Eyes and Mouth
Several people have written to me concerned because they or someone they love sleeps with his or her eyes open. This is very common. I'd wager that everyone does this occasionally and it's completely harmless. The only repercussion is dry eyes. This can be remedied by the use of moisturizing eye drops.Drooling is another common complaint. This is caused because you are sleeping with your mouth open. If it becomes really irritating, try using chin straps to keep your mouth closed. This complaint is often accompanied by snoring.
Movement Disorders
Rhythmic movement disorders are very common, especially in children. Most children outgrow them. Unfortunately, not all do.Liz wrote me concerned because her boyfriend rocked during his sleep. My forum erupted with letters from others reporting the same problem. Some rocked so violently that they moved the bed across the room! This disorder is closely connected to head banging.
Sleep myoclonus is another problem that has come to my attention recently. This is rhythmic jerking and twitching of the body during sleep. Sleep walking and sleep talking are other movement disorders. All of these are minor disorders. They can disrupt your sleep, but they are relatively harmless. Sometimes the cause of these disorders is stress or anxiety. Sometimes there just doesn't seem to be a reason behind the disorder.
Two More
Abnormal swallowing can be disturbing. Some people start to swallow and can't seem to stop. The mouth becomes dry, but still they try to swallow. Others seem to forget to swallow. The saliva fills there mouth until it finally goes down the throat and causes choking.The final disorder I'll mention is for men - painful erection during sleep. At times erections during REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep can become so intense they are very painful. In fact, these erections will wake the sleeper up and he may find it difficult to get back to sleep.
If you suffer from any of these "lesser evils" in the world of sleep disorders, and if they become really troubling, talk to your doctor. There is often some method of treatment. Even talking it out with a physician and being reassured that the condition is not dangerous can help you to sleep.
