What causes waking up easily in the middle of the night?

As the pressure of life increases, more and more people are suffering from sub-health conditions, and lack of sleep and insomnia are also one of the sub-health conditions. If you don’t sleep well on a regular basis, it will naturally affect your work the next day, and your mood will also be affected, forming a vicious cycle. There are many reasons for insomnia. Stress is one aspect, and the other is tension, anxiety, over-excitement, etc., plus external environmental factors, all of which can have an impact. So what should we do?

There are many causes of insomnia. Mental factors such as mental tension, excitement, depression, fear, anxiety, and boredom can often cause insomnia; social environmental factors such as excessive work and study pressure, environmental changes, noise, light and air pollution are another important reason; bad living habits such as overeating at dinner and drinking tea and coffee before bed can also cause insomnia.

The following aspects should be done mainly:

① A light diet rich in protein and vitamins is recommended.

② Participate in exercises that emphasize mental training, such as Qigong and Tai Chi, to improve the regulatory ability of the nerves.

③ Live a regular life, go to bed on time, do not eat too much for dinner, and do not drink stimulating drinks such as tea and coffee before going to bed.

④ Health foods such as menatonin and lecithin have a good effect in regulating nerve function and help improve sleep.

Insomnia refers to insufficient sleep time, or shallow or unclear sleep, which can be divided into the following three types:

(1) Initial insomnia: It is difficult to fall asleep and it is not until the second half of the night that one can fall asleep.

(2) Intermittent insomnia: restless sleep, easy awakening, and frequent nightmares. This is common among middle-aged people with indigestion.

(3) Terminal insomnia: It is not difficult to fall asleep, but the sleep duration is short. The patient cannot fall asleep again after waking up in the second half of the night. This type of insomnia is common in the elderly with hypertension, arteriosclerosis, and depression.

Insomnia increases the excitability of the brain, causing difficulty falling asleep, shallow sleep, easy awakening, and early awakening due to frequent dreams. Due to lack of sleep at night, patients suffer from daytime fatigue, lack of concentration and poor appetite. Some people also have symptoms such as tinnitus, amnesia, hand tremors, dizziness and heaviness in the head, and irritability. Insomnia can also cause psychological disturbances, and patients feel a heavy physical and mental burden. Traditional Chinese medicine calls "insomnia" "insomnia" and believes that it has many causes, including "sleeping restlessly due to stomach disharmony" and "insomnia due to fatigue and restlessness". It is related to malfunction of the heart, liver, spleen, and kidneys and insufficient yin and blood. This symptom is more common in people with neurasthenia.

Self-treatment precautions

(1) Self-treatment of insomnia cannot rely on medication. Instead, attention should be paid to eliminating the causes of insomnia, striving for psychological balance, and combining physical therapy to improve physical fitness. The effect will be better.

(2) Maintain a balance between work and rest and change bad living habits. Quit smoking, drinking, and spicy foods such as coffee and strong tea. Don't eat too much at dinner.

(3) Eat appropriate amounts of foods that help with nerve function. Such as river fish, sea fish, oysters, shrimps, loaches, pork liver, pork kidneys, walnuts, peanuts, apples, mushrooms, peas, broad beans, milk, etc.

(4) Stop using your brain half an hour before going to bed and listen to soft and beautiful music in a quiet environment. People who have trouble falling asleep can also do some relaxing activities such as going out for a walk.

(5) Before going to bed, wash your feet with 40℃-50℃ warm water and rub the soles of your feet for a while. In winter, you should rub your feet until they are warm.

(6) Avoid using heat-replenishing tonics, such as deer antler, ginseng, and aconite.

(7) Regularly participate in gardening activities such as planting flowers and raising grass to cultivate your temperament, eliminate tension and anxiety, and achieve psychological balance.

(8) Drinking a glass of milk or eating some sweets before going to bed can help improve sleep quality.

(9) Exercising for about half an hour in the early morning facing the sun can help adjust your body’s biological clock.