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Sleep Could Be an App Away

Need to find a great restaurant nearby? There’s an app for that. Need to identify a song playing on the radio? There’s an app for that. Need to get some decent shut-eye? Not surprisingly, there are several iPhone apps for that.

iPhone apps, or applications, are available in the Apple iTunes Store and come in two varieties: free or paid. Often the free editions (sometimes referred to as “lite”) contain basic features that allow you to get a feel for the application and are upgradeable to a paid version that contains all the bells and whistles. Here’s a sampling of both types of apps that claim to help you fall and stay asleep:

Pure Sleep/Ambiscience by Tesla Audio Sciences (basic is free; upgrade is 99 cents) uses ambient music and “brainwave entrainment” to create a response in the brain that induces sleep. There are several similar apps available, including SleepStream (99 cents) and Brain Wave – 20 Binural ($1.99).

White Noise by TM Soft ($1.99) blocks out disturbing noises by enabling you to choose from 40 soothing sounds such as a steady fan, running water, crickets, light rain and more. The app also includes a sleep timer and alarm buzzer. Sleepmaker Rain by Software X Ltd offers a free version that includes two rain sound tracks as well as an upgrade version, Sleepmaker Rain Pro ($2.99), that lets you choose from several options within the gentle, medium and heavy rain sound categories.

Sleep Tracker is a free app by Tylenol PM that helps you record your sleeping hours and moods so you can identify trends in your sleep and moods over time. The app also lets you create a sleep journal, and gives you access to dozens of tips for a better night’s sleep. iSleepTracker by Health Ventures (99 cents) offers similar features and enables you to e-mail your sleep history to your health care provider.

ABC’s of Better Sleep – Insomnia Cure with Max Kirsten ($7.99) is a program developed by Max Kirsten, a clinical hypnotherapist, based on his work with patients with sleep difficulties. The hypnosis program offers techniques and hypnosis sessions that claim to help you create a habit of falling and staying asleep. Other hypnosis-based sleep apps include: Custom Hypnosis Lite (free) and Custom Hypnosis (99 cents).

New apps seem to appear daily, so if none of these work for you, keep checking the iTunes Store and you’re bound to find an app that will put you to sleep.

Breathe Right® Nasal Strips Review

Snoring usually indicates some sort of blockage, such as swollen tissue in your nasal passages, which leads to suppressed breathing and awful noises coming out of your mouth. In many cases it can interrupt your sleep or your partner’s sleep. Typically your snoring habits can be prevented through a lifestyle change like losing weight or quitting smoking, but if you’re looking for a quick change, try Breathe Right nasal strips.

Breathe Right nasal strips are flexible bands that help open nasal passages so you can breathe through your nose easier and not have to open your mouth for oxygen flow. Breathe Right products are inexpensive, ranging from $5.99-$13.99 at any major drug store, supermarket or pharmacy, and tend to work best for mild snorers, but research is limited.

SBA’s Dr. Drake believes Breathe Right nasal strips are good for improving nasal constriction, but he says their usefulness for sleep disorders has not been established.

According to WebMD nasal strips, such as Breathe Right, widen the nostrils and improve airflow.

If you snore, occasionally have trouble breathing at night or are simply curious about Breathe Right nasal strips, give them a try and let us know how they worked for you.

Review: The Nap26 – Power Naps That Begin In Your Ears

If you find yourself dragging in the afternoon, or if you’re facing a long night where you need to be your best, maybe a power nap is just the thing to snap you back to attention.

For some people, power naps are easier said than done, however. If you’re one of those for whom daytime sleeping doesn’t come easily, Nap26® may be for you.

Nap26 by POWRNAPS Retail Concepts, Inc. in Seal Beach, Calif., is an audio program that helps people take 26-minute naps to re-energize and boost productivity throughout the remainder of their days. According to the company’s Web site, the product is based on a NASA study that found pilots who napped regularly and slept for an average of 26-minutes were able to improve performance by 34 percent and alertness by 54 percent. POWERNAPS says the product works by “using sound technology that guides the listener into the first two sleep stages before waking them up, which allows the body and mind to receive natural rejuvenation benefits and still wake up feeling refreshed.”

