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Hypermobility – Recommendations

04/11/2024

Hypermobility: Recommendations for sleep

Joint hypermobility is when the joints in one, or many, parts of the body are more flexible than what is considered typical. This can be beneficial for many sports including gymnastics and dance, as well as for playing musical instruments. However, it can also be associated with other health concerns including dysautonomia and POTS, scoliosis, gastrointestinal disorders, anxiety, and sleep difficulties. This blog post is to provide some tips in order to improve sleep quality both in hypermobile individuals as well as in the general population.

Beautiful woman having a headache sitting in bed

Sleep difficulties

As mentioned, many people with joint hypermobility experience chronic fatigue or sleep difficulties. These symptoms may include problems with getting to or staying asleep, or waking feeling unrefreshed, which can cause increased levels of muscular fatigue and pain during the day.

Recommendations for sleep

Creating a sleep hygiene routine is one way to help manage these symptoms.

This includes the ”10-3-2-1 Rule:”

  • Avoid caffeine 10 hours before bedtime
  • Do not consume food or alcohol 3 hours before bedtime
  • Stop work (or stressful activities) 2 hours before bedtime
  • Avoid screens 1 hour before bedtime.
In addition, good habits for your sleep cycle include exposing yourself to natural light shortly after waking in the morning, using “night shift” mode on your devices in the evening, practicing meditation, exercising regularly, and keeping the bedroom between 18-20 degrees Celsius at night.
Portrait of happy young Caucasian woman lying and stretching in bed after sleep in morning

If you have any questions about hypermobility or would like to learn more about it, you can contact us at info@mcgowanphysio.com

References: Halson Sports Med 2014; Vitale et al. IJSM 2019

Photo: Image by katemangostar on Freepik