Let’s talk about sleep
We all have heard that sleep is important, but do we really know how important? Let’s take a look at a few studies on just how important sleep is.
In 2012, a study was done on 17 people with insomnia compared to 17 individuals with good sleep quality and compared their ability to process pain. It was found that people with insomnia reported pain symptoms on twice as many days as the other group. They also found that the pain processing system in people with insomnia has a higher sensitivity and causes people to experience spontaneous pain more frequently and intensely.
In 2013, it was found that across a multitude of studies there was a trend that sleep disturbances may predict pain to a greater degree than pain predicts interrupted sleep.
In 2015, a study done looking at the correlation of sleep and missing work. A cohort of over 2000 people found that sleep disturbances were more relevant in missing work than neck or low back pain.
In 2018, another study was done on 17 individuals ages ranging from 19-32. One group was allowed 8 hours of sleep every night while the other group was allowed 5 nights of 4 hours and 2 nights of 8 hours. The study was supposed to last a week, instead it only took one week for the group allowed 5 nights of 4 hours to start showing changes in their pain threshold. These findings tell us that decreasing sleep on the weekdays and trying to catch up on the weekends doesn’t work and may increase our vulnerabilities to chronic pain.
The moral of the story? Sleep matters! So, what can we do to improve it? 7 hours of sleep sounds great, but sometimes that isn’t realistic. Let’s start with looking at the quality of sleep instead and making sure we wake up feeling rested. Here are 9 things that can help improve the quality of sleep, pick 1-2 to start with:
Consistency - try to wake up at the same time every day. This allows your circadian rhythm to normalize.
Cold - 62 degrees is ideal, but the colder the room the deeper the sleep. Here are a few tools that can help your body stay cool at night: chilipad or eight sleep.
Dark - make sure the room is dark, any light will excite the photoreceptors in our eyes and continue our body’s day cycle. Try this face mask.
Light - upon waking, expose yourself to bright light for a minimum of 10 minutes. Live somewhere that doesn’t have much direct sunlight? Try this Vitamin D light.
Don’t exercise at night- exercise will improve sleep, but avoid it within 4 hours of bedtime.
Don’t nap - napping will confuse our circadian rhythm. If and only if you are getting more than 7 hours of sleep does a nap improve performance.
Avoid caffiene - the half life of caffeine is 7 hours, stop using caffiene after noon.
Avoid alcohol and spicy foods - these are stimulants and will decrease REM sleep, stop drinking or eating spicy foods 3 hours before bedtime.
Use your bedroom ONLY for sleep and sex - if we are using our bedroom for things like work or watching tv it will be very difficult for our subconscious brain to turn off for sleep.
Interested in learning more about sleep? Check out this book by Matthew Walker, PhD, Why We Sleep
At Loon State Physical Therapy, we know that pain is multi-dimensional and we want to focus on all aspects of your life. Have questions or want to learn more? Book a free discovery call or schedule at one of our convenient locations in Lake Elmo, Linden Hills, or Hopkins.
-Lexi Noel PT, DPT
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28789471/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25724467/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22396081/
