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From [linkbuilder id=”2308″ text=”sweat suits”] to hot yoga, some wellness seekers really like to turn up the heat, but when it comes to the infrared sauna trend, you might be feeling skeptical, and you’re not alone.
“There’s a lot of fad treatments out there, so it can be hard for consumers to decipher what’s truly backed with scientific research and what’s bogus,” says Sydney Ziverts, a health and nutrition investigator for ConsumerSafety.org. Ziverts has investigated infrared saunas and says that the science shows real benefits to infrared sauna treatment. In fact, she was so convinced that she decided to give it a try and felt the benefits firsthand.
“I have used infrared saunas and always feel wonderful afterwards,” Ziverts says. “I suffer from celiac disease and other autoimmune disorders, so I tend to notice that inflammation is reduced after a treatment.”
Many spa-goers will swing into the sauna if they get the chance. Relaxing in a dark, quiet room entirely enveloped by heat is calming, and sweating it out in a traditional sauna has many health benefits, from helping your body purify toxins that you encounter or ingest in the course of day-to-day living to inducing exercise-like heart rates. Many of us feel great after our intensely sweaty workouts, so getting that buzz without having to do any of the hard work is just another sauna perk.
But, unfortunately, many sauna-goers are let down by the reality, which is defined by high heat. Opening the door to the sauna means being blasted with a heatwave that may overwhelm and intimidate even the most committed health seeker. Instead of relaxing, minutes into your sauna sit you may find yourself wondering how long you can last in the intense heat before scampering out to partake in other spa activities (or maybe even a workout) that are a bit more enjoyable—while also asking yourself how anyone ever survives summers in Arizona.
Ultimately, to reap the benefits of sitting in a sauna, you have to start slow, build up your time, and visit frequently. If you’re scared off by the fiery blast or just can’t manage to sweat it out long enough, the sauna will be one more fad you tried and moved on from.
The thing is, the sauna is good for you. People have used saunas for thousands of years to promote healing and wellness. And if ancient wisdom isn’t enough to get you looking for a sauna near you, modern science has proven that saunas have myriad health benefits, especially for your cardiovascular system, which women should take note of since heart disease is the leading cause of death in American females.
Enter infrared saunas. You might think infrared light sounds scary or think, “If it’s safe, it’s sure to be a gimmick.” In fact, infrared saunas have all the same health benefits as traditional saunas, plus some others. Best of all, the temperature of the rooms remains lower, keeping patrons more comfortable and helping them stay in the sauna long enough to reap its real health benefits.
Infrared is legit, and the next time I head to the spa, I’ll be choosing one with an infrared sauna. Here’s why you should too.

What is an infrared sauna and how does it work?

Traditional saunas work by creating intense heat in a room. When you go into that room, your body heats up because the environment it is in is very hot. If you stay in the sauna long enough (but not too long), your body will reap the health benefits of the heat, but you must endure the discomfort of being in a very hot room.
Infrared saunas work by using far infrared light to heat the cells of your body directly, rather than heating up the surrounding air.
“Traditional saunas work by creating a hot room, which indirectly heats you up and leads to sweating,” says Joe Gibson, CEO of Red Light Man, a company that sells products for light therapy. “Far infrared saunas work more directly—the water in your skin cells directly absorbs the radiation, converting it to heat. The end result is similar, in that your body gets hot and you begin to sweat.”
Gibson explains that there are different types of infrared light: near infrared (NIR), mid infrared (MIR) and far infrared (FIR). Near infrared is visible and can be used for light therapy. Far infrared is invisible to the human eye and is sometimes more descriptively referred to as infrared heat.
“Infrared saunas typically use far infrared, which is more similar to microwave radiation than it is to visible light,” Gibson says.
When you enter an infrared sauna, the light permeates your skin, heating your cells from the inside.
“This invisible light penetrates a few inches into the body and creates heat, resulting in a whole-body hyperthermia (increased heat) and increase of energy on a cellular level to make you sweat, revitalizing cells,” says Zinia Thomas, who is one of a group of doctors who own Radiance Float + Wellness in St. Louis, a spa and wellness center that includes an infrared sauna.

