Why do you need sleep?

Everyone has experienced the drag of a sleepless night at least once in their life. You wake up feeling unrested, unfocused, and unmotivated to start your day. Sleep is a basic biological need of the human body, similar to our need for food and water. While you are asleep, your body and brain remain active, using that time to restore, repair, and recalibrate for the next day (Ramar et al., 2021). Sleep is essential for cognitive functions like learning and memory consolidation, as well as for mood stability, immune system health, and physical recovery. Without enough sleep, you may experience increased stress, reduced cognitive performance, and weakened immune function (Ramar et al., 2021). For people experiencing chronic pain, the importance of sleep is even greater.

How poor sleep can exacerbate chronic pain

A lack of sleep can actually lead to an increased sensitivity to pain; in other words, insufficient sleep can lower your pain threshold (Haack et al., 2020). This means that sensations that used to feel manageable or tolerable are now becoming painful, increasing discomfort. As the pain worsens, it can interfere with your ability to carry out normal daily activities, making it harder to stay active and engage in routines.

Additionally, prolonged sleep deprivation can increase inflammation, a key response from the body’s immune system to release inflammatory cells, which can contribute to pain. Disturbed sleep has been associated with an increased activation of markers – or signals – of inflammation, leading to increased inflammation, and consequently more pain (Haack et al., 2020).

Chronic pain makes it harder to sleep – breaking the cycle

People experiencing chronic pain often find it difficult to fall or stay asleep. This creates a complex cycle as the pain disrupts sleep, and a lack of sleep exacerbates the pain. There are many strategies to help improve the sleep-pain cycle, and they can benefit anyone who is struggling with sleep difficulties. Here are five tips to help you improve your sleep!

1. Create a consistent sleep routine. Go to bed and wake up around the same time every day – even on weekends – to help regulate your internal clock (Markwald et al., 2018).
2. Optimize your sleep environment. Keep your bedroom dark, quiet, and cool, with a comfortable mattress and pillow (Suni & Rosen, 2024).
3. Limit stimulants and screens before bed. Stimulants like caffeine and nicotine can make it harder to fall asleep if consumed too close to bedtime (Markwald et al., 2018). Blue light exposure from screens interferes with melatonin production, a hormone essential for sleep (Markwald et al., 2018).
4. Exercise. Engaging in consistent exercise can help reduce pain and improve sleep; these activities lead to the release of endorphins, feel-good chemicals, that can improve mood and reduce discomfort (Markwald et al., 2018). If you can’t be consistent with your exercise routine, even a walk can make a difference!
5. Use mindfulness meditation techniques. Using relaxation techniques like deep breathing or guided meditation can help calm the body and quiet the mind, making it easier to fall asleep. Power Over Pain has a list of available resources for mediation and mindfulness practices and approaches to pain management.

Circadian rhythms (what we study at CircaPain) are not the same as sleep, but we know that both are important for how we experience pain. Check out our other blog posts explaining circadian rhythmicity or get involved in our study today to help us learn more about how all of these factors are interconnected!

Written by Avery T.

References

Haack, M., Simpson, N., Sethna, N., Kaur, S., & Mullington, J. (2020). Sleep deficiency and chronic pain: Potential underlying mechanisms and clinical implications. Neuropsychopharmacology: Official Publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 45(1), 205–216. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-019-0439-z

Markwald, R. R., Iftikhar, I., & Youngstedt, S. D. (2018). Behavioral Strategies, Including Exercise, For Addressing Insomnia. ACSM’S Health & Fitness Journal, 22(2), 23–29. https://doi.org/10.1249/FIT.0000000000000375

Ramar, K., Malhotra, R. K., Carden, K. A., Martin, J. L., Abbasi-Feinberg, F., Aurora, R. N., Kapur, V. K., Olson, E. J., Rosen, C. L., Rowley, J. A., Shelgikar, A. V., & Trotti, L. M. (2021). Sleep is essential to health: An American Academy of Sleep Medicine position statement. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 17(10), 2115–2119. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.9476

Rusch, H. L., Rosario, M., Levison, L. M., Olivera, A., Livingston, W. S., Wu, T., & Gill, J. M. (2019). The effect of mindfulness meditation on sleep quality: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1445(1), 5–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.13996

Suni, E., & Rosen, D. (2024). Mastering Sleep Hygiene: Your Path to Quality Sleep. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-hygiene