Better Sleep May Be Potentially Beneficial for Chronic Pain Management

(Newswire.net — December 26, 2016) Orlando, FL — Sleep is extremely important, and not getting sufficient sleep may negatively impact a person’s quality of life. Individuals that suffer from certain conditions such as arthritis are typically prone to having a poor quality of sleep.

Better sleep may be potentially beneficial for chronic pain management. Pain is one aspect of arthritis that many sufferers are having a difficult or even impossible time dealing with. Pain disrupts sleep, and when it does, it leaves sufferers exhausted or groggy the following day.

A recent study reveals that an improved sleep quality may potentially help ease pain among osteoarthritis sufferers. Sleep disruptions have been linked with certain changes particularly in the manner that the body feels and processes pain.

According to statistics, over half of the population with osteoarthritis has pain during the night. It could potentially lead to not just broken sleep but also constant shifts between sleep stages. Previous studies even suggest that disrupted sleep may help predict pain severity.

The University of Alabama and the University of Florida teams of researchers investigated if a poor quality of sleep was associated with greater sensitivity as well as reduced tolerance for pain among individuals with chronic pain. The team of researchers was led by Megan Petroy, an Assistant Professor at Arizona State University in Phoenix.

In the study, the researchers tried to determine the link between the severity of self-reported insomnia, pain sensitivity, and troubled sleep in individuals with knee osteoarthritis. They predicted that individuals with the worst cases of insomnia would have a reduced tolerance of pain and suffer more of it.

The study was recently published in The Journal of Pain. It involved participants between the ages 45 to 85 years of age from various ethnic backgrounds.  They were all required to complete questionnaires as well as experimental pain applications.

The study confirmed that there was a connection between the severity of sleep disruption with the changes in the manner that the body processes pain.

Researchers recommend certain treatments that may help sufferers improve their sleep, which may also ease their osteoarthritis pain. Cognitive behavioral therapy that focuses on sleep might be beneficial for osteoarthritis sufferers with insomnia.

There are pain medications such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which are thought to help ease pain and improve the mobility of sufferers. There are also natural alternatives, such as glucosamine, that are thought to be safer than these medications.

Glucosamine is believed to be one of the most trusted joint health supplements today. It can be purchased at local health stores or online.

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