Good sleep has got many advantages as we all know but, not getting enough sleep is equally dreadful. Be it facing difficulty in falling asleep or staying asleep or waking up before the set time or even having disrupted sleep cycle, any of these can worsen your joint pain.Studies have shown that people who are not able to secure a good sleep often complain about joint pain. This is because a non-sleepy person tends to make efforts to catch up with sleep and in that rush, he would be ignoring his postures. On the contrary, if he or she would doze off for even a short while, in any awkward posture, then pain is sure to be experienced.
Another factor ruling here is intensity of pain. If a person is experiencing mild pain and, is also a victim of insomnia, then he or she would find it altogether more difficult to sleep. Their condition would not let him or her sleep and pain would add to the tragedy.It is a scientific fact that long term sleep deprivation has got lot many cons and escalation in joint pain is one of them. Many patients of arthritis and osteoarthritis complain about severe pain occurring at night which makes drifting off more difficult along with giving birth to a vicious cycle.
Usually adults need 8 to 9 hours of sleep to wake up refreshed the next morning. Along with long hours, sound sleep span is also important. Generally an individual would take 45 minutes to enter in to the deep sleep zone and this phase keeps a control on inflammatory molecules. Now people with insomnia find it a luxury they can’t afford and hence their body reacts to pain signals, which escalates the intensity of the pain. When a person is in deep sleep, his or her brain releases healing hormones that repair the damaged tissues. It makes one feel relaxed and pain-free. This phenomenon being absent amongst insomniacs, the pain worsen.
Insomnia is also believed to elicit inflammation and sensitization which further aggravates the pain sensation.
Hyperalgesia changes are also witnessed due to insomnia. Sleep fragmentation often affects chronic pain as when an individual continuously experiences sleep deprivation, his body doesn’t respond to the efforts conducted to evade pain and instead the pain signals are solidified. It increases muscle tenderness and increases inflammatory makers that makes joint sore and exhausted. All in all, it turns into a never ending cycle, which if not interrupted can become heavily hazardous.
Measures to overcome insomnia
1. Food
Have healthy and nutritious food but make sure that you do not have heavy food before going to bed.2. Meditate
Meditating before going to sleep will help you in letting go of negative thoughts and will ease up your sleeping cycle.Adopting a healthy lifestyle in general can be of great help. Eliminate alcohol, caffeine, smoking and stress if possible to welcome a pain free life.