From restless to restful. What you need to know about sleep deprivation and massage therapy

Many people suffer from insomnia, or sleep deprivation, and there are many causes for this, but what really matters is how it affects you. You don't need to read 15 scientific papers to know that when you don't sleep well you don't feel great. However, what you may not know is that sleep deprivation can affect you in more ways than just your energy levels for the day, and that massage therapy can help you recover from insomnia.

Here are 3 ways that sleep deprivation can have a negative affect on your life:

1. Lower productivity, injury risk When we don't get enough sleep during our regular sleep hours, and we repeat this over and over again, our bodies start to seek sleep whenever they can. When you are performing a task that is monotonous, your sleep-deprived brain will signal to your body to sleep, in very short burst of a few seconds, these are called micro-sleeps. Micro-sleeps can lead to decreased productivity at work, but you are in real danger if they happen on the road. In fact, micro-sleeps are a leading cause of car crashes in North America. Micro-sleeps are a very unhealthy side-affect of not getting proper sleep.

2. Slower healing As you age, your body naturally decreases in it's ability to heal, be it recovering from injury, or building muscle when you go to the gym, but when you are sleep-deprived, your rate of recovery, or healing factor, is even worse! Part of what happens when you sleep is your body healing itself by fixing damaged tissue, but when you don't sleep enough, this happens more slowly.

3. Weight gain, over-eating If you have ever been sleep deprived, you may have noticed that feel more hungry than usual, this is because your body changes hormone production in response to sleep levels. When you feel hungrier, and have less time to process body fat for energy when you are asleep, keeping a healthy weight becomes more challenging.

Getting back to a healthy amount of sleep is essential to good health, and I can help you get there!

Subscribe to my blog for useful tips and information about sleep health from a health professional that is an expert in the field of sleep! As a father of 4 kids who has been through the long nights and dealt with sleep problems following a car crash and concussion, I also have a great deal of personal experience that has helped me to develop strategies that can help anyone dealing with poor sleep. Massage therapy is proven to be one of the most effective treatments for sleep disorders. As a non-invasive, non-pharmaceutical solution, Massage Therapy is safe and avoids the possible side effects associated with prescription medications when applied by a Registered Massage Therapist.