Are infrared saunas safe?

The term “radiation” can definitely put people on edge. However, experts say that infrared saunas are perfectly safe. The Mayo Clinic reports that “no adverse effects have been reported with infrared saunas.”
Of course, there are some exceptions to those rules. Women who are pregnant shouldn’t use any type of sauna, because a raised body temperature can be harmful to the fetus. Ziverts cautions that “it’s important to note [that sauna use] is not recommended for folks who have unstable angina [chest pain] or those who’ve had a recent heart attack.”
She goes on to say, “The primary risk of either an infrared or traditional sauna is overdoing it, which can cause dehydration,” so be sure to drink plenty of water before, during, and after your sauna time.

What do infrared saunas feel like?

Most people who have experienced the overwhelming heat of a traditional sauna will find that infrared saunas are more comfortable.
“Traditional saunas use high heat with low humidity, which can be unpleasant, whereas infrared saunas are much milder in temperature,” Ziverts says.
Because infrared saunas heat your body directly, rather than relying on hot air to do so, they can be more comfortable to sit in. This means you’re more likely to stay in the sauna longer, which gets you closer to those sauna health gains.
“Saunas that use infrared light are more tolerable and comfortable to remain in for a longer time, thus one can fully enjoy the benefits,” Thomas says.
Check out this video to see what users say about the experience:

How do infrared saunas affect heart health?

Heart disease is a big threat to women, accounting for one in four deaths of American women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Because of this, it’s important that women know that infrared saunas have been proven to have benefits for cardiovascular health. One study from the National Institutes of Health concluded that sauna use—including infrared saunas—“appears to be safe and offers multiple health benefits to regular users” who have heart conditions.
Additionally, a 2015 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that regular sauna visits can help people live longer because they reduce the risk of certain cardiac problems. In response to that study, Dr. Thomas H. Lee, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, told Harvard Health Blog that he was not surprised that sauna visits can increase longevity.
“The cardiovascular effects of sauna have been well documented in the past. It lowers blood pressure, and there is every reason to believe that its effects are good for blood vessels,” he said.
A scientific review from 2009 found evidence to support that infrared saunas specifically had a positive effect on stabilizing blood pressure and treating congestive heart failure.
People with those conditions are often limited in the duration and variety of exercises they can do. But thanks to infrared saunas, there is more good news for people with blood pressure problems and congestive heart failure: Sitting in a sauna can raise their heart rate and increase the number of calories they burn, giving their bodies some of the benefits of working out even while they’re sitting still.
“The cardiovascular effects have been shown to normalize blood pressure, improve cholesterol levels and produce a ‘cardio’ workout, great for someone who is sedentary due to pain or arthritis,” Thomas says.
Since most people remain in an infrared sauna longer than a traditional sauna, those effects can be amplified, helping patrons burn up to 600 calories an hour, Thomas tells HealthyWay.
However, Ziverts says not to ditch the gym any time soon.
“While saunas may have some similar effects of mild exercise such as sweating or increased heart rate, it’s simply an addition to a healthy routine rather than a substitute,” she says.

Heart-health benefits are just the start.

For about half the year, it seems like most of us are either battling the cold that’s being passed around the office or washing our hands obsessively trying to avoid the next illness. It turns out that a trip to the sauna can help boost our immune systems, which might keep fall and winter illnesses at bay.
A 2013 study found that spending time in a sauna can increase your white blood cell count, which is an indicator of a healthy immune system. That was no surprise to Thomas, who said that infrared saunas are a great way to improve immune health.
“In the blood, white cells, neutrophils, and lymphocytes become more active, which boosts biological defense mechanisms,” she says. “This helps especially in winter time—when the core body temperature is relatively lower—to fight viruses and other infections.”
Another study from 2013 found that saunas can increase the amount of antioxidants in one’s body, which help repair and restore damaged cells.
Thomas says that really, infrared sauna affects all the systems in our bodies.
“Infrared sauna therapy treats the whole body by increasing the core body temperature, and the hyperthermia it induces helps vascular function and all organs in the body,” she says.
Another popular benefit from infrared saunas is detoxification. As your body heats up, you will sweat out toxins and other substances that might be making you feel less than your best.
“The toxins in our body are typically stored in the upper layer of fat, so sweating can rid the body of these toxins from toxic drugs, pollutants, pesticides, and heavy metals, which in turn improves the immune system and overall health,” Thomas says.
Since you’re able to stay in an infrared sauna for longer than a traditional sauna, you’ll be able to spend more time sweating out the toxins in your system. Since toxins can build up over time, Thomas says that there is a cumulative health benefit to using infrared saunas regularly.

