One’s mental and physical health can contribute to a sense of sleepiness at daytime. However, it always boils down to a lack of proper nighttime sleep. There are several causes to loss in sleep quality including various conditions from restless leg syndrome to sleep apnea. Two of the main causes of daytime sleepiness, their symptoms, and ways to improve sleep quality are as follows.

Restless Leg Syndrome

This is often considered as a type of sleep disorder, as restless leg syndrome affect the quality of sleep. Several things, from excessive caffeine to alcoholism and tobacco smoking, can cause the problem.

Generally, the condition is characterized by an urge to move the legs when lying or sitting on bed on evening hours or nighttime. However, the extent of symptoms varies from one patient to the other. In some patients, moving the legs can make uncomfortable sensations to lessen or go away.

Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is characterized by loud snoring and breathing cessations, which tend to last from a few seconds to more time than that when a person is deep asleep and not aware of the problem. These intervals, where one wakes up gasping for breath, are known as apnea episodes.

A non-invasive remedy for sleep apnea is to use a stop snoring mouthpiece, which is worn during sleep to advance the lower jaw forward and thereby avoid soft tissues in the throat from collapsing and obstructing the airway. The mouthpiece has no side effects, and is a clinically approved remedy for loud snoring and mild to moderate sleep apnea.

Note that there are several other causes to feeling sleepiness at daytime besides these two. For instance, people suffering from chronic skin disease or other conditions are prone to falling asleep much earlier than standard bedtime as well as take a nap at daytime. Therefore, doctors specialized in oral appliance therapy recommend changes in lifestyle to patients as well for better results.

Some of such recommendations may include cutting back on alcohol consumption, tobacco, and caffeine. Such substances, especially caffeine, act as stimulants and can cause one to stay active for more hours than needed, thereby leading to poor sleep quality. If you feel sleepiness at daytime, limit the tendency to take longer naps and stick to power naps. Remember, naps that last more than 1 hour disrupts the sleep cycle, but power naps can make you feel refreshed.