Everyone knows the feeling after a bad night’s sleep, from irritability to unproductivity, but longer lasting sleep disruption can have a much more significant effect on both our mental wellbeing and our physical health. Regular poor sleep increases our risk of obesity, heart disease and diabetes, and can lead to shortened life expectancy.

Insomnia is so common that it now affects 1 in 3 people in the UK and every year 200,000 working days are lost to insufficient sleep. This amounts to an annual cost of 30 million pounds. Adults who sleep for fewer than 6 hours a night also have a 13% higher mortality risk than those who sleep for at least 7 hours and adults who sleep for less than 7 hours a day are also 30% more likely to be obese than those who sleep for 9 hours or more.

A number of factors can affect sleep, and not surprisingly if your are experiencing muscle and joint difficulties, it may affect the quality of your sleep. This sleep disruption can, in turn, make make managing your pain more difficult.

If you have difficulty sleeping, our osteopath provides some useful information and advice to help you to get a better night’s sleep:

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Good sleep habits

Trouble getting to sleep or experiencing unsettle nights? Here are some top tips, from creating good sleep habits and what to avoid before bed, to to help you get that restful night's sleep and feel healthy and bright in the morning.

Sleep when working shifts

If you are working a changing shift pattern, getting a good sleep routine can be difficult. This can disrupt your natural body clock, which can in turn affect your health. Here we give advice on how to optimise your sleep when working shifts.