The Nap26 program uses binaural beats – sounds and tones designed to be heard at slightly different frequencies by each ear – delivered through the listener’s headphones. The company says this slight difference in sound vibration between the right ear and the left ear matches natural sleeping patterns and is what helps signal the brain to either enter a more relaxed state or a higher level of alertness.

Users can choose to download the program from a CD onto an iPod or purchase a pre-programmed MP3 player with ear buds. To learn more about this product, click HERE.

Review: Starry Night Sleep Bed

Photo Courtesy of Starry Night Bed

Sleep experts say bedrooms should be used only for sleeping. Despite this advice, many people continue using their bedrooms to watch TV, read, work on their computers and do other non-sleep activities. This is why Missouri-based Leggett and Platt have devised a bed that they say will not only create the perfect sleeping environment based on customers’ preferences and unique bodily needs, but also serve the many purposes for which today’s consumer uses their bedroom.

The company’s Starry NightTM Sleep Technology Bed has all the bells and whistles to create what the manufacturer describes as a home theater system for the master bedroom. The bed boasts Internet connectivity and a wireless keyboard, an iPod docking station, a video projection system, a hard drive that can store up to 2,000 hours of video or tons of music and a top-notch surround-sound system.

In addition, Leggett and Platt have partnered with Life|ware™ from Exceptional Innovation to allow users to program their bed to create customized experiences. Here are a few examples taken directly from the manufacturer’s Web site:

• Read Mode – When activated by remote, read mode will raise the head of the bed to a comfortable sitting or lounging position, turn on the bedside lamp, turn off the television and lower the ceiling lights to make a cozy space for devouring the latest mystery or romance novel.
• Relax Mode – Have trouble making the transition from daytime activity to nighttime rest? Program the bed to massage your aching body, lower the lighting and room temperature, and play your favorite “unwind” music for 15 minutes before bedtime.
• Romance Mode – Want help romancing your loved one? Then consider activating the bed’s romance mode to dim the lights, draw the curtains and play some classic Barry White

Of course, ultimately, a bed should be for sleeping, so the bed features a sleep diagnostic system that Leggett and Platt says can detect when someone is snoring and elevate the bed to open the snorer’s airways. The bed also tracks sleepers’ movements, and in the morning, a bedside monitor provides suggestions on things to do to achieve a better night’s sleep. The bed also can regulate mattress temperatures for a warmer or cooler sleeping environment.

So how much will this ultimate sleeping system set you back? The company says it will retail between $20,000 and $50,000, depending on the features that you choose. The bed is scheduled for public availability sometime in 2009.

Review: NightWave Sleep Assistant May Light Your Way to a Better Night’s Sleep

Let’s face it, some nights you simply can’t turn off your brain, even when your body is crying out for some solid shut-eye. If concerns about work or other stressful situations are keeping you awake, and counting sheep isn’t cutting it, a new tool created by Portland, Ore.-based Coherence Resources may do the trick.

The NightWaveTM Sleep Assistant is a small box you place on your nightstand where it emits a soft blue light on your walls and ceiling that brightens and slowly fades. The manufacturer says that by simply synchronizing your breathing with the light, your mind will quiet down and you will fall asleep.

The device has a built-in timer, so the battery-operated box is designed to shut off at the end of its seven-minute cycle. And if you need to cycle it a few times to get to sleep, you have that option. For those who wake up during the night, the company recommends using the NightWave to gently quiet your brain and help you fall back to sleep.

NightWave retails for about $80 and is available directly through Coherence Resources or other online retailers including Amazon. And the manufacturer guarantees NightWave will work: if you don’t find yourself catching some good zz’s after two weeks, you can send it back for a full refund.