Longish Daily Naps--A bad idea?

I'm a senior in highschool with chronic tension headaches that are aggrevated by long, stressful school days. Pretty much the only thing that relieves the pain is sleeping, and I've gotten into the habit of taking naps after school, usually around an hour, sometimes more. Now it's really the only thing I want to do when I get home. It doesn't seem to throw off my sleep cycle, and I can still get my homework done and some exercise in. So is it okay for me to nap like this on a daily basis?

Edited: I can't spell apparently

I think its perfectly fine. Its especially good if it helps your headaches. Plus, the extra sleep has a calming affect in most people. If your asking if its okay for dieting, i think its fine, unless youre trying to put on weight. It takes more calories to sleep than it does to sit and watch tv. I hope this helps and/or others reply!

Sounds pretty good to me. In fact, I wish I could do that too. Unfortunately, when  I take a nap, I get so groggy that I don't do much after my nap. But it sounds like it relaxes you and you can still get all of your stuff accomplished.

I think it would only be a problem if it prevented you from doing your daily activities or negatively affected your ability to fall asleep. Since it's not, I don't see how any harm is being done. 

However, you might be more productive if you sleep an extra each night instead of taking the nap. I used to nap daily, but now I just go to bed an hour earlier. When I would nap, I would often be groggy for a while, so I ended up wasting a good chunk of my day. Give an extra hour of nightly sleep a try, but if napping is the only thing that helps your headaches, then don't give it up!

Have you seen any one about your headaches?  My oldest daughter had the same thing when she was a senior (A very stressful year for all of you !(  We ended up seeing a chiropractor and she did an adjustment and then prescribed weekly massages;  It really helped.  I don't think the nap hurts, I just feel bad that you are suffering like my daughter,  Good Luck

As a senior in high-school you should really be able to make it through a whole day with out naps.  You're meant to be in peak physical condition & full of beans at your age - it's only toddlers and pensioners that need naps, normally.   If the headaches are so severe then do see your doctor.  Could be tension, could be dehydration... could be something else completely.  One of the most common symptoms of anaemia, for example is fatigue... and another less common symptom is headaches.  A physical check-up never goes amiss.

Thanks for the advice guys!

I have seen a physician for my headache and he gave me a clean bill of heath (including testing my iron levels) and said it was most likely just run of the mill tension headaches. I'm not giving up on figuring these darn things out however. I have TMJ and I've read that jaw misalignment can contribute to headaches, and I just discovered I badly need to have my wisdom teeth removed, so I'm going to try that and see if it helps at all.

@ G.I. Jane- I dont think that is true.  Many other countries have naps in the middle of the day or rest periods for all ages and feel that it increases productivity and happiness.  I dont think that an hour nap is something to be concerned about unless she is sleeping less than 8 (plus or minus) at night.  Teenagers are still growing just as much as toddlers are and need more sleep than they likely getting.  I remember as  a teen I was exhausted after a day of school, 4 pm was the perfect time for a short nap.  Even as an adult, 4 pm sounds good for a nap--and its part of our circadian rhythms.

Good luck lena!

Many teenagers (and younger children) in the US get inadequate sleep. If napping makes you feel better, I think it's fine.

How many hours do you sleep at night?  How late do you stay up, and do you have trouble getting up in the morning?

Many teens are sleep deprived

I go to bed between 10 and 11 most nights, and get up at 6 on the weekdays and 8 on the weekends (sometimes stay up a little later on fri/sat nights). So I'd say 7-8 hours on school nights and 8-9 on weekends. And I don't have trouble getting up in the morning (probably because I'm a morning person), but I do get tired a lot during the day.

TMJ will cause head aches, that could easily be it.

I'd say, go ahead and nap, I do it myself sometimes (but I get up before 6).

Also, if you're having a hard time staying awake, make sure your eating enough. Fatigue/tiredness can be caused by inadequate cal intake (unfortunately, I know this from experience)

Drea- that's a relief. I only get 6-7 hours of sleep so I'm often tired after school. A nap helps feels very nice to me, so I hope there is nothing wrong with a teenager having one (junior in highschool).

Lena- it seems like since the naps help with you're headaches, you should continue having them. At least until you find a way to get rid of them. I hope you find something that works. 

Original Post by mars_0112:

Drea- that's a relief. I only get 6-7 hours of sleep so I'm often tired after school. A nap helps feels very nice to me, so I hope there is nothing wrong with a teenager having one (junior in highschool).

Lena- it seems like since the naps help with you're headaches, you should continue having them. At least until you find a way to get rid of them. I hope you find something that works. 

 Drea would probably be correct IF you were getting a full 8 hours of sleep.  Other countries, such as Mexico, do still take siestas.  However, these siestas usually only last about 45 minutes.  But 6-7 hours of sleep is just not usually enough for a teen.  Younger people need more sleep.  The first thing I would do is try to get more sleep at night.  Then, if you are still feeling sleepy in the afternoons, go ahead and take a 45 minute nap.  But most of the studies I've seen say to take no more than about 45 minutes.  If you feel like you need more than about 45 minutes, then that is a big indication that you are not getting enough sleep at night.

I'm a full grown adult, and 6 hours at night is still not even enough for most of us.

Oh, I see. It's difficult for me to get enough sleep because I'm the youngest in my grade so I can't drive to school yet, and my bus comes very early so I hve to wake up at 5. Then I'm usually busy until 10 or 11 so I can't sleep until later in the night.

The problem with teenagers is that their circadian rhythms lead them to not being able to sleep earlier at night, and wanting to sleep later in the mornings.  Most studies say at this point that if you arent getting adequate sleep at night, there is nothing wrong with supplementing with small naps during the day- nothing huge, and you do want to try to get more sleep at night (more refreshing to get in a longer period, so you should try moving up your bed time by a few minutes each night, and getting up at the same time each day, until you can get to a reasonable amount of sleep--but no teen is going to be able to get the 9-10 hours that they actually need).

So therefore,  better to nap than not to nap, whether you get adequate sleep at night or not-- if your body is tired, the same as if it is hungry, then feed it what it wants.

sleep in general is very important for brain health. there was a recent study showing that naps helped people with creatively conceptualizing solutions to problems, thinking with more complexity, and being able to look at issues from the "big picture" perspective. 

frequent naps are recommended for people with cognitive fatigue, as it allows the brain to take a rest and renew before you ask it to work on overload again. Many students are incredibly stressed, too little sleep, and asked to really work those neuronal pathways, plus, adolescence is a time when the brain is supper busy wiring and re-wiring itself. its the second most productive period of brain development in the human life span, other than infancy, and will last until about age 24.

i'd work on getting at least an extra half hour in on week days tho, most adults need 8 to 9 hours, although many get much less, its probably not what they need, just what their used to. not sure what teens need, but it seems it might actually be more. I'd have to some research, so i'll leave that task to you if your really interested. I do know teens are biologically programed to stay up late and sleep in. If we were going to design schools to work with teenager's natural rhythms, we'd have em start about 11 am. 

plus, adequate sleep helps with weight loss. more stress hormone in the system when you don't get enough sleep and that inhibits weight loss for some reason that i don't currently recall. maybe because stress hormone puts the autonomic nervous system into fight or flight (i think thats right) so the body decides it better hold onto calories so you can run like a gazelle in a hot second, (that part is a guess, as i don't quite remember the science of that part, maybe someone else knows). 

good sleep is really important. throughout the sleep and dream research, napping is shown to help increase cognitive functioning and access to complex reasoning skills, so nap on! (imho). sounds like you enjoy it. also supports the hypothesis that your head aches may be tension induced, as they go away with the relaxation of a brief nap.