--- title: "Tips for Managing Insomnia" url: https://hstmedical.com/tips-managing-insomnia/ date: 2018-02-21 modified: 2024-05-27 author: "HST Editor" description: "Do you have insomnia? It is estimated that between 10% and 20% of the Singapore population experience insomnia. This can be in the form of difficulty falling asleep, remaining asleep,..." categories: - "Blog" - "wellness" image: https://hstmedical.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/vladislav-muslakov-261627-unsplash.jpg word_count: 329 --- # Tips for Managing Insomnia Do you have insomnia? It is estimated that between 10% and 20% of the Singapore population experience insomnia. This can be in the form of difficulty falling asleep, remaining asleep, or waking up too early. ### Symptoms of Insomnia Insomnia affects our daily lives and can have the following symptoms: - Still feeling tired after a night's sleep - Daytime fatigue or sleepiness - Irritability, depression, or anxiety - Poor concentration and focus - Uncoordinated in movements, actions, or speech - An increase in errors or accidents - Tension headaches - Difficulties in socializing - Gastrointestinal symptoms It has also been found that long-term disrupted sleep has a strong correlationto diabetes, stroke, cardiovascular diseases, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. ### Causes of Insomnia Insomnia can have many causes, such as: - Anxiety, stress or excitement - Poor sleeping habits - Mental conditions such as depression or bipolar disorder - Night shifts - Travelling across time zones - Sleep apnea - Age - Poor circulation to the brain - Bodily pain or other health conditions affecting sleep - Over-drinking - Substance abuse - Sub-par health according to TCM (e.g. "heaty" physiques with symptoms such as mouth ulcers, or "cold" physiques with symptoms such as loose bowels, sleep deprived due to dreams, and anemia). ### Tips for managing insomnia If you suffer from insomnia, here are some tips: - Adopt a regular sleeping habit - Keep the bedroom dark, cool and quiet - Exercise regularly - Do some light reading to wind down - Listen to soothing music - Gentle stretching (or yoga) - Deep breathing - Meditation - Wearing socks to sleep - Drink a cup of warm honey or milk before sleep - Drink tea - "Heaty" physiques may opt for chrysanthemum flower tea, while "cold" physiques may opt for dried logn with red date tea. ### Avoidthe following - Naps during the afternoons or early morning - Coffee, tea and certain cola drinks from mid-day onwards - Cigarette smoking in the evenings - Working, eating or engaging in any mentally stimulating activity at night (e.g. playing games on computers and smartphones) - Regular consumption of alcohol and/or sleeping tablets - Heavy meals prior to bedtime (by Tan Shiau Tse, TCM Physician)