Tossing and turning. Thoughts racing. All the stresses of the day playing out over and over again while you’re trying to catch some Zs. Sound familiar? They’re all common symptoms of insomnia, defined as an inability to fall asleep, stay asleep, or enjoy good-quality sleep. And if you suffer from it, you have a lot of company.

Research shows more than a quarter of American adults suffer from insomnia, dealing with sleep deprivation on a regular basis. That means all those people are also at an increased risk of health problems, along with moodiness, problems focusing, and other issues that take a direct toll on their quality of life.

Unfortunately, even though sleep problems are common, few of the people who suffer from it get the medical support they need to stay healthy — or even know such support exists. At Medical Access, our team treats insomnia by getting to the root cause of your sleeplessness, tailoring your plan, so you can finally enjoy all the benefits of restful sleep.

Common causes of insomnia

One reason why insomnia is so common is probably because so many factors can cause or contribute to sleep problems. A few of the most common causes of insomnia include:

• Sleep apnea (interrupted breathing during sleep)
• Stress and anxiety
• Chronic pain
• Poor sleep hygiene
• Disruptive work or travel schedule
• Late-night eating habits
• Underlying medical issues

Insomnia can strike at any age, but like a lot of medical issues, it tends to become more common as you get older. You also have a greater risk of sleep problems if you have diabetes or a medical problem affecting your nervous system, gastrointestinal system, or cardiovascular system. Even your diet and nutritional deficiencies can contribute to sleep problems.

Insomnia and your health

In addition to being a symptom of a lot of different medical issues, insomnia increases the risk of many health problems, too, like:

• Heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Stroke
• Immune system problems
• Obesity
• Inflammation
• Diabetes
• Asthma attacks
• Irritability
• Depression
• Anxiety

Not getting enough sleep can interfere with your ability to do your work or schoolwork, causing a marked decrease in performance. Being sleepy and irritable makes it hard to enjoy other aspects of your life, including family and social relationships.

Sleep studies: Breaking the insomnia cycle 

Treating insomnia starts by understanding what’s causing it. Sleep studies do just what their name implies: They study your sleep habits, including how deeply you sleep and how often your sleep is interrupted (even though you may not know it). 

As diagnostic tools, sleep studies identify not only potential causes of insomnia, but also the medical and psychosocial effects of sleeplessness. In fact, sleep studies provide a wealth of information that our team can use to customize your insomnia treatment (and identify possible undiagnosed causes, too).

Our team conducts overnight sleep studies at our offices. During your study, you’ll spend the night in a quiet, bedroom-like room. Electrodes and breathing monitors track and evaluate your sleep patterns, brain activity, movements, and sleep stages — all while you sleep.

Monitoring is noninvasive and painless, using electrodes and other devices that rest on your skin. During your sleep, our team will monitor you, and once the study is complete, we’ll evaluate the data gathered during the night, so we can prescribe the best treatment to help you enjoy healthy, restorative, normal sleep.

Get the sleep your body needs

With practices in Germantown,‌ ‌Rockville,‌ ‌and‌ ‌Beltsville,‌ ‌Maryland,‌ ‌and‌ ‌Alexandria‌ and Woodbridge,‌ Virginia‌, Medical Access is ready to help you get the restful sleep you deserve. Call or book an appointment online to learn how. ‌