{"id":175,"date":"2022-04-11T14:47:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-11T14:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/?p=175"},"modified":"2022-05-11T14:49:25","modified_gmt":"2022-05-11T14:49:25","slug":"guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/11\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\/","title":{"rendered":"A Brief Guide to the Four Stages of Sleep"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-medium\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/11\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\/\" class=\"block-image-link\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Man-in-bed-going-through-the-stages-of-sleep-in-Enfield-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Man in bed, going through the stages of sleep in Enfield\" class=\"wp-image-176\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Man-in-bed-going-through-the-stages-of-sleep-in-Enfield-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Man-in-bed-going-through-the-stages-of-sleep-in-Enfield-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Man-in-bed-going-through-the-stages-of-sleep-in-Enfield-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Man-in-bed-going-through-the-stages-of-sleep-in-Enfield.jpg 1430w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Every time you drift off to sleep, your body embarks on a journey. It passes through four unique stages of sleep in Enfield, each of which plays an important role in supporting your overall wellness. What happens during each portion of the sleep cycle, and how can sleep apnea prevent you from benefitting fully from your nighttime shuteye? This blog post discusses the answers to those questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Stages 1 and 2: Light Sleep<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As soon as you nod off, you enter the first stage of sleep. Your heartrate, breathing, and eye movements slow down. However, you may still be somewhat alert. If any noise occurs nearby, or you are suddenly exposed to a bright light, you are likely to respond to such stimuli. You might not even realize that you had fallen asleep to begin with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stage 1 sleep usually lasts 5 \u2013 10 minutes, after which you enter stage 2. At this point, your awareness of your surroundings decreases, your body temperature drops slightly, and your eye movements stop. Your brain starts to emit a particular type of wave, called sleep spindles. For most people, about half of their total sleep time is spent in stage 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Stages 3 and 4: Deeper Sleep<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When you transition to stage 3, you enter what is often called \u201cdeep sleep.\u201d It becomes difficult to awaken you. Your body gets busy working on repairing tissues that were damaged throughout the day, and your brain starts to consolidate new memories. Your cytokine levels become elevated. Cytokines are a specific type of protein that plays an important role in the functioning of the immune system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you enter the fourth stage of sleep, your eyes begin to make quick movements, which is why stage 4 is also known as rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Your heartrate picks up, your blood pressure becomes elevated, and your breathing is shallower. Most dreams occur during REM sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sleep Apnea and the Sleep Cycle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>An average person goes through all four stages of sleep in approximately 1 \u2013 2 hours, so the entire cycle gets repeated multiple times throughout the night. Unfortunately, some individuals suffer from a sleep disorder that prevents them from transitioning smoothly between the stages of sleep and benefitting fully from each of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sleep apnea causes pauses in breathing throughout the night. When these pauses occur, the body has to arouse itself in order to resume breathing. This can prevent an individual from spending an adequate amount of time in the deeper stages of sleep. As a result, their emotions, memory, and overall wellness can suffer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In order for individuals with sleep apnea to enjoy high-quality rest, they should use an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/sleep-apnea-therapy.html\">appropriate treatment<\/a>. For example, many find that an oral appliance from a dentist allows them to get through the night with few or no interruptions to their breathing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Each stage of sleep is important. If you are not benefitting from all of them, you may have a sleep disorder that requires professional care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meet the Practice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Four Town Dental provides both general oral healthcare and advanced services, including sleep apnea therapy. If you are concerned about the quality of your rest, our team can help you arrange for testing. To learn more about how we may be able to serve you, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/contact-us.html\">contact us<\/a> at 860-856-6928.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every time you drift off to sleep, your body embarks on a journey. It passes through four unique stages of sleep in Enfield, each of which plays an important role in supporting your overall wellness. What happens during each portion of the sleep cycle, and how can sleep apnea prevent you from benefitting fully from your nighttime shuteye? This blog post discusses the answers to those questions. <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/11\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\/\">(Read More)<\/a>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A Brief Guide to the Four Stages of Sleep<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn what happens during the stages of sleep in Enfield, and discover how sleep apnea can disrupt this important cycle.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/11\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Brief Guide to the Four Stages of Sleep\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn what happens during the stages of sleep in Enfield, and discover how sleep apnea can disrupt this important cycle.