Sleepless nights are more common than ever, but there are drug-free ways to lull you to restful zzz's.
Chronic exhaustion and insomnia go hand in hand, and it's more common than ever thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, a report from the National Institutes of Health highlighted a study early in the pandemic that “revealed very high rates of clinically significant insomnia”— most likely fueled by acute stress, anxiety and depression. It's become so common that pandemic-era insomnia has actually been dubbed "coronasomnia."
Chronic sleep issues have been linked to a variety of other ailments, too. Women who had difficulty sleeping four or more nights a week were at an increased risk of breast cancer. The risk was even higher for women who had TV on in the room while sleeping, according to a study published in the International Journal of Cancer. Sleep deprivation and insomnia have also been linked to diabetes, obesity, and a smattering of other deadly cancers.
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"Sleep is integral to all aspects of our lives, yet it’s often one of the first things we compromise when things become busy or overwhelming," shares Nicola Elliott, the founder of natural wellbeing brand, NEOM. "The Mental Health Awareness Foundation, who published a report around sleep and mental health, found that more than a third of adults said that sleeping poorly had made them feel more anxious, more than four in ten adults said poor sleep over the previous month had made them feel more stressed and overwhelmed, and more than four in ten said poor sleep had made them feel more irritable and angry. This just shows the type of side effects poor sleep can have."
Many might turn to medications to remedy the issue, but Dr. Sherry McAllister, DC, and president of Foundation for Chiropractic Progress cautions against repeated use of sedatives. "Individuals using medications for insomnia commonly experience residual effects, such as grogginess, cognitive impairment, motor incoordination, dizziness and gastrointestinal upset," McAllister explains. "The use of sedating drugs is dangerously associated with increased fall risk in the elderly. Sleep medications, including over the counter meds (those that can be purchased without a prescription, such as Benadryl), should not be taken longer than seven days without consulting a physician. There are natural, drug-free ways to manage insomnia."
Often mild cases of insomnia don't require heavy doses of prescription medicines or over the counter ingested remedies, though. Sufferers from this all-too-common issue can actually reap the benefits of aromatherapy at home, which has been clinically shown to improve sleep quality and reduce anxiety without so much as a pill, tincture, or risky treatment.
"The benefits of aromatherapy on both sleep and other ailments are endless," says Elliott, who is also a trained aromatherapist and promotes the benefits of her practice for the average Joe on a budget because it's incredibly accessible and easy to appreciate. "Essential oils have been used for thousands of years as traditional remedies to improve both physical and mental health. For example, lavender fragrance promotes a relaxing and calm space to aid falling to sleep, and you are more likely to achieve better asleep when you are relaxed than stressed or anxious. Also, once you have used a calming essential oil a few times, the fragrance will prompt the nervous system to send a message to the limbic system in the brain, this is the same part of the brain that stores memory, so you start to condition your brain with particular scents."
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Embracing aromatherapy is easier than it seems, and can be as simple as burning a candle for an hour or two before bedtime, using an aromatherapeutic body lotion, or washing and spritzing bed linens in essential oils-enhanced formulas. The key, according to Elliott, is knowing which oils to use.
Lavender
"This scent is celebrated for its calming properties," Elliott details. "It's widely known for its ability to relax and de-stress, thereby promoting sleep. It's also an effective treatment for muscular and nerve pain." If you're still skeptical, there's real science backing the use of lavender in almost every form of aromatherapy practice.
According to the National Institutes of Health, "Lavender has been suggested as an excellent natural remedy to treat insomnia and improve the sleep quality. Single-blind randomized studies investigated the effectiveness of lavender odor on quality of sleep showed that lavender improved the mean scores of sleep quality in fifteen healthy students [74], in sixty-four ischemic heart disease patients [75], and in thirty-four midlife women with insomnia [76]. Ten individuals with insomnia, verified by a score of 5 or more on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), were treated with lavender odor."
Try this NEOM Perfect Night Sleep Magnesium Body Butter on dry, tired skin about 15 minutes before you're ready to hit the sack to lull yourself to sleep. It's made with shea butter, aloe vera, grape seed and coconut oils to nourish the skin, with added magnesium, real English lavender, sweet basil, and jasmine.
Neom
Chamomile
According to Elliott's training, "This one is a good alternative for those who don't like the heaviness of lavender, thanks to its much lighter aroma." This one is great as an essential oil added to a diffuser, or as the more commonly-known herbal tea. This study shows how effective ingested chamomile tea can be for sleep regulation, cardiac activity, and even anti-cancer properties.
Peppermint
This herb is better-known for a perky, awake-feeling aroma, but Elliott says in the right context it's perfect for reducing pesky snoring that can often plague sleep partners with insomnia. "This one is known to be anti-inflammatory, so it's often used for clearing the airways and reducing blocked noises."
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This study followed 105 cardiac patients and found that using both lavender and peppermint essential oils for pre-sleep aromatherapy significantly improved sleep quality for everyone in the trial group.
"Aromatherapy with lavender and peppermint essential oils can improve the sleep quality of cardiac patients. Therefore, use of this non-pharmacological intervention, as an effective and simple approach, is recommended for cardiac patients."
Peppermint has also been found to lighten the emotional load of anxiety and brain fog, with another study finding that participants exposed to the aroma of peppermint and peppermint oil experienced enhanced memory, increased alertness and increased processing speeds, according to the International Journal of Neuroscience.
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