10 Commandments of Sleep Hygiene

Here in the Philippines, the practice of sleep medicine is still relatively young compared to other countries so it is no surprise that even other doctors do not know that such practice exists here. But the practice is, indeed, growing, even in Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) member countries. In fact, the Philippines will serve as host of the 4th ASEAN Sleep Medicine Congress in 2017 where it will share vital knowledge with other countries about sleep. Together, this collaborative meeting will also help determine how the different cultures of these countries can impact on their actions with regard to sleep concerns.

What’s your sleeping Habit?

I am a person who went thru lots of phases in my sleeping habits, from working night shift to having insomnia a decade earlier and so forth. One thing’s for sure, I hate it when I get less than 8-hr sleep, having less than that duration, I feel tired and lethargic.
 
Different people requires dissimilar sleep duration to keep them going thru their day, same goes with their sleeping schedule. Older people requires less hours than younger one. Other suffer from sleep disturbances that they often time don’t get the slumber that they need.
 
All these and more forms factor on how one person sleep and Uratex partners with The Philippine Society of Sleep Medicine (PSSM), the primary organization that aims to promote sleep medicine healthcare in the Philippines to make you understand and be in unison with your sleeping habits.
 
World Sleep Day

​The World Sleep Day 2016 slogan is “Good Sleep is a Reachable Dream” and this year, Multiflex RNC Philippines, Inc., makers of Uratex foam and mattress products, lent its wholehearted support to the PSSM in its efforts to help promote good, healthful and restful sleep.
 
During the celebration of World Sleep Day 2016, the PSSM held its 10th annual symposium entitled “Sleep Matters: Discovering the Importance of Sleep” on March 17-19, 2016 at the EMG Auditorium of the Lung Center of the Philippines. There were various workshops and lectures on many sleep-related concerns for adults—and even in children—that elicited interests from symposium guests.
 
The PSSM is just one of the many organizations around the world that advocates the importance and educates people about the value of good sleep, which many people lack or perhaps do not pay attention to due to today’s fast-paced lifestyle and blinding-speed technology. Various studies have already shown that lack of restful sleep because of irregular work and lifestyle may lead to health problems in the future. Or even having an incorrect mattress may harm the body rather than provide the restful sleep it needs after a long and hard day at work.
 
This is why the PSSM reiterates the important elements of good sleep, which are “Duration” or the sufficiency of sleep to become well rested and alert the following day; “Continuity,” which means sleep time should be continuous and unbroken; and “Depth,” that sleep should be deep enough to be restorative or invigorating. Quality sleep, the PSSM said, is very crucial to one’s good health and quality of life. It said that good quality and invigorating sleep is important for people’s day-to-day functioning, even in children for their overall wellness and development.

Follow these commandments and you would sleep better

The PSSM also cited the some commandments of Sleep Hygiene, according to the World Association of Sleep Medicine or WASM, such as:

1. having a fixed bedtime and waking up time.
   
2. no daytime sleeping in excess of 45 minutes. 
   
3. avoiding excessive alcohol intake 4 hours before bedtime or smoking.
   
4. avoiding intake of caffeine such as those in coffee, tea, most sodas, including chocolate 6 hours before bedtime;
   
5. avoiding heavy, spicy or sweets 4 hours before bedtime, but a light snack is acceptable. 
   
6. exercising regularly but not before bedtime. 
   
7. using comfortable bedding.
   
8. finding comfortable temperature when sleeping inside a well-ventilated room.
   
9. blocking out distracting noise and less light as possible.
   
10. limiting the use of the bed to just sleeping.

​Uratex and it’s effort to help in PSSM’s advocacy
 
For its part, Uratex supports the PSSM through its own advocacies in promoting good sleep in the Philippines.
 
“Uratex has always been humbly supporting efforts to promote good sleep, a much-needed bodily activity that unfortunately many people do not pay attention to or perhaps, do not know how to achieve it because of various reasons. Simply put, it all boils down to adapting to a more healthy and less-stressed lifestyle, a positive mindset toward life, and choosing the correct mattress depending on the body’s shape and contours, and this is where Uratex can help,” explains Dindo Medina, Corporate Sales Director of Multiflex RNC Philippines.
 
As the country’s sleep specialist, Medina said Uratex will continue to help Filipinos achieve helathy and superior sleep by continuously developing and bringing innovative mattresses and other sleep solutions.
 
The PSSM is a group composed of several specialists involved in the practice of sleep medicine in the country and are highly trained to address sleep disorders among Filipinos. Pulmonologists, Neurologists, Ear, Nose and Throat specialists, Psychiatrists and Pediatricians are among those that comprise the group and have expressed interest in the process and study of sleep.
 
For more information about the value of good sleep to one’s health, visit the PSSM website, thepssmi.org. To find out more about the Uratex mattress and other sleep solutions, call the Uratex Consumer Hotline, 888-6800 or visit www.uratex.com.ph.