If people are used to sleep aids, their perception of sleep changes.  They tend to think that normal sleep is a very deep, dreamless, almost comatose state.  That is just not true for most people.  Sleep is not the same as anesthesia. 

How can we manage our expectations of sleep?  The most important thing is how you define it and how you look at it.  If you have a few nights of less than perfect sleep, try to relax about it.  Your body will force you to catch up at some point.  If you worry about it, you will tend to be more stressed out and even less able to sleep.  I try to see it as “me” time.  If I wake up in the middle of the night, unable to get back to sleep, I practice deep breathing, I allow my mind to wander, I dream of things that I would like to do, and I generally see it as a blessing.  That is  a state of mind that is much more likely to allow me to fall back to sleep, rather than one where I worry about why I am awake, worry about how tired I am going to be tomorrow, and wondering what is wrong with me.  That kind of worry leads to more stress hormones and less sleep. 

So, if you have a bad night – try to stay calm-  enjoy the stillness and the thinking space.  You will probably find that, like me, you will fall back asleep before you know it. 

If your insomnia continues, it is a good idea to use one of the many helpful snoring products, pillows or insomnia aids at AllegroMedical.com  – or contact your doctor. 

See all Insomnia products

See all Snoring products

- Marita Klein

 About the Author:  Marita is an organizational development consultant who has helped many private and organizational clients live the lives they want through her forthright, no nonsense approach to management and life. She has a Ph.D. in organizational psychology and has worked effectively as executive coach and consultant in South Africa, Canada and the US. She can be contacted at:  maritaklein (at) cox (dot) net.

Whether you have general insomnia, hot flashes, a snoring problem or a medical condition that’s keeping you awake, Allegro has something for you.  We even have products to help babies sleep better… so mommies and daddies can get a better night’s rest too.

Better Sleep Products

  The Snore Wizard – Without a doubt one of the most popular products at AllegroMedical.com.   Warning: It competely stops the snoring for some people and doesn’t work for others.  If a snorer is making you crazy, it’s probably worth the $60 bucks to find out, considering the high cost of surgery or worse yet, divorce…

 Baby Sleeps Safe - And mom will too, with this special two-piece infant sleep system developed by childcare experts. 

 Sonic Bomb Alarm Clock w/Bed Shaker – Are you a clock watcher, afraid you won’t hear the alarm?  Fear not, my sleepy friend, the Sonic Bomb will make SURE you’re awake with noise, flashing lights and bed shakers.  You can control all three, if it’s too much.  GREAT for heavy sleepers, college students and teenagers.

 Foam Eggcrate Mattress Overlay – another super popular AllegroMedical.com product.  This cushy overlay will save you $100’s off a pillow top mattress and will improve your circulation, reduce pressure sores and provide a cool, dry comfortable night’s sleep.  Great for sofa sleepers too!  Read Bed Check for Better Sleep for more better bed ideas.

 Eye Pillow with ergoBeads – like I always say, everything is better with cream cheese, bacon and…ergoBeads!

 Mother’s Choice Sleep Positioner – Awwww.  Don’t you just want to tickle those little feet?  This positioner will hold your baby comforably on their side or back in the crib, as recommended by the American Board of Pediatrics.

 Sunrise Alarm Clock -  This is just such a sweet product.  Imagine waking up to a slowly illuminated room, a simulated sunrise, instead being jarred awake by a screaming alarm.

 Double DreamSack - Perfect for couples who travel. This full silk pouch protects you from germs, harsh detergents and the general ick of hotel bedding. 

 Silk Travel Pillow Cases – Well, won’t you just be the smartest one on the plane when you slip one of these beautiful silk pillow cases onto your airline pillow!   Also get the Silk Pocket Pillowcase (fits standard pillows) to take with you on a cruise, visiting relatives, hotels or camping.  Makes a great Mother’s Day gift!

 Chillow Pillow Cooling Sensation Memory Foam Pillow – You have to try this if you sleep a little hot.  Seriously.  I have two of them.  They really work.  Takes a few days to get started, but after that… amazing!

See All Chillow Cooling Products

 Rest Mate Bed Wedges - Box of 2 - Supports your upper body, prevents you from shifting and provides total comfort while you’re on your back or side. 

