What to do if you have trouble sleeping after surgery

Sleep is a necessary condition to ensure that people replenish the physical energy consumed during a day's work. Only adequate sleep can restore the body's energy. Many patients who have undergone surgery have told their doctors that their sleep quality is not very good. Without sufficient sleep, it is difficult for the body to recover. This will prolong the postoperative recovery period and bring a lot of inconvenience to the patients. So what should you do if you have poor sleep after surgery? Let’s learn about it together~

What to do if you have trouble sleeping?

1. Get rid of the habit of lying on your back

Sleeping on your back is the most common sleeping position. With this sleeping position, the body and lower limbs can only be fixed in an extended position, which cannot achieve the purpose of full body rest. When the intra-abdominal pressure increases, lying on your back can easily cause people to feel chest tightness and suffocation.

When lying on your back, you will consciously or unconsciously place your hands on your chest, which will put pressure on your heart and lungs and make you more likely to have nightmares. People who snore or have respiratory diseases should not adopt this sleeping position.

When sleeping on your stomach, most of your body weight is pressed on your ribs and abdomen, which puts pressure on your chest and diaphragm, affects your breathing, and increases the burden on your heart. Sleeping prone also increases the curvature of the lumbar spine, causing compression of the facet joints at the back of the spine.

Best sleeping position: lying on your right side.

2. Lie on your right side with your legs bent.

The correct sleeping position should be lying on your right side with your legs bent. This is because the heart is biased towards the left side. When lying on the right side, the heart is under less pressure, which helps the blood circulate freely and promotes better metabolism.

Moreover, the food in the stomach is pushed toward the duodenum by gravity, which promotes digestion and absorption. But when sleeping on your side, be careful not to use a pillow that is too low, otherwise it will cause discomfort in your neck.

Tips for side sleeping: The direction of your head and feet should be east-west, and avoid having your head facing north and your feet facing south.

3. Keep a diary

Thinking or engaging in strenuous activities can cause the body to release stress hormones and produce alertness. But writing down our stress in a journal can help us forget about it when we crawl into bed.

Research shows that certain types of journaling help us focus on the positive rather than the negative aspects of our lives.

4. Create a comfortable environment

Whether it's picking the perfect mattress, splurging on 800-thread-count sheets, investing in tight curtains to block out the light, or putting a fan in the room for background noise, make sure your bed is comfortable and warm before you get into it.

Sharing a bed with a partner? Then make some changes with your partner so that everyone can sleep well.

5. Get some sleep

Stayed up too late the past few nights? Then make up for it by getting an extra hour of sleep tonight so you can feel refreshed.

6. Don’t toss and turn

Can't fall asleep? If you've been lying in bed for more than 20 minutes, try getting out of bed and doing some light exercise, like reading a book or listening to some classical music.

Think about it, not sleeping can make you more anxious—it’s a vicious cycle.

7. Stay away from alarm clocks

Watching the hands on your alarm clock tick by can actually cause more stress, making it harder to fall asleep.

Additionally, the artificial light emitted by electronic products can disrupt our circadian rhythm, tricking our bodies into thinking it’s time to stay up late or party.

8. Use technology

Check out all the smartphone apps and other gadgets that can help you sleep. Tracking sleep over time can also help us identify what helps or hinders us from sleeping.

9. Listen to soothing music

Soothing music can improve sleep quality and lengthen sleep duration. Listen to classical music, folk music, or slow modern music, which are generally soothing and relaxing.

10. Try progressive muscle relaxation

Starting at your feet, tense your muscles. Hold, count to five, and then release. Then do this with every muscle group in your body, from your feet to the top of your head.

Meditating every night will help your body prepare for sleep by focusing on your breathing.

11. Dim the lights

Bright lights, especially the "blue light" emitted by most electronic devices, can cause sleep disturbances.