Chronic Pain, Sleep and Natural Relief

If you or someone you care about suffers from fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, dystonia or any other chronic painful illness then you know how long a night can be. And when pain medication takes too long to kick in – or worse, stops working altogether – a night can last forever. I watched my Mother suffer from endless pain over the past few years before she finally passed away last October. We were all left with feelings of helplessness because it is hard to watch someone you care about in such misery, anything you can do to ease their suffering is a major feat.
One of the little things that you can do the next time you visit someone in pain that you care about is to make sure that their bedding and surrounding sleep area is comfortable.
Wool bedding can help you reclaim that healing, rejuvenating sleep your body craves. A study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (Apr 2009) found that fibromyalgia sufferers who slept on wool bedding reported a significant reduction in pain. It’s not a scientific breakthrough and it’s not high-tech. But it works.
The majority of our bedding at Naturally Organic Sleep: Toppers, Mattress Covers and Comforters - all have natural wool incorporated into the design to prevent thermal imbalance - An incredible temperature regulator, wool absorbs 35% of its weight in moisture before it feels damp. And because wool fibers are constantly in motion, moving moisture from your skin to the environment, your bedding not only feels dry, it is.
Did you know that you lose up to a pint of moisture at night in your bed, just through breathing and natural perspiration? Synthetic fibers absorb less than 3% of that moisture, trapping most of it between you and your sheets – which make it feel like you’re lying on the uncomfortable side of your rain slicker.
You know moisture can feel like a hammer to your joints when you suffer from arthritis. Switching to wool bedding can significantly reduce pain so you enjoy uninterrupted sleep.
We have such a short time on this planet, and with such a large portion of it spent sleeping -- it is vital that we make the most of it, especially assisting those in pain and making sure that they are as comfortable as possible.

Lose Weight by Sleeping?

Just by tucking in a little earlier tonight, that extra ten pounds you’ve been struggling to lose may simply fall off. You might think we’re dreaming but the correlation between sleep and weight is well documented. Try these tips for a week and watch the inches fall away!

• Go to bed earlier – Count back from the time you wake up and calculate your bedtime from there. Can’t get to sleep early? Schedule a nap mid-day to ensure you’re getting a minimum of 7 hours within a 24-hour period.

• Get your body ready for bed earlier – If you’re used to staying up later, start a pre-sleep ritual to signal to your body when it’s time to start winding down. Turn off the TV, your iPhone, your computer and pick up a book instead. Away from the bright lights of your computer, your body releases a hormone that makes you feel drowsy.

• Cut out the caffeine – Sip your coffee, soda and tea before 3 pm so your body has a chance to get rid of the caffeine before bedtime. Alcohol may be a depressant, but it also prevents your body from falling into a deep, rejuvenating sleep.

• Tweak the program – Women require more sleep than men (especially at certain times of the month) so it make take a while for you to find the number that works for you. If you rely on an alarm to wake up, try backing up your bedtime by 15 minutes until you wake up on your own.

Have you tried losing weight just by getting a better night’s sleep? Let us know how it works for you!