Sleep specialist with 20 years of experience shares why you may still be tired after 8 hours of sleep

Are you regularly sleeping 8 hours and still feel tired? Physician highlights the signs of a poor quality sleep

Sleeping at least 8 hours is time and again reiterated in the medical community. Since it is an essential building block required for the body's recovery, sleep is something you ideally shouldn't compromise on, even if it means pausing your favourite show on a cliffhanger and sleeping through the night to catch up on the next day.

But is sleeping 8 hours really sufficient? If that's the optimal mark for waking up refreshed, why do some people still end up feeling groggy? Is that even possible?

Turns out, it actually is. Addressing this, Dr Christopher J Allen, a physician in sleep medicine and pediatric neurology with 20 years in the medical field, shared in an October 20 Instagram post how 8 hours of sleep don't always correlate with sound sleep. Rather, he emphasised that, “You don’t need more sleep. You need better sleep.”

When 8 hours of sleep can be a problem?

How can you know that, despite sleeping enough, your sleep quality is still poor? As the doctor said, the sleep quality matters, if not more than the duration. So clocking in 8 hours doesn't guarantee quality sleep. Undiagnosed disorders can also hamper your rest.

The physician explained, “A lot of people, when they do actually get 8 hours of sleep, they claim to be even more tired. So let's talk about why that is possible- when you fall asleep, you are supposed to sleep anywhere from 7 to 9 hours of sleep. And when you wake up, you are supposed to feel alert, you are supposed to feel refreshed. But if you are not and waking up feeling groggy with a dry mouth, even with a headache, that's a problem.”

Two things to do

Sleep apnea is a disorder where breathing pauses during sleep. (Picture credit: Shutterstock)

The sleep specialist suggested two steps to get to the root of the issue. Sleep duration is important, but you do need to look within the sleep behaviour itself to identify what's disturbing your quality of sleep.

“You can talk to your bed partner, see if you are snoring, having pauses in breathing. And then you can see a sleep provider like me because what I am going to do is make sure that we evaluate if you have a sleep disorder and actually make sure you feel rested when you wake up," Dr Christopher J Allen said.

Note to readers: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them. This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice.