A new study titled “Better Quality Sleep Promotes Daytime Physical Activity in Patients with Chronic Pain? A Multilevel Analysis of the Within-Person Relationship” indicates that sufferers of chronic pain can help to maintain their physical mobility by improving the quality of their sleep. Written by researchers at the Department of Psychology at the University of Warwick and published this year in the peer-reviewed scientific journal PLOS One, the study found that chronic pain patients who were well rested spontaneously engaged in more physical activity than their counterparts who suffered from insufficient sleep.
Generally speaking, chronic pain is constituted by any pain that continues beyond the expected period of healing, and can last anywhere from six months to an entire lifetime. Chronic pain in the neck and back regions can manifest in a variety of ways, from the intense, radiating feeling of pinched nerve neck pain to the burning, tingling sensation brought about by sciatica of the lower back, and everything in between. Such pinched nerves are often correlated with chronic headaches or migraine.
Physical activity has long been utilized as an approach to chronic pain management, with walking and cycling regimens, exercise classes, and intensive physical therapy being commonly prescribed as a means of helping patients to mitigate pain. Study authors Dr. Nicole Tang and Dr. Adam Sanborn, however, found that patients whose sleep quality was inadequate were not generally inclined toward physical activity, and were thus less likely to move about during the day than individuals who did not suffer from insomnia.
The study authors employed an accelerometer in order to monitor patients’ typical physical activity around the clock for the duration of one week. Patients were also asked to employ a mobile electronic diary in order to rate such factors as mood, pain intensity, and sleep quality each morning upon waking. Utilizing this data, the researchers were able to discern a highly visible relationship between sleep quality and next-day physical activity among chronic pain sufferers.
Given that insomnia, sleep apnea, and other sleep problems are associated with a host of serious health complications—inclusive of elevated heart rate, stroke, and diabetes—it is not particularly surprising that inadequate sleep can be linked also to what Dr. Tang describes as “zombie”-like feelings and, in turn, a severe lack of motivation to exercise. As yet another powerful piece of evidence illustrating the vital role of sleep for maintaining health, the present study is important because it indicates that sleep represents a better predictor of physical activity than factors such as mood and pain intensity. The findings thus challenge conventional logic dictating that chronic pain treatment should focus primarily on patients’ daytime physical activities; instead, they suggest that a greater emphasis on sleep quality is likely to make a more substantial impact on patients’ sustained mobility, pain management, and quality of life.
Since the lack of good sleep may be caused by a sleep disorder, it is important to be diagnosed at a nationally accredited sleep disorder such as that at the Rowe Neurology Institute. At Rowe Neurology Institute, we have the most current diagnostic tools, and a staff of neurologists and integrated caregivers who specialize in both sleep and back and neck pain. We’ve treated thousands of acute back and neck pain patients and helped them recover without surgery. And, in many cases, these patients who have treatable sleep disorders are also more able to do more physical activities.