If you wear a Fitbit sleep tracker, it might be disrupting your sleep. Oh no! And that’s just another reason to add to the list for a lack of sleep. If you are unable to get proper sleep at night, it might be due to your sleep tracking app. In a new study, it was revealed that wearable sleep tracking devices designed to help people track sleep, may actually be keeping you awake at night.
What is it Keeping Me Awake?
When it comes to sleep, the enthusiasm for the devices might overshadow what they can actually deliver. This means, the claims of these devices really outweigh any validation of what they have shown to be doing. These apps don’t do a good job of estimating sleep accurately.
People tend to get far too worried about whether or not they are getting enough sleep each night that is causes added stress and anxiety that keeps them awake. This might cause “orthosomnia”, which is an unhealthy preoccupation with achieving perfect sleep (yikes).
Misleading Data Monitoring
The sleep monitoring data on these devices can be misleading because they devices are unable to accurately discriminate stages of sleep. The apps are unable to differentiate between light and deep sleep. For example, when you are reading in bed, the app might mistake this as sleep.
Helpful Awareness
On the other hand, these devices can be helpful, especially for those suffering from sleep apnea. While the devices might not be fully accurate, they can still give users a sense of what their sleep looks like. And, if that gets them to schedule an appointment to learn more, then the app has done exactly what it needed to do–educate.
Contact us at Craniofacial Pain & Dental Sleep Center of Georgia to learn more about sleep apnea and the use of these sleep tracking apps.
