Why sleep is your body's repair shift
Evidence: Established · Lifestyle Medicine Room ·
Every treatment, from physiotherapy to PRP, depends on repair work your body does at night. Here's what happens while you sleep, and five habits that protect it.
Every regenerative treatment, from physiotherapy to PRP, depends on one thing it can't replace: your body's own repair work. And a large share of that work happens while you sleep.
What happens at night
In deep sleep, the body releases most of its daily growth hormone, which helps rebuild muscle, bone and other tissue. The immune system is busier too, and the brain clears out waste built up during the day. When sleep is short or broken, these processes get less time to do their job.
How much is enough
Sleep experts recommend that most adults get at least 7 hours a night. Regularly getting less is linked to slower recovery, a weaker immune response, weight gain, and poorer mood and focus.
Five things that help most
- Keep a fixed wake-up time, every day. It anchors your body clock more than a fixed bedtime.
- Get daylight in the morning. 10 to 20 minutes outside soon after waking helps set your internal clock.
- Cut caffeine after midday. Its effects can last many hours.
- Go easy on alcohol at night. It may help you fall asleep, but it breaks up deep sleep later in the night.
- Make the bedroom dark, cool and quiet, and put screens away 30 to 60 minutes before bed.
When to talk to a doctor
Loud snoring with pauses in breathing, waking up gasping, or feeling very sleepy in the day despite enough time in bed can be signs of sleep apnoea or another sleep disorder. These are treatable, so see a clinician.
The bottom line
If you're considering any regenerative treatment, sleep is the foundation that helps it work. Start with a fixed wake-up time this week.
Educational content only, not medical advice. Talk to a qualified clinician about your own care.