Three Common Nighttime Sleep Problems: When to See a Doctor

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Dangerous disorders and diseases can be hidden behind the occurrence of problems with night sleep, which require the earliest possible examination.

Problems with falling asleep and the duration of sleep. When a person has difficulty falling asleep or does not sleep well at night, he faces problems with concentration and mood the next day.

German psychologist and somnologist Hans-Günter Wees notes that most often such disturbances in night sleep are caused by stress, the inability to disconnect from disturbing thoughts. Another common reason is an inappropriate environment: for example, too loud sounds or bright lights.

Also, inability to fall asleep quickly or inadequately early awakening can be explained by taking medications, thyroid diseases

When should you go to the doctor? According to the expert, if problems with falling asleep and too short sleep occur at least three times a week for four or more weeks, you should consult a therapist. It is important to do this if the problem persists despite the improvement of conditions for night sleep.

Snoring. It occurs when the upper airways are narrowed, for example due to enlarged tonsils. In addition, the narrowing of the respiratory passage is facilitated by excess weight, alcohol abuse, hypertension present in a person. Experts distinguish between healthy and pathological snoring: it depends on how strongly the trachea contracts and how often breathing stops. If a person's snoring occurs at least five stops of breathing per night, this is already a pathology.

When should you go to the doctor? If you suspect that you stop breathing at night, you should contact a specialist. Signs of such a problem can be a dry throat or headache in the morning, attacks of daytime fatigue, frequent falling asleep in front of the TV.

Restless legs syndrome. At first glance, this disorder of night sleep is unusual. quite common – itching, burning, tingling and other unpleasant sensations in the legs prevent people from relaxing and falling asleep (in rare cases, they can also occur in the hands). According to the expert, the causes of the problem can be a lack of nutrients (iron, folic acid, vitamin B12), nerve damage, diabetes and metabolic diseases, heredity, taking certain medications.

When to see a doctor? If “restless” legs prevent you from sleeping, force you to get out of bed, it is better not to delay in contacting a therapist or neurologist. Nerve damage, possible in their case, can occur due to many dangerous diseases.