 Hugg-A-Pillow Bed Pillow – Cuddle up with this unique pillow designed to support your head, neck, shoulders and upper chest.  Available in standard or allergy free. 

 Stress-Ease Support Pillow – Ease the stress on your back and neck with this total cervical support pillow. And sleep like a baby, too.  Or, how about a pillow for butterflies?  Not really, check this out – Softeze Butterfly Pillow.

 Dreamsie Sleeper & Sleep Cap – Mde from 100% certified organic cotton knit, your little one will be safe and sound in this loose bedding alternative.  The full length zipper makes nightime diaper changes a snap.  Fits infants up to 6 months.

 Sweet Relief Duo – Personal Soothing & Cooling Set – Designed by women for women, these two pillows will cover your hot spots while you’re trying to sleep.  Grab a nightfull of zzzzz’s, while this fluid filled duo whisks heat away from your body and head.   Another great Mother’s Day gift!

See all these and more in Allegro’s Shop by Condition: Insomnia area.  Wishing you restful nights and sweet dreams forever. 

-v

Psssst… as always, thanks for being an AllegroMedical.com customer.  We appreciate your business.  Don’t forget about us when you need medical supplies!

It may be time for a new pillow for several reasons.  Here’s a really good one . . . it is probably crawling with fungi and buggies.  Yes, it’s true.  The journal “Allergy”, published in 2006, says that pillows as young as 18 months old contained up to 47 different kinds of fungi!  The researchers found about four to 16 fungi species per pillow, with synthetic pillows having more.  In that case, if you have allergies or asthma, your pillow is probably not helping matters.   Besides, it’s gross.  Consider tossing your old pillows and replacing them with a new fungus free or anti-microbial pillows.  While you’re at it, you might as well choose your pillows according to the most important criteria:  how you sleep.

At AllegroMedical.com we display about 70 bed pillows in our Pillows category.  To save you the trouble, I’ve separated them according to sleep type and specialty pillows.  I’m searching for the perfect pillow myself, so I’m hoping this endeavor will bear fruit for us all.  

 The perfect pillow will keep your head aligned right on top of your shoulders when lying down – not too far to either side, or up and down.  Therefore, the thickness of your pillow is important, depending on how you sleep.  Think you need the biggest, longest, fluffiest, most expensive pillow every made?  Au contraire.   In fact, pillows that are too dense, fluffy or wide merely create tension in your neck and shoulders.

Pillows by Sleep Type

Side Sleeper Pillows are lofty and thick so they keep your head staight by filling in the space between your head and shoulders.   Our most popular pillow, the Better Sleep Pillow was originally designed for side sleepers, but it also works great for back sleepers and stomach sleepers because of it’s mult-positional, multi-functional contoured design.   This is also true of our Sleepmatterzzz Dual-Valve Cervical Pillow, a super popular pillow with 5 star reviews.  See all Sleepmatterzzz pillows.

Back Sleeper pillows are designed so that when you are lying on your back your head stays neutral – perfectly aligned with your spine, sitting squarely on your shoulders.   We have several pillows that support both side and back sleepers by automatically adjusting as your sleeping position changes.  If you alternate between your back and your side (or your side and your stomach) be sure to get one that works in multiple positions.  

Stomach sleepers are just weird.  Okay, that’s what I tell my stomach sleeper boyfriend Todd anyway.  Seriously, though, experts say it is not the best way to sleep because if your bed is soft and you use a pillow, then you are not keeping your head neutral.  But if you must sleep on your stomach then please use a specially designed pillow, a very thin pillow or no pillow at all.  The Sleepmatterzzz Dual-Valve Cervical Pillow would be perfect for sleepers who switch from their side to their stomach. 

Specialty Pillows

Allergy-Free Pillows and Covers are a must for allergy sufferers.  We even have an Anti-Allergen Mattress Cover. 

Anti-Snore Pillows:  The Snore-No-More Anti Snoring Pillow is our most popular,  but from reading the reviews, it either works or it doesn’t work at all.  It was featured in Woman’s World Magazine as the “best snoring pillow” though, and it seems to help a lot of people.   See our Snoring Section for all of our anti-snoring products.

Bed Wedges and Body Positioners are ideal for helping your body maintain a comfortable body position while you sleep.  They are often used for post-surgery bedrest , footrest or blank support as well.  The leg/knee wedges and back wedges are especially popular.  You can put them between your knees for side sleeping, or under your knees, or behind your back.

