Medical disclaimer

This is not medical advice

Everything published on BestAlarmClock.com is general information for a general audience. It is not medical advice. It is not a diagnosis. It is not a treatment plan. It is not a substitute for consultation with a qualified healthcare professional, and reading it does not create any clinician-patient relationship between you and us.

We are a website about waking up. We are not doctors, and we do not know anything about your individual health, medication, history or circumstances.

Always consult a professional

Always seek the advice of a physician, sleep specialist or other qualified health provider with any questions about a medical condition or about your sleep. Never disregard professional medical advice, or delay seeking it, because of something you have read on this site.

Never start, stop or change any medication or treatment based on information here. That includes over-the-counter supplements such as melatonin, which is regulated differently in different countries and interacts with a number of common medications.

When to speak to a doctor

Several conditions present as "I cannot wake up" or "I am always tired", and no alarm clock, routine or article will help with any of them. Please speak to a clinician if you experience:

• Loud snoring, gasping, choking, or being told you stop breathing during sleep — possible obstructive sleep apnoea, which is common, serious and very treatable.
• Falling asleep unintentionally during the day, particularly while driving or at work.
• Persistent exhaustion despite regularly getting seven to nine hours of sleep.
• Being consistently unable to fall asleep or stay asleep for more than a few weeks.
• An irresistible need to move your legs at night, or sudden muscle weakness triggered by emotion.
• Sleep problems arriving alongside low mood, anxiety, weight change or loss of interest in things you usually enjoy.
• Any sleep difficulty that is affecting your safety, your work or your relationships.

In an emergency

If you or someone else is in immediate danger, or you are having thoughts of harming yourself, contact your local emergency services now. In the United States, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. In the UK and Republic of Ireland, call Samaritans on 116 123. In the EU, call 112. Elsewhere, contact your local emergency number.

Please do not wait, and please do not rely on a website.

Accuracy and currency

We make a genuine effort to reflect the current evidence accurately, to describe uncertainty honestly rather than overstating what is known, and to update our guides as understanding changes. Sleep science is an active field and consensus shifts. We cannot guarantee that everything here is complete, current or correct at the moment you read it.

If you believe something on this site is inaccurate, please tell us at hello@bestalarmclock.com. We would rather be corrected than be wrong.

No liability

Your use of the information on this site is entirely at your own risk. To the fullest extent permitted by law, BestAlarmClock.com accepts no liability for any loss, injury or damage arising from reliance on information published here. See our terms of use for the full position, including the separate and important limitations on alarm reliability.

Products mentioned

Products discussed on this site are consumer goods, not medical devices, unless explicitly stated otherwise. We make no claim that any product diagnoses, treats, cures or prevents any condition. If you require a medical device — including a CPAP machine, a prescribed light therapy device, or specialist assistive alerting equipment — obtain it through a clinician or an appropriate specialist supplier.

How to contact us

For any question about this page — or anything else on this site — email hello@bestalarmclock.com. We read everything sent to that address and aim to reply within five working days. It is the only contact address for BestAlarmClock.com; we do not operate a phone line or a postal enquiries desk.