Seven things to do before going to bed to stop you from suffering from insomnia and dreaminess

Not getting enough sleep can harm your health. I tossed and turned in the middle of the night, and when I fell asleep I was haunted by dreams, feeling completely exhausted. In order to ensure the quality and effectiveness of sleep, reduce the distress caused by insomnia and dreaminess, and make sleep as deep and sound as possible, you should pay attention to the following specific issues before going to bed.

Wash your face and feet before going to bed

Washing your hands and face before going to bed can clean the skin on your face and palms, promote blood circulation in the head, face and upper limbs, and is a gentle stimulation to the cerebral cortex. It helps to fall asleep.

Washing your feet with warm water before going to bed can wash away dust and sweat, eliminate foot odor, reduce the chance of fungal infection, and help keep bedding and sheets clean. At the same time, it can also promote blood circulation in the lower limbs, eliminate the heaviness in the lower limbs caused by a day's fatigue, and help restore physical strength.

More importantly, soaking your feet in warm water is a gentle, benign stimulation that soothes the cerebral cortex, helping people fall asleep quickly and sleep more deeply. Someone has conducted an observation experiment: patients who washed their feet with warm water before going to bed had a significantly shorter time to fall asleep than those who did not wash their feet, and the number of dreams at night was also relatively reduced.

Of course, if you can take a bath with warm water before going to bed and soak your body in warm water for 15 minutes, the benefits to sleep will be greater.

Don't be excited before going to bed

Sleep is a protective response in which the brain's nerve cells switch from excitement to inhibition. If you are too excited before going to bed, it will inevitably affect the inhibition process, resulting in difficulty falling asleep or having many dreams after sleeping, and your brain will not get enough rest. Therefore, you should avoid strenuous activities (including sports and labor) half an hour before going to bed, avoid playing loudly, stop entertainment activities as early as possible, and do not watch TV or movies too late. For the same reason, students should not read books or use their brains before going to bed. They should try to avoid thinking about difficult problems, listening to thrilling stories, worrying about other things or letting their minds wander, so as to prevent the cerebral cortex from being in a state of continuous excitement. In addition, environmental factors that are not conducive to falling asleep, such as noise, lights, noise or vibration, should be eliminated.

Not eating before bed

It is not advisable to eat before going to bed. Because when the human body is sleeping, the brain's nerve cells are in a resting state and the activity of the digestive system slows down. If you eat before going to bed, especially greasy food, or eat too much, it will increase the burden on the gastrointestinal tract. Because the stomach is filled with food, the diaphragm is lifted upward, causing pressure on the chest, and people will feel uncomfortable breathing when lying in bed. Both of these will affect the depth of sleep. Ancient doctors once said: "If the stomach is not in harmony, sleep will not be good." Eating before going to bed will interfere with sleep, often causing nightmares, talking in sleep, and nightmares.

In addition, beverages such as strong tea and coffee are stimulating and irritating and should not be consumed before bedtime.

Relaxation before bed

You should stop strenuous mental and physical work 1-2 hours before going to bed and do some light relaxing activities. For example: go to a place with fresh air outdoors and take a slow walk for half an hour, or practice simple Tai Chi, do some breathing exercises, self-massage your back, listen to light music or serenades... This will allow the brain nerves and muscles around the body to fully relax and soothe, which is very helpful for falling asleep.

Open the window before going to bed

People also need sufficient oxygen to maintain the body's metabolic needs when sleeping. Open the windows for ventilation before going to bed to ensure fresh indoor air and adequate oxygen supply, which can help you fall asleep quickly and deeply. If you have a coal stove or use biogas at home, you should open the windows to let fresh air in and expel unclean air.

In extremely cold seasons, it is not convenient to open windows for a long time, so small air windows should be set up and opened to ensure normal air exchange.

Drink less water and urinate before going to bed.

If you drink a lot of water before going to bed, or eat foods high in water content (such as watermelon, porridge), your full bladder will continuously send stimulation signals to the cerebral cortex, causing you to sleep restlessly and have constant dreams. Getting up to urinate frequently in the middle of the night not only disturbs your sleep, but also makes you more likely to catch a cold. Therefore, you should drink less water before going to bed and urinate before going to bed.

Pay attention to your clothing and posture

To help you fall asleep and have fewer dreams, take off your fleece and tight clothes and wear loose cloth shirts and shorts. It would be even better if you have special pajamas. Sleeping posture varies from person to person. Generally, you can sleep on your back in a "big" shape; you can also lie on your right side, with your legs slightly bent, and your limbs not curled up; the pillow should not be too low, but not too high either. The height to which you can “sleep soundly” is limited and should be determined by how you feel.

Warm tip: When you cannot fall asleep on your own, taking some sedatives can help you fall asleep if necessary. Commonly used ones include tribromide, cephalosporin, night-time honey syrup, diazepam tablets and some sleeping pills. When it comes to sedatives and sleeping pills, you should neither become dependent on them for a long time nor be overly afraid of using them. Whether to take medicine should be based on the doctor's advice. Under the doctor's guidance, taking some sedatives and sleeping pills appropriately will be helpful in breaking the vicious cycle caused by insomnia.