Body Pillows are especially good for side sleepers and pregnant women who like to keep their spines aligned, and circulation going by sleeping with a pillow between their knees.

Cervical Pillows come in all shapes and sizes, but they are all designed to support the neck.   Cervial pillows help relieve pain associated with muscle tension, stress and strain by promoting proper alignment and support.   

Cooling Pillows/Covers are heaven for hot summer nights and hot flashes.   I have two Chillow Pillows that I use all Arizona summer long.  They are super popular and I highly recommend them.   

Water Pillows allow you to personalize your pillow by filling a water pouch inside the pillow for soft, medium or firm support.

You can’t tell what’s going to work until you sleep on it so try to get the one that fits the best with your sleep style.  In my case, I’ve kissed a lot of toads, but I will continue to seek out the perfect pillow.  Even punching and feeling it in a retail store doesn’t make much of a difference. 

See our new category, Beds,  and also read how to retrofit the rest of your bed in my blog Bed Check for Better Sleep.

At least we have a lot of products to choose from, right?  Happy shopping!

-v

I read somewhere that sleep partners of heavy snorers awaken over twenty times per hour. Holy sleep deprivation, Batman! Do yourself and your slumber buddy a favor and take care of it.

First, you need to rule out sleep apnea. If your partner notices that while you are asleep you literally stop breathing for, like 10 seconds or more at a time, or you wake up super tired and you’re excessively sleepy during the day, then you could have sleep apnea. It’s a life-threatening condition and you probably don’t even know you have it. It needs to be diagnosed by a doctor or a sleep specialist. Make an appointment with an ENT, an otolaryngologist (say that 3 times fast) or sleep clinic. Right away.

Plain old snoring, not to be confused with sleep apnea, is characterized by loud breathing sounds, dry mouth when you wake up, no excessive sleepiness during the day and no cessation of breath while you are snoring. It happens when the tissue at the back of your throat vibrates because you either have too much tissue or you have jiggly tissue that vibrates easily. It can also happen when your tongue obstructs your respiration. If you’re single, then you might not even know you snore. However, if you don’t feel rested when you wake up, it could be the result of nighttime snoring. Maybe you should video tape or audio tape yourself in bed…sleeping. That’s always fun.

The reason you snore may not be your fault but it is still completely annoying. You may have been born with a narrow throat or developed a narrow throat around middle-age. Men generally have more narrow air passages than women, so you have that going for you if you’re a guy. Or maybe you have chronic allergies, or sinus infections. Been there. But when it comes to things that you have control over, like how much you drink or smoke (okay, maybe you don’t have control over those), or how fat and/or out of shape you are, or if you sleep on your back, then you might try controlling those things. You’ll realize general health benefits and probably see an end to your snoring condition. When my guy Todd gets just a few pounds overweight, there he goes. Snores like a freight train until he loses the weight.

If you can’t stop getting older, or stop drinking, smoking, having infections, being male, being fat or lumpy, or sleeping in the wrong position, then I suggest you consider the following:

1. Get a special snore pillow designed to support and position your head correctly. You’ll find all of our snoring products at Shop By Condition: Snoring at www.AllegroMedical.com.
2. Get a simple snoring device, like the Snore Wizard.
3. Try sleeping without a pillow at all. Ummm…yeah.
4. Attach something bulky and uncomfortable to your back. It will train you to sleep on your side if you are a chronic back sleeper.
5. Elevate the head of your bed by four or so inches. It supposedly makes your tongue and jaw move forward.
6. Skip that second martini and lay off the ice cream before bed. Both alcohol and high-fat dairy/soy products can cause problems. Alcohol, because it relaxes your airways; and dairy because it creates mucus in your throat.
7. Blow your nose. Boogers are not your friend. If you’re really stuffed up then try some nasal strips, but avoid antihistamines because they relax your throat muscles.
8. Consult your doctor to see if you are a candidate for surgery or a CPAP device (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure). A CPAP forces air into your mouth through a mask and makes you breath.

I’m sorry you snore, but see, there are things you can do about it. Or, if you are the victim of a snorer, then print this blog, highlight the headline and leave it on your partner’s pillow.

Let’s make this a better world, people, one night at a time.