Can infrared saunas provide pain relief?

Chronic pain is one of the most common conditions in America, affecting one in four adults, according to the American Academy of Pain Medicine. Treatment for chronic pain often includes opioids, which present a high risk of addiction. It is partially because of this that research shows women are at a particularly high risk for becoming addicted to prescription pills.
Many people report that visiting an infrared sauna can provide pain relief without the need for controlled substances.
“The main effect of saunas in our body is vasodilation (a widening of blood vessels),” says Gibson. “These are various direct relief effects from this, especially in people with pain, sore muscles, or stiff joints. If you have arthritis, injuries, and any sort of pain condition, you can expect benefits.”
Ziverts agrees.
“Treatments can help to balance general pain, inflammation, and poor circulation without unwanted side effects,” she says.

What to Know Before You Go

If you’re ready to give an infrared sauna a try, it should be easy to find one in your area since they are popping up with increasing regularity. Ziverts recommends checking local reviews or the Better Business Bureau to make sure you’re choosing a spa with a good reputation.
Once you’ve booked yourself an appointment, bring a towel and water (or call ahead to find out if those amenities will be provided). Be sure to research any health concerns you have ahead of time or to speak with your doctor.
Also, once you’re in the sauna, listen to your body.
“Although those working at the facility should all be knowledgeable about treatments and appropriate time spent inside the sauna, you should do some research beforehand, and never stay in the sauna if you begin to feel lightheaded, dizzy, or uncomfortable in any way,” Ziverts says.
They might sound super futuristic, but infrared saunas are just a modern spin on a therapy that has been giving people physical, mental, and emotional benefits for millennia. Next time you’re looking to recharge, an infrared sauna is well worth a try.

Picture this: You have a whole afternoon to yourself to do anything you want. You consider the possibilities: strolling through a bookstore, inhaling the beautiful smell of fresh, new pages, hitting the Target aisle to stock up on 8,000 more pillows and throws that you’ll probably never use, or indulging in some solo pampering.
But instead of hitting the spa for a relaxing massage or getting your toes updated with a brightly colored pedicure, you consider trying something totally new: cryotherapy. Unlike a warm blanket or the reassuring hands of a massage therapist, you will be plunged into literal below-freezing temperatures and be subjected to the frigid, cold air as you shiver in a chamber specifically designed to keep you chilly.
Sound relaxing?
Maybe not, but whole-body cryotherapy (WBC) is one of the latest crazes in the wellness world, and proponents swear it has a lot of benefits, like decreasing pain, improving muscle recovery, and boosting circulation. So does it work? And should you try it? Here’s what you should know before paying someone to let you plunge into an icy air bath.

What is cryotherapy?

