Catch Some Better Z's! Sleep Awareness Month With Our North Dallas Chiropractors
at Apex Wellness Center

Our North Dallas chiropractic team, led by Dr. Erin Stark Calaway and Dr. Nikki Porteus, is honoring Sleep Awareness Month this March by letting our community know how chiropractic care can help anyone achieve a peaceful and restful night's sleep.

The Relationship Between Your Spine, Your Nervous System, & Your Sleep Quality

Sleep matters. Perhaps the most necessary factor for quality sleep is the proper function of your neurological system--which includes your brain, spinal cord, and spinal nerves, and peripheral nerves. The nervous system plays a direct role by regulating sleep-wake cycles, cellular repair and regeneration, hormonal and metabolic balance, and other important physiological processes that naturally occur as you sleep. 

And while your nervous system directly affects sleep, your spine directly affects your nervous system! If your back is injured, this can create pressure on nervous tissue, which can impede the transmission of regulatory signals being sent to and from your brain.

In other words, an injured or painful back may impair your sleep, not only because you feel uncomfortable, but also because your nervous system may be unable to work as efficiently and effectively as possible. 

How Chiropractic Care Can Improve Your Sleep

So many of our patients tell us that they sleep better and feel more energized after receiving an adjustment or other chiropractic care technique offered at APEX. Research actually proposes several reasons for this: 

• A chiropractic adjustment helps to realign your spinal joints and bones, which often become misaligned due to injury, poor posture, poor body mechanics, stress, and so on. Low back pain and other symptoms associated with spinal joint misalignment (also called subluxation) can keep you up at night and make it hard for you to stay asleep. By restoring your spine's normal alignment and mobility, your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and other connective tissues will become less inflamed, irritated, and painful, leaving you feeling and sleeping much better. 
• Chiropractic adjustments also help to optimize the function of your nervous system. By using gentle and specifically directed touch and force, our chiropractors can stimulate sensory receptors along your spine that may trigger an analgesic effect throughout your body. Adjustments can also act as a "reset" button that restore your body's natural energy balance and neurochemical activation patterns within the brain, which are used to influence everything from hormone production to digestion to tissue healing.  
• Other chiropractic techniques, including massage therapy, cold laser therapy, and physiotherapy, can enhance the beneficial effects of a spinal adjustment and maximize your overall outcomes from care. 
• Chiropractors can educate you on certain lifestyle and behavioral choices to improve your sleep quality. This may include increasing your physical activity level, improving your nutrition, using an essential oil diffuser in your bedroom, and sleeping in a different position that will reduce strain and pressure on your spine. 

An added benefit of chiropractic care in North Dallas is that you can achieve better, more restful sleep without the need for over-the-counter or prescription medications, which many people prefer to avoid due to fears of dependency or adverse side effects.

5 Additional Ways To Alleviate Insomnia & Improve Your Sleep Quality

In addition to consulting with a chiropractor, our North Dallas chiropractic team also recommends these top 5 tips to help you get a better night's sleep:

1. Invest in a good pillow and mattress. Sleeping on a soft bed that supports a neutral spine can improve your sleep and prevent back pain or stiffness. 
2. Turn off the television or computer at least one hour before bed. Blue light emissions from digital devices can disrupt your body's normal sleep-wake cycle, plus TV and internet often contains content that is stressful or otherwise stimulating. Try reading a calming book or magazine instead. 
3. Avoid eating or drinking alcohol too close to bedtime. As your body winds down for the night, you don't want to have to spend energy on digestion. 
4. Go to sleep around the same time every night. This helps normalize your body's circadian rhythm and can help you fall asleep faster. 
5. Sleep in a pitch black room, heated to around 65 degrees--and be sure to keep all televisions, computers, night lights, and work out of the bedroom!

Do You Struggle With Insomnia? Get "Back" To Sleep With Help From Our North Dallas Chiropractors!

Dr. Calaway and Dr. Porteus of APEX Wellness Center proudly serve the communities of North Dallas, Addison, Carrollton, and Richardson, TX. If you live locally to one of these communities and have been struggling with insomnia, then call our clinic today at  (972) 392-9402 to schedule an initial consultation with one of North Dallas chiropractors. Don't delay: a good night's sleep may be closer than you think!