Insomniacs More Prone to Chronic Pain

/ Thomas Cohn, MD

Findings out of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health suggest that people who have trouble sleeping are more likely to have an increased sensitivity to pain.

Although the study didn’t show a cause-and-effect relationship, researchers said insomniacs were more likely to be sensitive to pain. For the study, researchers asked more than 10,000 adults to dip their hands in cold water for 1 minute and 46 seconds. If they felt the cold water was causing too much pain, participants could remove their hands from the water prior to the completion of the timer.

Insomnia

After their reading was recorded, researchers asked participants a bunch of questions about their sleeping habits, including how long they typically sleep, how long it takes them to fall asleep, and if they suffer from insomnia. Researchers also asked questions about related issues that can make it hard to fall asleep, like anxiety, stress and depression.

Study Results

After looking at the findings, researchers uncovered:

  • Nearly 1/3 of participants were able to keep their hands in the water for the entire test.
  • 42 percent of people with insomnia pulled their hands out of the water early.
  • 31 percent of people without the sleep disorder pulled their hands out of the water early.
  • Participants with frequent insomnia were more likely to remove their hands from the water than people who have insomnia once a month.
  • People with insomnia and chronic pain were twice as likely to have a reduced pain tolerance than participants without those conditions.

“While there is clearly a strong relationship between pain and sleep, such that insomnia increases both the likelihood and severity of clinical pain,” researchers wrote, “it is not clear exactly why this is the case.”

Dr. Cohn Comments

Although the findings are interesting, they are hardly revolutionary. In fact, it’s more of a chicken-and-the-egg type argument. People who have chronic pain are more likely to be plagued by nagging pain, which can make it difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep, and if you don’t get a full night’s sleep, your body can fully recover from the activities of the day, contributing to more pain. So what came first, the chronic pain or the insomnia?

Related source: Health.com