About 20 percent of the population do shift work. Some of these patients might have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or excessive daytime while awake. If you do shift work and have any of the above symptoms, you might have shift work sleep disorder.
Tips to improve sleep for shift workers
- Increase your total amount of sleep by adding naps and lengthening the amount of time you allot for sleep.
- Use bright lights in your workplace.
- Minimize the number of shift changes so that your body’s biological clock has a longer time to adjust to a nighttime work schedule.
- Get rid of sound and light distractions in your bedroom during your daytime sleep.
- Use caffeine only during the first part of your shift to promote alertness at night.
- If you are unable to fall asleep during the day, and all else fails, talk with your doctor to see whether it would be wise for you to use prescribed, short-acting sleeping pills to help you sleep during the day.
Sleep disorders management
What are the treatments for sleep disorders?
Treatments for sleep disorders depend on which disorder you have. They may include
- How are sleep disorders managed?
Sleep Clinic NYC
The management of sleep disorders depends on the actual sleep diagnosis
Common sleep disorders and the treatment options
- Good sleep habits
- Cognitive behavioral therapy or relaxation techniques
- CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) for sleep apnea
- Bright light therapy for delayed sleep phase syndrome
- For insomnia, in addition to behavior therapy, there are prescription and non-prescription medications such as melatonin, Zolpidem (Ambien), Zaleplon (Sontata), Eszopiclone (Lunesta) etc.
