A good night’s sleep
A good night’s sleep can do wonders. Not only for your mood but also for your joints. If you wake up after an exhausting night, you will most likely feel it in your joints the whole day. So make sure you get enough rest. A good sleep position is very important if you have trouble falling asleep because of joint pain. We would recommend sleeping on your side with a pillow between your legs. Avoid a painful shoulder if you have one by lying flat on your back.
Here are a few other tips to assure a good night’s sleep:
- Go to bed on time and ensure a consistent nighttime rhythm. Go to bed around the same time every night and get up around the same time. This ensures that you sleep deeper and better and this in turn results in a reduction in your joint pain complaints.
- Use the bedroom as a place of sleep and nothing else. If you often lay in your bed to watch a movie, respond to emails or anything else other than sleeping. Your brain won’t associate it as a sleeping environment anymore and it may keep you up at night.
- Exercise a little bit during the day. It doesn’t matter what you do because even a daily walk can help you fall asleep faster and deeper.
- Avoid eating big meals or a lot of sugars two to three hours before bedtime. The sugars will give you a sugar rush and will make you feel energized instead of sleepy. Eating right before bedtime doesn’t give your body enough time to digest the food which will result in an upset stomach at night, indigestion, or acid reflux.
- Keep away from any form of caffeine a few hours before bedtime. You probably already knew about this but caffeine is a stimulant, which disrupts your sleep. Did you know chocolate and wine contains caffeine? We know… We wished we had better news for you. Unfortunately a glass of wine and a piece of chocolate isn’t the best evening snack if you want to get a good night of sleep.