Chapter 7 - Regeneration

Establishing regular sleep patterns can also have a particularly beneficial effect for people who want to improve their sleep. Researchers state in study after study that people who practice a pattern of going to sleep and getting up at the same time every day have consistently better sleep than those who have no such patterns or frequently interrupted patterns. This can be a particular detriment for people whose work shifts change from week to week or month to month.

The bed you sleep in obviously affects your ability to sleep restfully too. Worn out mattresses and/or box springs are terrible culprits, responsible for inadequate rest. Sagging dips and holes in your mattress are clues that your bed could use replacing. They’re evidence that your mattress can’t support you at the crucial points and this allows your skeletal frame to distort while you’re sleeping.

Pillows that raise your head too high or that are too flat can also cause sleep challenges by placing unnatural bends in your neck for hours at a time. Even as a chiropractor, I don’t have much confidence in the chiropractic pillows. Memory foam or down-filled feather pillows earn my best recommendation. I’ve heard some good reports from people who’ve used the water pillows too.

Different people have different comfort levels in terms of mattress firmness. Some require soft mattresses, others firm ones. The ideal mattress for you is the one that allows you to sleep most soundly through the night with adequate support and which results in no pains or aches in the morning.

I’m not a great proponent of box springs for a bed either. I prefer a high-quality mattress on a firm platform. My own bed consists of a wood frame with a rigid plywood platform between the head board and the foot board. I bought the best mattress I could find and placed it directly on the solid wooden frame. The support is great and the mattress provides comfort for wonderful sleep.

When I decide to purchase a new bed in the future, after investigating many types of sleep systems, my first choice will be a Tempurpedic, the one with the space-age memory foam. The second

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