Put simply, cryotherapy is “cold therapy” for the skin and body. According to an article published in the Journal of Sports Medicine (JSM), whole-body cryotherapy, just one of many types of cryotherapy, involves exposing the entire body to temperatures between –100 degrees Celsius and –140 degrees celsius, which translates to between –148 degrees Fahrenheit and –220 degrees Fahrenheit, for therapeutic purposes. This is done in a special chamber that controls the temperature for short bursts of time, usually between two and five minutes.
The JSM article explains that whole-body cryotherapy was originally developed to treat chronic, painful medical conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by reducing inflammation. Before long, athletes decided to hack the frigid treatment to perform better on the courts and fields. In the world of athletes, who tend to use the treatment within a day of exercise, the purported benefits of cryotherapy include a reduction in tissue inflammation, instant and ongoing pain relief, and increased muscle recovery.
Now, however, cryotherapy is going beyond treatment for people with MS, RA, and pro athletes and being extended to anyone who wants to try to benefit from making like they’re in Antarctica for a few minutes. Typically, you can choose between whole-body cryotherapy or a targeted treatment, like a cryotherapy facial, which applies cold air just to the face.
So how exactly is voluntarily freezing yourself beneficial in any way, shape, or form? Madeline Lovell, the owner of Celsius STL Cryotherapy in St. Louis, says that it’s all in the science of what’s going on inside the body while the outside of your body is freezing its pants off (if you’re even wearing any, that is). Celsius STL has two brick-and-mortar cryotherapy chambers and a mobile cryotherapy chamber that travels to local gyms, spas, chiropractors’ offices, and businesses.
“Common sense tells you that standing in [negative] 200 degrees for two to three minutes would make you frozen solid,” Lovell says. “However, the cool temperature only affects your skin’s surface, triggering your thermoreceptors to send electrical impulses to the brain making you ‘think’ you are freezing. This sends your body into a defensive mode by quickly transporting the body’s blood, nutrients, and resources to the organs in the core. During this process the body starts oxygenating your blood, flushing it of toxins and lactic acid. Immediately after exiting the cryosauna, your body starts returning to its normal state by increasing blood flow of your newly oxygenated blood back out to your limbs. Your body responds to the increased blood flow by dilating the blood vessels to distribute heat. The body starts absorbing the blood, which is now enriched with erythrocytes, oxygen, collagen, and other essential nutrients.”
Long story short, there’s a lot going on beneath the cold surface of your skin when you go cryo. And Lovell says a great deal of the cryotherapy magic happens after your time in the chamber is over, too, as the treatment boosts your body’s natural healing abilities, reducing swelling, inflammation, and joint and muscle pain; increasing your metabolism; reducing cellulite; speeding up muscle recovery; and much more.
In addition to health and wellness cryotherapy treatments, the medical world also has harnessed some Frozen powers to treat certain skin conditions. There is another intervention called cryosurgery, which uses extremely cold temperatures from liquid nitrogen to destroy tumors or moles on the skin. Unlike cryotherapy, which is supposed to provide benefits to the skin, muscles, and blood vessels, however, cryosurgery is extremely different from whole-body cryotherapy in that it’s meant to kill off unwanted tissue by literally freezing it.

What Cryotherapy Feels Like

If you get the treatment, you can expect to visit a special cryotherapy center, sometimes called a cryosauna, that features chambers designed specifically for the therapy. Cryotherapy chambers often resemble upright tanning beds with open tops. You stand inside the chamber with your head sticking out as frigid air, which is produced from liquid nitrogen cooling within the internal elements of the chamber, flows around you. Lovell explains that people who get the treatment step into the chamber with gloves, socks, and shoes that the center provides because it’s important to avoid getting in with any wet or damp skin or clothing because it can freeze, which is a serious risk considering frostbite can damage tissue in less than 10 minutes in temperatures under –35 degrees Fahrenheit.
In discussing precautions such as socks, gloves, and shoes, Lovell goes on to say, “Cryotherapy has over 30 years of research in order to perfect the treatment process for optimal client experience.”
So what does it feel like? Lovell describes the sensation of the whole-body treatment as akin to rolling around in the snow naked. There’s a visual you’re not likely to forget, right? However, she swears it’s not painful in any way and that a specialist is nearby during the entire procedure.
“You feel a pins and needles sensation during the treatment, but it disappears the second you step out of the chamber,” she says. “Cryotherapy is definitely cold, and you will feel uncomfortable, but it is not painful. It’s a dry cold, that feels different than a wet cold. It’s not like putting your hand or body in a bucket of ice, which hurts. There is no actual freezing, just the feeling of being cold.”
Health blogger Christina Rice chronicled her experience with cryotherapy on her site, Addicted to Lovely, where she walks readers through the entire process at a treatment center in Hollywood. The center she visited actually had a chamber that enclosed her entire body, head and all—more like a shower—and she and her friend, who underwent the treatment together, donned face masks, headbands, towels, and thick gloves to protect their bodies. Rice and her companion stayed in the chamber for three minutes and used the “medium” setting of cold, which she described as similar to being outside on a cold day.
“My eyelashes got frosted white and the hair on my arms was standing up straight, which really entertained me,” she wrote.
Rice said that she was a fan of the procedure and that she experienced a huge boost of mental clarity and whole-body relaxation, “like a really good massage without the soreness” after the treatment. She also tried a cryotherapy facial, which she says helped reduce some of her facial discoloration.
Lovell does warn that there’s an unexpected side effect of cryotherapy you should know about. “[It] makes your body crave extra rest at night, causing you to sleep deeper and longer when you decide to go to bed,” she says.
Bring on the pillows!

