If you’re dealing with pain, getting a good night’s sleep can feel almost impossible. Whether it’s a toothache or a sore back, pain is already hard to handle during the day and can become unbearable at night when you’re just trying to get some rest. Persistent pain often makes it hard to get comfortable enough to fall asleep.
And even if you do manage to fall asleep, pain can wake you up and keep you from staying asleep. This can lead to ongoing sleep issues, as pain-related insomnia tends to get worse over time.
If pain is keeping you up at night, you’re not alone. According to the National Sleep Foundation, two out of three people with chronic pain have trouble sleeping. Wondering if chronic pain might be the reason for your sleepless nights? Here’s how pain can mess with your sleep.
### How Pain Interferes with Sleep
**Disrupting Your Sleep Cycle**
Not all sleep is equal when it comes to making you feel rested. Every night, your body goes through three sleep stages: light sleep, deep sleep, and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Each stage is vital for you to wake up feeling refreshed. Typically, you go through four to six sleep cycles each night.
However, if pain causes you to wake up frequently, you might never reach the deep or REM sleep stages. Spending too much time in light sleep means your body misses out on the restorative phases of sleep, especially REM. Too little REM sleep can actually make you more sensitive to pain, making it even harder to fall asleep the next night.
**Finding a Comfortable Sleeping Position**
Specific pain types, like orthopedic and arthritis pain, can make it tough to find a comfortable sleeping position. Even if you do manage to get comfortable, muscle and joint pain can wake you up during the night, forcing you to start the process all over again.
**Effects of Pain Medication**
While taking pain meds before bed might seem like a good idea, some medications can actually cause insomnia. Opioid painkillers like morphine, codeine, and Vicodin can not only keep you awake but also cause sleep apnea. This condition makes you stop breathing for short periods while sleeping, waking you up so you can start breathing again. So, trying to manage pain with medication might actually lead to more sleep problems.
**Lack of Exercise**
Chronic pain often makes regular exercise tough. However, studies show that people who exercise frequently sleep better at night compared to those who don’t. Lack of exercise can lead to weight gain, which can increase sleeping difficulties, especially if it causes sleep apnea.
If any of these issues sound familiar, talk to your doctor about finding a treatment plan that works for you.