoid side effects of the regular medicines.
There are a few that you could already start with: A Skin Disorder Diet, then, one that works well for most skin disorders is the Dead Sea Salt And Psoriasis.
I hope that this will help you, and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask them here. You will find plenty of help.
I wish you the very best of heath.
John ツ
I love this article. Everyone wants to know how to sleep better at night and generally get better rest during their day. I have read many different articles on this same topic, and I don’t seem to find an article quite like yours that goes this in-depth about a common problem. Thank you for all your help.
Thanks for stopping by and for your comment Ryan. I am glad that you are finding this article useful, and if you are finding it difficult to get better night sleep naturally, I hope that it will help you.
If you have any questions please ask them here as you will certainly find a lot of answers.
I wish you the best of health.
John ツ
Hi John
I never realized how wonderful it was to get a good nights sleep until sleeping seemed to vanish. Going without sleep is bad enough, I can’t even imagine how it would be with Psoriasis being agravated by the insomnia too?
One of the best things I’ve found to natually help with my sleep is to turn off my computer, tablet, phone, and TV about an hour before my regular bed time. To tell you the truth I have been amazed at how much better I sleep at night when I turn everything off and relax before I go to bed.
Thanks
You are quite right Mike, it is a very bad habit to keep reading our emails or surfing the net up to the time to go to bed. I am ashamed to say that I have the bad habit of reading the online newspapers once in bed as I feel that it is my quite time to see what’s happening out there, but it is wrong as I do not feel sleepy so I continue surfing hoping to get tired. I would be better off reading a book instead.
So thanks for sharing your own experience on my “get better night sleep naturally” article, I am sure that many readers will relate to that and will learn from it.
I wish you the very best of health and many good nights’ sleep.
John ツ
I didn’t realise that there were so many causes of getting a bad night’s sleep! I used to get a sore head and suddenly feel wide awake as soon as I’d get into bed. It didn’t matter if I was tired the whole afternoon.
I tried several things and what helped me the most was the ‘winding down’ process in the evening. Before, I’d always watch TV and be on my laptop until minutes before hitting the sack.
Now I make sure I’m away from all screens a good 1 – 2 hours before sleep and practice meditating and reading in the evenings. This transformed my sleep quality within a few weeks and, because of this, improved my all-round performance.
I am glad that you have found the solution to combat your sleepless nights Stephen. I have done exactly the same as you did and do, and never, ever had to take any medications and always had complete restful nights. So, thanks for taking the time to share your personal experience on my “Get Better Night Sleep Naturally” article.
I hope that many of my readers will take note of your experience and I wish you the very best of health.
John ツ
Hi:
I like the thoroughness of your site. You have covered all the bases!
So many things I didn’t realize about the condition – especially how it ties in to your quality of sleep. I took special note of this as I have always had sleep issues, particularly sleep apnea.
Thanks for covering the various treatments and diets. Your site should be the go to for anyone suffering from this condition.
Do you have this condition?
Thanks very much for popping onto my website and for taking the time to comment Christopher. Yes, I have psoriasis since I can remember, that is why I can easily talk about this skin condition and the various remedies I have used that helped me. Luckily, I managed to keep it under control enough so that it has never really interfered with my sleep, but I know a many people who don’t know how to keep the condition under control naturally.
Fortunately you don’t have psoriasis, but my “Get Better Night Sleep Naturally” article can help anyone with sleeping issues, for any reasons.
I wish you many peaceful nights after that.
John ツ
Hi John,
My teenage daughter has sensitive skin and at times wakes up from her sleep with scratch marks on her hands and leg. Not that she is having sleepless nights but your tips on using dead sea salt for bathing may prevent her from scratching during her sleep which she wasn’t even aware.
Thanks for the tips on how to get a better sleep naturally. I may not have sensitive skin conditions but I would definitely like to have a good sound sleep.
Sharon
Thanks very much for visiting my website Sharon, and I am glad that you might have found to solution to your daughter’s issue. When I am approached by people with similar complains, no matter if it is psoriasis or other skin conditions, I always suggest that they first try a Dead Seal salt bath and a good moisturising cream afterwards, such as the “Thena Healing Cream”. Very often it takes care of it, and if not, there are many other ways to go about it such as a personalise diet could also work.
Once your daughter will have her itching under control, she will certainly enjoy some good nights’ sleeps.
I wish you and your daughter the best of health.
John ツ
My wife has been having a lot of trouble sleeping for quite some time now, so we’ve both been looking for ideas to help her with her insomnia problem. I’ve never thought taking sleeping pills is a good idea as it can lead to more problems, so a natural way is always better.
What you say about getting into a sleeping rhythm makes a lot of sense. Her sleeping patterns have been all over the place, so working on that area I’m sure will help.
Thanks very much for taking the time to comment on my “Get Better Night Sleep Naturally” article Darren. It seems to be a very popular article, so I guess that many people are suffering from sleepless nights. Personally, I have almost never used sleeping tablets. I make use of some breathing exercises which work extremely well. I have also introduced my wife to it, as she was taking sleeping tablets. Although at first she was afraid that she would not be able to sleep without her pill, she finally tried, and never looked back.
So, I sincerely hope that your wife will give it a try, I know that it will not easy for her to want to give up something that assures her a good night’s sleep, but the try is worth it.
Let us know us here when she tries and how it goes.
Cheers,
John ツ
This article is so helpful and informative. I suffer from heat rashes in the summer and many of the issues you speak of here are the same ones I have. It’s difficult to sleep when you’re trying to scratch your skin off! It’s no fun. I had never heard of the Kebner’s phenomenon, but I have experienced it first hand when my rash spread across my entire face and wouldn’t go away. You may some wonderful suggestions, especially with the bed linens because for me that is a MUST! I can’t have anything near my skin that will irritate it. One thing I have tried that I actually like is drinking fresh lime juice. For some reason that actually works. Thanks again, Bev
Thanks for reading my article, and for sharing your unfortunate experience Bev. I am sure that your suggestion about drinking fresh lime juice will benefit some of my readers.
Drinking fresh lime juice is also commented in some of my detox articles, so you are on the right track Bev. Starting a detox program and going on a skin disorder diet are the two recommendations I give to people approaching me for advise for their skin problems. Then adding to that, some Dead Sea salt baths does the trick most of the time.
I wish you the very best of health Bev.
John ツ
Hi John, this is a great post full of very good information for people who suffer from psoriasis as well as a lot of good tips for people who have problems with sleeping as well.
You have offered a good choice of items to help people to both help with the psoriasis and also their struggle with sleeping. I really would have no problem sending people to your site to get some great information from you.
Thanks very much for visiting my website and for commenting on my get better night sleep naturally article. Yes, I have had good reports from people suffering from psoriasis as well as from sleepless nights, so I am glad that it helped in both cases.
I wish you the very best of nights’ sleeps Cheryl.
John ツ
I am 29 years old and I find it quite hard to sleep at night. Sometimes I wake up out of my sleep because I get so startled. I find your article very intersting as I feel it can really help me with some of my sleep patterns. Sleep apnea runs in my family so I could be suffering from this and not know it. I am most definetly going to try out the different things to sleep better at night.
Thanks very much for reading my recent article about how to get better nights’ sleep naturally Courtney. I am glad that you are going to try some of the recommendations I am listing in my article. I hope that you will share your experience with us here once you experience on that works well for you.
I wish you some great nights’ sleep.
John ツ