Is It a Sleep Disorder or Poor Sleep Habits?

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

If you struggle to sleep well at night, you could have a sleeping disorder. However, your sleeping habits — sometimes called “sleep hygiene” — could be to blame.

“There are hundreds of sleep disorders,” said Misol Kwon, Ph.D., registered nurse and research project assistant and data analysist at UB. “There are different diagnoses that require you to go on a sleep study. There are so many disorders, like restless leg, sleep apnea, narcolepsy and many more. You can have a sleep study to get evaluated. But there are also bad sleep habits. You can mention it to your primary care provider.”

This can help address the root cause, like pain or anxiety.

Kwon said that insomnia may include difficulty in falling asleep, staying asleep or awakening too early. Any of these can result in daytime sleepiness. Chronic insomnia occurs at least three nights a week for a month or longer.

“The first step should be to evaluate sleep hygiene or healthy sleep habits,” said Soda Kuczkowski, sleep health educator, certified sleep coach and founder and owner of Start with Sleep, LLC in Buffalo. “If lifestyle and behavioral factors have been addressed with little to no success it may be time to evaluate for a medical sleep disorder or to speak with a sleep coach or consultant that can provide a more targeted approach to identifying the root cause of a sleep challenge through an investigative evaluation and sleep health education.”

Insomnia is the difficulty in falling or staying asleep. In addition to sleep hygiene, it’s also helpful to look at medications that can disrupt sleep, as well as food.

“Of course, caffeine is the biggest culprit here,” said Jane Burrell, registered dietitian, specialist in lifecycle nutrition and medical nutrition ther-

Sleeping: you’ve done it since you were a baby and it may seem like the easiest thing to do.

Until it isn’t.

That’s where a sleep specialist can help patients regain restful slumber.

Sleep specialists range from doctors who have training in physiology, pathology of the neurological system, and sleep or they could be “sleep coaches” whose training may be much less medical in nature.

“As a sleep health educator, we can be proactive in promoting health,” said Misol Kwon, Ph.D. and registered nurse research project assistant and data analysist at UB who educates on sleep health. “Sleep, nutrition and exercise are considered the three pillars to support physical wellness. But when someone says, ‘I slept three hours last night,’ it doesn’t get the same reaction as, ‘I ate candy bars yesterday,’ or ‘I have a gym membership that I never use.’ We’re tolerant of sleep deprivation as a society. We equal pulling an all-nighter as being highly productive.”

One of her professional goals is to help people view sleep as vital to good health, backed up with research to show the science behind sleep’s benefits. She also said that sleep experts can help influence policies such as school hours and Daylight Saving Time.

Sleep specialist is a sub-specialty of specialties such as neurologist, otolaryngologist or pulmonologist. University of Rochester Medical Center offers a sleep specialist program after residency training. About 140 apy and associate teaching professor at Syracuse University. “Caffeine is a central nervous stimulant that can disrupt sleep. Consideration of all caffeine sources is important.”

In addition to cutting back on coffee and energy drinks after noon, look at consumption of black and green tea, sodas like cola and even orange soda. Chocolate contains 12 milligrams of caffeine. Although not as much as coffee’s 200 mg. (or black tea’s 100 mg.), it does contribute to the daily intake.

When you eat also may matter.

“Eating late at night may disrupt sleep as well,” Burrell said. “Additionally, irregular or inadequate sleep changes eating behaviors and leads people complete the training each year and typically work in private practice or in academia.

“I love getting up every morning and doing what I do and expanding our current knowledge of circadian rhythm,” Kwon said. “Sleep is a relatively new field, two or three decades old. Every day we want to generate new science and implement things like behavior intervention for people’s health and well being.”

Sleep specialists also directly work with clients, such as Soda Kuczkowski, sleep health educator, certified sleep coach and founder and owner of Start with Sleep, LLC in Buffalo. She has worked in the industry for almost 18 years, initially at a diagnostic sleep testing facility, educating and supporting physician offices, hospitals, and community organizations about the risks of undiagnosed medical sleep disorders.

During that time, she started to self-educate and seek additional to great consumption of highly palatable comfort foods.”

This may provide additional motivation to improve sleep, since comfort foods tend to cause weight gain.

Sleep hygiene is not about showering before bed, but the good sleep habits and environment that influence sleep. These include keeping the bedroom dark, cool and comfortable and reserved only for sex and sleep. Don’t watch TV or go online while in bed. Eliminate stressors in the room, such as piles of unfolded laundry, stacks of unopened mail or other reminders of tasks. Wear comfortable apparel.

Consider upgrading any worn bedding and pillows and the bed itself. Most mattresses are made to last only six or seven years.

If your bed partner disrupts your rest, seek help for issues such as snoring and restless leg syndrome. Address any pet disruptions also, as these can interrupt sleep.

Set a regular bedtime and stick to it, even on weekends. Use white noise to mask household sounds. Hanging curtains and including more fabric in your décor, like a tapestry wall hanging, can help absorb unwanted sounds.

Stop using screens two hours before bedtime and wind down with a relaxing bedtime routine such as a warm bath. Write down any troubling thoughts to set them aside until tomorrow.

Many people say that prayer, mindfulness or meditation helps them settle their thoughts before bedtime. Try using ear plugs and a sleeping mask for sensory deprivation.

training on sleep health education to better support patients. Eventually, she opened Start With Sleep, LLC to meet this need.

“I am very passionate about the subject and engaging the community in meaningful conversations about the importance of sleeping well as it helps to manage and maintain our overall health and well-being,” Kuczkowski said. “Sleep is the investment in the energy you need to be effective tomorrow.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn’t collect employment data for sleep specialists, since the specialty can be applied to so many different types of careers in a variety of environments.

According to Glassdoor.com, the estimated pay of a sleep specialist is $58,440 annually and for a sleep medicine physician, $253,914 per year. Salary.com listed the average salary for a sleep technician as $62,101. Specialists may work in a variety of settings, including as sleep coach or educator. Technicians likely work in a sleep lab of a hospital or outpatient setting as part of a team of providers. Sleep medicine physicians may teach or head sleep medicine departments.