Are you suffering from poor-quality sleep? It could be a consequence of sleep apnea, but it could also be a side effect of certain everyday habits. In particular, if you tend to look at your cell phone every night shortly before bedtime, it might be making it significantly harder for you to get enough quality rest. Below is a closer look at the impact that your phone might be having on your sleep.
What Happens When You Look at Your Phone Before Bed?
Like most devices with an electronic screen, your cell phone emits blue light. This type of light also comes from the sun, and it can inhibit your body’s ability to produce melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate the sleep cycle. When you’re exposed to blue light at night, it can throw off your body’s circadian rhythm, thereby making it harder for you to fall asleep.
How Can You Combat the Impact Your Phone Has on Your Sleep?
If you want to improve the overall quality of your sleep, then you should try to avoid using your cell phone (and any other type of device with a screen) for at least an hour prior to your regular bedtime. It may help to find another way to pass the time, such as reading a book, listening to music, or even engaging in a simple activity like working on a puzzle.
Of course, there may be times when you can’t avoid looking at a screen in the evening. As such, it may be a good idea to invest in glasses that offer blue light protection. Such glasses can reduce the amount of blue light that reaches your eyes, which can potentially have a positive impact on your sleep.
What Else Can You Do to Improve Your Sleep?
On top of adjusting your screen time habits, it’s also important to identify any other issues that might be affecting your sleep. Dealing with said issues can potentially improve the quality of your nightly rest.
For example, untreated sleep apnea can cause your breathing to repeatedly stop and restart while you’re asleep. This results in brief yet frequent awakenings that disrupt the sleep cycle, which can leave you feeling exhausted during the day. It’s best to have sleep apnea diagnosed and treated as soon as possible. Oftentimes, your dentist may be able to help by providing you with a customized oral appliance that moves the lower jaw forward, which helps keep the airway clear and makes breathing interruptions less likely to occur.
Whether sleep apnea or cell phone use is to blame for your lack of quality sleep, it’s important to be proactive about addressing the problem so that you can start enjoying more restful nights.
About the Practice
At Creekview Family Dentistry, our dentists offer a comprehensive menu of dental services in order to meet the oral health needs of patients of all ages. But we don’t stop there; we can also provide customized oral appliances to treat your sleep-disordered breathing, allowing you to get the good night’s rest you deserve. If you’ve been diagnosed with sleep apnea and are looking for a way to get it under control, you can schedule an appointment at our practice in Lewisville by visiting our website or calling (972) 459-1100.