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Fatigue & Sleep

Fatigue and Sleep

4 Kinds of Fatigue

Cumulative Fatigue: while mild disturbances may take longer to manifest symptoms they can build into chronic burn-out level fatigue that can affect health. 

Circadian Fatigue: working nighttime hours (2-5am) which interrupt normal individual sleep patterns. 

Transient Fatigue: 1-2 days of lost sleep and/or other factors of excess fatigue. 

Mental Fatigue: exhaustion caused by prolonged mental or emotional activity. Left unchecked, this can become burnout.  

Fatigue can increase because of:

  • Dim lighting or low vision.  
  • Noise, vibration, heat. 
  • Stress, illness, emotions, mood. 
  • Low fitness, dehydration, poor diet.  

Effects of cumulative fatigue

Staying awake for 24 hours can mimic symptoms of .1% blood alcohol level. Losing a day of sleep would feel like as intoxicating as having 4 drinks in 1 hour. 

Fatigue is the 13th highest cause of medical and pharmaceutical costs in the US. 

INCREASES:  

  • Risk of injury 
  • Forgetfulness and Errors 
  • Vulnerability to illness 
  • Digestive Problems 
  • High Blood Pressure Risk 
  • Joint Inflammation 

DECREASES: 

  • Ability to plan and make decisions 
  • Attention and productivity 
  • Reaction time and strength 
  • Memory and ability to recover 

Sleep health

  1. Sleep is directly correlated with performance.   
  2. Can help decrease the perception of pain.  
  3. Poor sleep leads to poor diet and inactivity.  
  4. Sleep is a piece of the puzzle when preventing or fighting against chronic diseases.   
  5. Average adult needs a minimal of 7 hrs. (7-9hrs)  

Top ten tips for good sleep

  1. Have a set routine. Go to bed and wake up at the same time as much as possible. Even on weekends.  
  2. Stay active. Get exercise during the day but not within 3 hrs. of bedtime.  
  3. Watch your stimulants intake. Avoid coffee (even decaf), some teas, chocolate, etc. 
  4. Cool and quiet. Room temperature should be between 60-67˚ for optimal sleep.  If it is noisy in your home/neighborhood, use earbuds if necessary.  
  5. Dark, lights out. Turn off bright lights in the bedroom. Close curtains. Wear eye mask if necessary.  
  6. Be calm. Take a bath or read a book. Avoid stimulating conversations tv shows and/or looking at social media/using your phone prior to bed.  Take some deep, belly breaths: 
  7. Remove distractions. Clear bed of any clutter. Avoid working in bed.  
  8. Body alignment. Try to keep neck, back, arms, and hands in a neutral position. Discuss your sleeping positions with your PT.  
  9. Tune it out. Utilize white noise or sleep sound apps.  
  10. Wake up to natural light. Get sun as soon as possible once awake. If no sun, then turn on all lights.  

Sleep positions

During the night we want to decrease the amount of stress and strain that is placed on the body so that it can recover and rest. Here are some simple suggestions to help keep you comfortable and in a neutral position that places little stress on your body. 

Sleep Neck
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