How Much Sleep Should You Really Get As You Age?
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WHAT EXACTLY IS SLEEP ANYWAY?
Sleep is one of the most mysterious physical phenomena, yet it is part of virtually every living creature’s life cycle. We know that sleep is controlled by the brain. For example, during our waking hours, a chemical called adenosine builds up in our blood and eventually signals our brain that we’re drowsy. Sleeping causes the chemical to gradually break down. Our brain uses the time we spend sleeping to restore itself, which is why you feel refreshed and energized after a good night of sleep. If you’re losing sleep because of teeth grinding or clenching, you can count on our CustMbite Nightguard to help you get better rest. Continue reading to learn more about the stages of sleep and how our sleep mouth guard can keep you cycling regularly through the stages without painful interruption of your sleeping cycle.
There are five known stages to sleep. The first stage is when we phase in and out of sleep and can be awoken quite easily. Muscle activity in our body slows and our eyes move slowly. During the second stage, our eye movements cease and our brain waves slow down, with occasional bursts of fast waves. During the third and fourth stage of sleep, we develop extremely slow brain waves called delta waves. This is our deepest sleep. There is no eye or muscle activity whatsoever. Being woken from this deep sleep stage can cause disorientation for several minutes. The fifth stage, REM (rapid eye movement) sleep is when we dream. This cycle is repeated throughout the night, with the deep sleep periods decreasing and eventually ceasing as the morning comes.
HOW MUCH SLEEP DO I NEED AS I AGE?
As newborns, people start out needing up to 17 hours a day of sleep. Obviously, that changes as we age. By the time we hit our teenage years, we need anywhere from 9 to 11 hours of sleep each night. The difference is based on each person’s individual makeup, and varies from person to person. By the time we reach adulthood until about the age of 64, we need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep, and adults ages 65 and over need between 7 and 8 hours of sleep. So it is true that we need fewer hours of sleep as we age. There are anecdotal cases of older adults who need only 5 hours of sleep to feel refreshed, just as there are cases of older adults who need a full 10 hours to feel fully rested. But the average amount of sleep needed as we age is between 7 and 8 hours.
If we don’t get enough sleep, all kinds of problems can begin to occur. For one, we may be irritable or have a bad temper after even one night of bad sleep, and this can get worse as the bad nights add up. We can become confused and forget things that we normally wouldn’t forget. Although this can be a sign of different types of dementia, it could simply be due to a lack of sleep. Sleep deprivation leads to thousands of accidents every year among older adults. When we can’t sleep, we need to find out why and do something about it.
One cause of a lack of sleep as we age could be teeth grinding or clenching when you are asleep. Teeth grinding is called bruxism and happens to many older adults because the enamel tends to wear down on our teeth over the years. The added wear from grinding teeth during sleep can wear the enamel down enough to expose the nerves of our teeth and this can be very painful. Jaw clenching is often a symptom of TMJ, which is a misalignment or wearing down of the joint that connects our jaw at the top. You may notice a clicking noise when you eat—that is generally from TMJ. These nighttime maladies are easy to fix with the help of the CustMbite Nightguard.
HOW CAN THE CUSTMBITE NIGHTGUARD HELP ME GET A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP?
If you suffer from bruxism or TMJ, the CustMbite Nightguard prevents your teeth from grinding or your jaw from clenching. It’s made of our patented VistaMaxx material, which is tough enough to keep you from biting through the mouth guard while also being comfortable enough to wear every night. It was designed with the help of dental professionals and is easy to mold to the shape of your teeth. It only takes two minutes, a microwave, and a bowl of cold water to shape the guard to your teeth.
HOW CAN I GET A CUSTMBITE NIGHTGUARD?
Our nightguard is an effective and affordable way to address the bruxism and TMJ that may make it easier to get the proper amount of sleep as you age. Order your CustMbite Nightguard today and see the difference for yourself!
$49.95