What are the benefits of cryotherapy?

According to Lovell, cryotherapy has benefits for pretty much everyone, “whether you are an athlete, a mom, a couch potato, grandpa, or average Joe.”
She notes that she does see a lot of athletes seeking to use cryotherapy for recovery and that women especially turn to cryotherapy as an easy way to get a short and effective workout in. Lovell claims that just one session of cryotherapy can burn between 500 and 800 calories and boosts your metabolism hours after the treatment is over.
She also adds that older clients or clients with joint issues may find relief from joint pain and muscle aches and those with skin conditions such as acne, blemishes, eczema, and psoriasis might find the cold air helps with clearing up their skin.
Lovell points HealthyWay readers to this long list of benefits that cryotherapy can provide, but remember: None of these claims are endorsed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which actually warns that “not a single WBC device has been cleared or approved by the agency in support of [any] claims” pertaining to cryotherapy’s potential when it comes to treating asthma, Alzheimer’s, anxiety, chronic pain, depression, fibromyalgia, insomnia, migraines, MS, osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, or facilitating weight loss.

What the Studies Say

Although cryotherapy might be the latest trend in the health and wellness field, peer-reviewed studies on the treatment aren’t as enthusiastic. So far, there isn’t a whole lot of strong evidence that cryotherapy is beneficial for everyone. For example, the cryotherapy article published in JSM explains that cold therapy does have benefits for improving muscle recovery and reducing soreness, but a simple ice pack or cold-water bath is far more affordable and accessible and could be just as effective, if not more so. Cryotherapy costs between $60 and $100 a session, according to a recent piece by Groupon’s editorial team, whereas even a nice ice pack runs under $12 and can be used over and over again.
Studies have found, however, that whole-body cryotherapy can be helpful in reducing the pain experienced by individual with certain medical conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and acute low back pain.

Who should use cryotherapy?

Lovell uses cryotherapy every single day, which I, for one, have trouble understanding—maybe because I live in Michigan and the thought of voluntarily signing up to be cold any more than I already am most days of the year seems like torture.
Regardless of my aversion to cold, though, Lovell maintains that almost everyone can benefit from the therapy. “I have been most surprised at how quickly cryotherapy works for people,” she says.
Lovell claims that since beginning her practice of using cryotherapy daily, she has more energy and stamina, especially while exercising. She says she no longer gets sore after workouts and has been able to achieve some impressive personal records in both lifting and cardio, which she attributes to cryotherapy boosting her muscle recovery. And if that’s not enough, she also says she sleeps better, averaging eight to ten hours a night (um, am I dreaming?) and has noticed that her anxiety and chronic migraines have also decreased.
“There is an instant relief for a lot of chronic pain and suffering,” she notes. “Lots of tears of joy and hugs from clients who suffer from chronic pain feeling some relief for the first time in a long time. A lot of people are skeptical at how standing in a cold chamber for two to three minutes could have so many benefits. I was skeptical at first as well. I am just an average young woman. I did not think I needed fixing by cryotherapy, but it has changed my life. I have seen so many people feel the same way.”   

