Osteoarthritis Disrupts Your Sleep and Partner’s Too

(Newswire.net — October 26, 2016) Orlando, FL — Pain is one of the most common consequences of having arthritis.  Unfortunately, pain carries along many disadvantages including sleep disturbance.

Osteoarthritis may disrupt not just your sleep but your partner’s too. Joint pain often keeps sufferers awake at night. It is even believed that half of the osteoarthritis population has difficulty falling asleep or getting good quality sleep.

According to research, individuals with hip and knee osteoarthritis are more susceptible to daytime sleepiness and insomnia than those without the condition. Arthritis apparently makes falling asleep difficult and it even wakes sufferers up in the middle of the night.

In a 2012 study, which was published in the journal SLEEP, the researchers looked into the quality of sleep of individuals with chronic pain, such as osteoarthritis.

The researchers found that the level of pain sufferers have before going to bed has a minor impact on their ability to sleep well. It was also revealed that the sleep quality has predicted the level of pain sufferers would suffer the next day. According to researchers, individuals who slept poorly suffered from more severe pain the following day.

Michael V. Vitiello, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle, reveals that lack of sleep could trigger inflammatory pathways, which exacerbate arthritis pain.  He also added that disturbed sleep makes sufferers achy and that the perception of pain may be changed by disturbed sleep.

Lynn Martire, PhD, Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Penn State University, conducted a study involving 138 individuals with knee osteoarthritis. It was found that the sufferers and their spouses did not sleep well and felt less refreshed the following day.

The researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) conducted a study to determine the link between sleep and pain in individuals with osteoarthritis. They utilized overnight sleep studies to determine the association between sleep-inhibiting behaviors, pain, and sleep among sufferers of knee osteoarthritis.

There are ways to improve sleep such as not eating a heavy meal or not consuming caffeinated beverages before bedtime. The use of joint health supplements may also be helpful for individuals with arthritis who have trouble getting some decent sleep.

Glucosamine supplements are a popular alternative to pain medications, which are commonly used by arthritis sufferers. These pharmaceutical drugs may potentially cause side effects, and thus, many arthritis sufferers are encouraged to use safer alternatives such as glucosamine.

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