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/11\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Four Town Dental Care\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-11T14:47:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-11T14:49:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Man-in-bed-going-through-the-stages-of-sleep-in-Enfield-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"fourtowndentalcare\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"fourtowndentalcare\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\\\/blog\\\/2022\\\/04\\\/11\\\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\\\/blog\\\/2022\\\/04\\\/11\\\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"fourtowndentalcare\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/970e87391a0411a983d94397c8e642e3\"},\"headline\":\"A Brief Guide to the Four Stages of Sleep\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-11T14:47:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-11T14:49:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\\\/blog\\\/2022\\\/04\\\/11\\\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":546,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\\\/blog\\\/2022\\\/04\\\/11\\\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/Man-in-bed-going-through-the-stages-of-sleep-in-Enfield-300x200.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\\\/blog\\\/2022\\\/04\\\/11\\\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\\\/blog\\\/2022\\\/04\\\/11\\\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\\\/\",\"name\":\"A Brief Guide to the Four Stages of Sleep\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\\\/blog\\\/2022\\\/04\\\/11\\\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\\\/blog\\\/2022\\\/04\\\/11\\\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/Man-in-bed-going-through-the-stages-of-sleep-in-Enfield-300x200.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-11T14:47:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-11T14:49:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/970e87391a0411a983d94397c8e642e3\"},\"description\":\"Learn what happens during the stages of sleep in Enfield, and discover how sleep apnea can disrupt this important cycle.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\\\/blog\\\/2022\\\/04\\\/11\\\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\\\/blog\\\/2022\\\/04\\\/11\\\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\\\/blog\\\/2022\\\/04\\\/11\\\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/Man-in-bed-going-through-the-stages-of-sleep-in-Enfield.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/Man-in-bed-going-through-the-stages-of-sleep-in-Enfield.jpg\",\"width\":1430,\"height\":953},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\\\/blog\\\/2022\\\/04\\\/11\\\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Brief Guide to the Four Stages of Sleep\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Four Town Dental Care\",\"description\":\"\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/970e87391a0411a983d94397c8e642e3\",\"name\":\"fourtowndentalcare\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/216ebcdcf3646294bb24384697c50b0e30205321798e9f055d837b6c71bcd45a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/216ebcdcf3646294bb24384697c50b0e30205321798e9f055d837b6c71bcd45a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/216ebcdcf3646294bb24384697c50b0e30205321798e9f055d837b6c71bcd45a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"fourtowndentalcare\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/fourtowndentalcare\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Brief Guide to the Four Stages of Sleep","description":"Learn what happens during the stages of sleep in Enfield, and discover how sleep apnea can disrupt this important cycle.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/11\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Brief Guide to the Four Stages of Sleep","og_description":"Learn what happens during the stages of sleep in Enfield, and discover how sleep apnea can disrupt this important cycle.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/11\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\/","og_site_name":"Four Town Dental Care","article_published_time":"2022-04-11T14:47:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-05-11T14:49:25+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Man-in-bed-going-through-the-stages-of-sleep-in-Enfield-300x200.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"fourtowndentalcare","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"fourtowndentalcare","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/11\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/11\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\/"},"author":{"name":"fourtowndentalcare","@id":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/970e87391a0411a983d94397c8e642e3"},"headline":"A Brief Guide to the Four Stages of Sleep","datePublished":"2022-04-11T14:47:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-11T14:49:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/11\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\/"},"wordCount":546,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/11\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Man-in-bed-going-through-the-stages-of-sleep-in-Enfield-300x200.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/11\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\/","url":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/11\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\/","name":"A Brief Guide to the Four Stages of Sleep","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/11\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/11\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Man-in-bed-going-through-the-stages-of-sleep-in-Enfield-300x200.jpg","datePublished":"2022-04-11T14:47:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-11T14:49:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/970e87391a0411a983d94397c8e642e3"},"description":"Learn what happens during the stages of sleep in Enfield, and discover how sleep apnea can disrupt this important cycle.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/11\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/11\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/11\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Man-in-bed-going-through-the-stages-of-sleep-in-Enfield.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Man-in-bed-going-through-the-stages-of-sleep-in-Enfield.jpg","width":1430,"height":953},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/11\/guide-to-four-stages-sleep-enfield\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Brief Guide to the Four Stages of Sleep"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/","name":"Four Town Dental Care","description":"","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/970e87391a0411a983d94397c8e642e3","name":"fourtowndentalcare","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/216ebcdcf3646294bb24384697c50b0e30205321798e9f055d837b6c71bcd45a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/216ebcdcf3646294bb24384697c50b0e30205321798e9f055d837b6c71bcd45a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/216ebcdcf3646294bb24384697c50b0e30205321798e9f055d837b6c71bcd45a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"fourtowndentalcare"},"url":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/author\/fourtowndentalcare\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":177,"href":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175\/revisions\/177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fourtowndentalcare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}