Risks of Cryotherapy

While it may sound like we should all be taking a daily jaunt into the sub-zero freezing chambers, as with most health trends, what sounds too good to be true may very well be. The FDA’s warning about WBC includes a statement from one of the Administration’s scientific reviewers, Anna Ghambaryan, MD, PhD, who said, “Potential hazards include asphyxiation, especially when liquid nitrogen is used for cooling.” The FDA also warns that because of the extreme temperatures that define it, cryotherapy poses a risk of frostbite, burns, and eye injury.
Lovell maintains that WBC is very well tolerated and has minimal risks, but shares that the therapy can cause fluctuations in blood pressure by up to 10 points systolically during the procedure, which reverses when it’s finished, posing a risk for people with high blood pressure, who are not candidates for the therapy.
Anyone with following conditions, some of which the JSM article identifies as contraindications, should not receive cryotherapy:

• Pregnancy
• Hypertension
• Coronary disease
• Acute or recent myocardial infarction
• Unstable angina pectoris
• Arrhythmia
• Symptomatic cardiovascular disease
• Cardiac pacemaker
• Peripheral arterial occlusive disease
• Venous thrombosis
• Acute or recent cerebrovascular accident
• Uncontrolled seizures
• Fever
• Tumor disease
• Bleeding disorders
• Open wounds
• Circulatory disorders
• Raynaud’s phenomenon
• Cold allergies
• Obstruction of the bronchus caused by cold

Also, a serious word of warning: DIY cryotherapy is never an option you should consider. Unfortunately, one woman who tried to use cryotherapy after-hours on her own lost her life. The same New York Times piece that chronicles her story also touches on injuries sustained by people who wore wet gloves or sweaty socks into cryo chambers.
If you do choose to visit a cryotherapy treatment center, be sure to look into the center’s history and ask about safety protocols and procedures, including verifying if an attendant will be present during the treatment and available to help if a problem arises. In the U.S., there are no cryotherapy treatment centers approved any by governing body, so the FDA recommends talking to your doctor before getting the treatment if you do decide it’s something you want to try.
And if you’re looking for a much cheaper form of cryotherapy, feel free to come visit me in Michigan around January—a quick walk around the block in winter is still giving me all the cold air I need.

When was the last time you had a good night’s sleep? If you can’t remember, don’t push yourself. You’re probably already feeling the effects of sleep deprivation, and your body may be doing just about all it can to stay awake and read this.
We all have days like this…weeks like this…sometimes even months like this! If you’re a mom, you can count on losing as much as six months of sleep during the first 24 months of your child’s life. Yes, you read that right.
Sixty percent of parents get just 3.25 hours or less sleep every night when their kids are 24 months or younger, and 10 percent of parents get a total of 2.5 hours of continuous sleep per night during their child’s first two years of life.
But you don’t have to have kids to be struggling to prop your eyelids open. If you work as a home health aide, lawyer, police officer, physician, paramedic, economist, or social worker, you’re among the most sleep-deprived employees in America and aside from that, women are almost twice as likely as men to report insomnia and other symptoms of sleep deprivation.
If you’re chugging down a cup of coffee and trying to keep your eyes open, you’re not alone. But you do need help!
Here’s how to power through that lack of sleep and catch some ZZZs.

How much sleep do you really need?

You know how much sleep you’re managing to get a night, but do you know how much you really need to leave exhaustion behind? Just as our bodies change as we age, so does the amount of sleep we need to recharge them.
The National Sleep Foundation recommends that adults age 18 to 64 get seven to nine hours of sleep every single night. Our nighttime needs drop around age 65, although not by much. Seniors are still told to get between seven and eight hours of sleep each night.
Of course, that’s all easier said than done, and there aren’t many Americans who are heeding the advice of the National Sleep Foundation.
Although people in rural and suburban areas tend to get better sleep than people who live in big cities, most of us fall asleep sometime after 10:30 p.m., according to data from Jawbone’s fitness trackers. And even with those late bedtimes, more than half of Americans are awake by 6:30 the following morning.
If you manage to be one of the people who conks out at 10:30 p.m. and makes it all the way until 6:30 a.m., the math indicates you’re probably doing okay.
But if you’re snorting at the idea that your life could shut down long enough for you to be one of the few, well, welcome to the club. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, just one out of three Americans actually gets what the doctor orders in terms of shuteye. The rest of us are running around fueled by coffee and trying desperately to get more done in less time so we can get to bed earlier each night.
While we’re in good company, the bad news is that depriving ourselves of a full night’s sleep is doing a number on our bodies. It stands to reason that if sleep is part of a healthy routine, lack of sleep can affect our health, and the science backs up common sense on this one.
“If you get a good, full night of sleep daily, then you’re healthy and alert,” says Benjamin Smarr, PhD, Reverie sleep advisory board member and professor of neurobiology and behavior at University of California, Berkeley. “The more disrupted your sleep is over time, the more unhealthy you are likely to become. Between these extremes, there is a sliding scale of health and cognitive deficits that build up over time.”
“But the long and short of it is, every part of you needs sleep—eating, digesting, playing, thinking, socializing, healing, remembering,” Smarr says. “Sleep is necessary for all this and anything else you do as a functioning human being. When you don’t get good sleep, these normal and necessary habits suffer.”
That can mean simple things such as concentration and the ability to do well at whatever you do—work, workouts, parenting, enjoying a good read. On the extreme end, though, lack of sleep has been tied to an inability to process glucose, which increases your diabetes risk, as well as a heightened risk of coronary artery disease.

