Do you press the snooze button on your phone every day? stop

Sleeping or sleeping? You probably know the answer, but you do not prefer it.

Most of us use the snooze function of our awakenings at some point in our lives. Just a few more minutes under the covers, just time to gather our thoughts, right?

Snoozing may seem harmless, but maybe not. It's important to understand why we use the snooze button in the first place. For some, this habit started early. But for many, this may signal a significant problem with sleep. It has been shown that lack of sleep is associated with a number of health problems, including hypertension, memory problems and even weight control.

I am a specialist in facial pain and I have studied in depth sleep and its impact on painful conditions. Through testing, we have discovered that many of our patients with chronic pain also suffer from various sleep disorders.

Normal sleep

If you are tired when the alarm goes off, is it worth using the repeat button? Although no scientific study deals specifically with this subject, the answer is probably no. Our biological clock regulates functions through so-called circadian rhythms – physical, mental, and behavioral changes that follow a daily cycle.

Most adults need about seven and a half hours to eight hours of sleep a night. This allows us to spend enough time in the sleep phases known as non-rapid eye movement sleep and rapid eye movement sleep.

We tend to go from a three-phase sleep cycle to a fast sleep cycle, four to six times a night. The first part of the night consists mainly of deep sleep with non-rapid eye movements, and the last part consists mainly of fast sleep.

Good sleep

Maintaining this well-defined structure is important for a good restorative sleep. If this process is disrupted, we tend to wake up tired again in the morning.

A number of factors can affect sleep cycles. For example, if a person does not breathe well during sleep (snoring or sleep apnea), normal sequences are disrupted and cause a waking up. The quality of sleep can be diminished by the use of electronic devices, tobacco or alcohol at night. Even eating too close to bedtime can be problematic.

No sleep

The use of repetition buttons often begins in adolescence, when our circadian rhythms are somewhat modified, which makes us want to stay up later and get up later in the morning. However, delaying the rising of the bed for nine minutes by preventing sleep will simply not allow us to sleep more. In fact, this can be used to confuse the brain to start secreting more neurochemicals responsible for sleep, according to some hypotheses.

Conclusion: It is probably best to set your alarm for a specific time and then get up. If you are constantly tired in the morning, consult a sleep specialist to find out why.

Steven Bender is clinical assistant professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery at Texas A & M University.

This article was first published in The Conversation.