Poor sleep hurts – literally

We all know that poor sleep quality can hurt us in the short term (e.g., energy level, alertness, mood) and the long term (e.g., a higher risk of high blood pressure,¹ heart disease,² and poorer glucose control in patients with type 2 diabetes³). But it can also hurt us literally, as in make it more likely to feel physical pain.

We know this thanks to more than 10,000 Norwegians voluntarily sticking their hands in a bucket of cold water.

Researchers noted each brave subject’s sleep quality and how long s/he was able to keep a hand inside the bucket before pulling it out. The study, published last month in Pain and summarized in Medical Daily, “found that all sleep parameters, except sleep duration, were significantly associated with reduced pain tolerance”:

• 42% of insomniacs took their hand out early.
• Only 31% of healthy sleepers took their hand out early.⁴

These findings are interesting for people who have insomnia and sleep apnea, since both groups experience similar sleep challenges:

• Trouble falling asleep. With CPAP users, sometimes it’s a struggle to fall asleep with air pressures starting at the prescribed level, which is why Resmed’s AutoRamp™ technology is so important. It starts the user off at a lower pressure, detects when s/he falls asleep, and then automatically ramps up the pressure to the prescribed level afterward.
• Trouble staying asleep. When sleep apnea isn’t treated, apneas wake up your body to gasp for air without you even realizing it – possibly hundreds of times a night!

According to Medical Daily, “This is the first study to take a broader population-level look at the connection between sleep and pain, and the researchers advocate that more work be done in understanding just how the two are linked.” But in the meantime, we can add pain intolerance to the long list of reasons why we should do everything we can to fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.

To help you do that, here are two recent blog posts on:

• Good sleep habits; and
• Insomnia treatment options.

This blog post contains general information about medical conditions and potential treatments. It is not medical advice. If you have any medical questions, please consult your doctor.

References