Are you sleep deprived?

The term sleep deprivation is bandied around a lot both by medical practitioners and those of us who get a kick out of sharing funny GIFs about coffee on social media. But what does it actually mean to be sleep deprived? Is there a number of hours of sleep you can get that cuts you out of the sleep-disordered crowd?
Not exactly.
From a technical perspective, deprivation is simply withholding something from someone’s possession—even if, in the case of sleep, it’s our own. From a medical perspective, sleep deprivation is not a diagnosis, nor is there an exact number of hours of sleep that doctors look for when reviewing a potential case.
However, sleep deprivation is a term that doctors use, and it’s one they take seriously because of the potential for other health conditions to be associated with it.
“There is not a ‘clinical’ definition per se, however we divide sleep deprivation into two categories,” explains Kimberly Fenn, PhD, an associate professor of psychology at Michigan State University. “Sleep deprivation refers to one or more nights in which an individual obtains no sleep. This is somewhat rare in the population.”
“In contrast, acute sleep restriction refers to partial sleep loss that occurs across several nights,” Fenn notes. “This occurs any time an individual obtains less than seven hours of sleep per night and is quite common in society.”
While being tired is an obvious sign that you might be sleep deprived, it turns out that not feeling tired is one too.
“If you don’t sleep all night, your body hasn’t healed or refreshed, so your brain functions similarly to how it would when you’re legally drunk,” Smarr explains. “But in the morning, your circadian sleep drive runs out, causing your circadian clock to switch to promoting wakefulness—meaning you feel like you get a second wind. This wide awake yet unrested state is when many people have accidents because they overcompensate for what their body and mind can actually handle. In fact, far more harm is done annually from sleep deprived driving than actual drunk driving!”

What’s really going on?

