Link Between Chronic Pain, Insomnia Alleged

By Patty Oh, published Sep 09, 2007
Published Content: 412  Total Views: 236,870  Favorited By: 26 CPs
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Do you suffer from insomnia? What about chronic pain? Unlike other forms of pain, chronic pain never goes away. Insomnia is the inability to sleep for more than a few minutes or short period of time, and being unable to relax and rest your mind.

In a recent press release, health care professional at PAINWeek 2007 believe there is a link between chronic pain and insomnia. Can improving one condition have the pleasant side effect of improving the other? Health professionals at PAINWeek believe it can. PAINWeek is an annual forum for medical professionals to gather and learn about the latest research and treatments for pain and related conditions.

No one really knows what causes insomnia. It could be from fear, stress, anxiety, medications, herbs, depression, caffeine, or a multitude of other reasons. It's important to try to determine the cause of insomnia. If someone is not getting adequate rest, it makes sense that their body becomes "out of synch," and they might be at risk for pain.

Like insomnia, chronic pain can come from many different sources. While a lot of people have pain now and then, chronic pain is a different type of pain. Normal pain tells our body that something is wrong. A broken bone, cut, scrape, fall, or any number of reasons could cause it.

Chronic pain keeps telling you that something hurts, even when there is no physical sign of that pain. It might mean that the bone you broke 10 years ago and has completely healed, still hurts! Some people that have chronic pain don't have any physical injury that they can point to as the cause of their pain.

Researchers at the National Institute of Health National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NIDS) believe that chronic pain occurs when someone has "lower-than-normal levels of "endorphins in their spinal fluid." They've conducted experiments using acupuncture, and monitoring or trying to change stress levels to see if this might help with chronic pain.

Link Between Chronic Pain, Insomnia Alleged
Location:
 USA
Takeaways
  • People with chronic pain AND insomnia are more likely to be depressed
  • Can helping one condition improve the other? Medical professionals believe it can
Comments
Showing Comments 1 - 4 of 4
 
 
I'm painfully aware that I'm tired! (smile) Great article.

Posted on 09/11/2007 at 7:09:00 PM

 
Nikki: LOL! Very true :)

Posted on 09/10/2007 at 4:09:00 PM

 
Well duh, I could have told those researchers this without them having to spend all the money to do the study. If you are in pain you won't sleep good ... and if you don't sleep good & are in pain for long periods of time you are most likely going to be a little depressed. Nice recap Patty, thanks for sharing.

Posted on 09/10/2007 at 7:09:00 AM

 
Very interesting. :-)

Posted on 09/10/2007 at 6:09:00 AM

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