Typical sleep deprivation can have a number of causes.
“Typically, people become sleep deprived because of external factors (e.g., a project at work, a trauma such as a loss of a loved one, etc.),” Fenn says.  
In the U.S. Navy, for example, sailors have long been held to “five and dimes,” a system by which they were limited to no more than five hours of sleep at a clip. It’s a system that’s being replaced with new sleep mandates issued by the military this year to address sleep deprivation among our troops.
It’s not just extreme military practices that are being questioned. There is growing criticism of employers that hold employees to schedules that limit sleep. Doctors have long worked shifts that can go on for days (literally) during their residency and internships, grabbing catnaps in on-call rooms as a means to refuel their bodies. Truckers are known to sleep for similarly few hours, sometimes faking log books and pushing themselves with the help of caffeinated beverages (and other stimulants) to stay awake and keep driving so they can meet sometimes unreasonable deadlines.
Intensive studies of the practice have likened the effects of sleep deprivation caused by these sorts of shifts to the effects of alcohol on the body, and groups such as the Institute of Medicine have called for shift reductions to improve not only the health of employees but also protect the people with whom they interact.
Of course, sleep deprivation isn’t always caused by grueling hours on the job. Sometimes you’re at home, you’ve got nine hours set aside for a good night’s sleep, you’re lying in bed, and…nothing’s happening. Your body (and mind) refuse to shut down.
“If an individual typically spends eight hours in bed but can only sleep for a fraction of this, then that likely indicates that s/he is suffering from some form of insomnia,” Fenn says. “Similarly, if an individual habitually sleeps for seven to eight hours but does not feel rested and suffers from excessive daytime sleepiness , then this might indicate an underlying problem with their sleep, e.g., the individual may suffer from sleep apnea, etc.”
Another issue that causes sleep deprivation? Parents of young kids and caregivers of the elderly or sick can find themselves unable to grab quality sleep, not because they don’t want to sleep but because the people for whom they are caring require around-the-clock help.
Caregivers may get sleep, but if it’s in short bursts of time—in between the baby’s cries or calls for help from an ailing loved one—it is often non-restorative. Scientists posit that short stints of sleep don’t allow the body to get enough rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the sleep stage linked to forming memories and learning.
“There are four stages of sleep—stage 1, stage 2, stage 3, and REM,” Fenn explains. “Stages differ dramatically in a number of ways, primarily based on neural activity.”
REM sleep typically doesn’t take over until you’re at least an hour into sleeping, and your body can cycle in and out of it. But if your sleep is interrupted, REM sleep is harder to achieve, which—in turn—affects your memory and your ability to concentrate.

Break the cycle.

If your sleep deprivation can be linked specifically to a crying baby who is keeping you up or a work schedule that doesn’t allow time for sleep, you might feel like there’s no end in sight.
But there’s one piece of good news that’s worth clinging to in these dark times: It will get better.
“If an individual is sleep deprived due to environmental factors such as this, they are typically short term, and normal sleep patterns will resume when the environmental stress subsides,” Fenn says.
In other words, when the baby starts sleeping longer through the night or your schedule changes, you will be able to get back to your old routine. But if you can’t make an adjustment on your own or can’t pinpoint the root cause of your sleeplessness, it’s important to seek medical care.
A healthcare provider will likely ask that you start what’s known as a sleep diary to help get a sense of just how much you are (or aren’t) sleeping and other factors that may be affecting your sleep, such as amount of light and noise. They may hand you a sleep diary in the office, or you can download one for free from the internet. A sleep diary is filled out at home by the patient, meaning your doctor will depend on you to be up front about everything from alcohol usage and caffeine intake so they can get a clear picture of what’s going on.
To help augment a patient’s self-reporting, your doctor’s office may send you home with a wearable device too, says Yunpeng Wu, MD, medical director of sleep services at O’Bleness Hospital in Athens, Ohio.
“We have medical devices that can fit on your wrist, much like a Fitbit or a watch, but different,” Wu says. “Wear [it] for a week or two, we can download the data and we can see how the patient sleeps and make recommendations. From that data, we can develop a plan with the patient.”
A doctor may also schedule a sleep study, Wu says, wherein you go to the hospital or a sleep center at night, and healthcare providers actually observe your entire routine, monitoring what’s going on with your heart rate, breathing, and more. Medical technicians will look for signs of conditions that could be causing your sleep deprivation.
Sleep apnea, for example, is a sleep disorder that causes you to stop breathing for short periods while you’re sleeping. It can cause a person to wake up feeling like they didn’t get much sleep, sending them to the doctor with complaints of daytime fatigue and more.
Your doctor’s recommendations (and any prescriptions) will be based on what they determine is causing your sleep deprivation.
“That doesn’t always mean going right to medication,” Wu says. “There are cognitive behavior therapy options, relaxation skills.”
“A lot of times, patients can do this by themselves, without needing professional help,” he adds. “There are routines you can get yourself into.”
A good routine that gets the doctor’s stamp of approval?

• Avoid exercise three to five hours before bedtime.
• Do not eat too closely to your bedtime.
• Try getting to sleep by 11 p.m. and waking up by 6 or 7 a.m. every day (yes—even on the weekends!)
• Eat a balanced diet, avoiding caffeine consumption after noon.
• Make sure you pull yourself away from anything that stimulates you (such as a TV show or book) in time to wind down.