Sleep… Zzzzzzzzzzz
This is a Pilates website right? So why talk about sleep?
Because sleep and pain have a direct relationship. Loss of sleep amplifies pain and lowers pain thresholds (1), poor quality and quantity of sleep are associated with chronic lower back pain (6) and increases injury risk (2, 3). But it’s tricky - pain and sleep have a reciprocal relationship ... if you’re in pain often you can’t sleep, yet if you don’t sleep well this amplifies your pain. This is why it is important to find and address strategies to improve sleep.
Strategies that have a large effect on sleep aren’t always that accessible or realistic for everyone to implement. Things like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Sleep Restriction Therapy are techniques delivered by therapists and have the greatest effect on sleep (4). But rest assured, there are many other accessible strategies that have an effect on sleep. Here are a few:
listening to classical music
writing down your worries or thoughts
progressive muscle relaxation technique
consistent bed time & wake time
quiet, cool bedroom
regular exercise!!
warm bath/shower
no nicotine, caffeine alcohol before bed
Sleep interventions have been proven to reduce lower back pain (5) and restorative sleep double the odds of widespread pain resolving (7).
So if you have strange pains or niggles that come and go for no real reason and you haven’t injured yourself that you can remember or significantly increased your training load over the past 2-3 weeks… Perhaps have a think about how you have been sleeping lately and see if there is anything you can do to tidy up your sleep habits.
For more information visit the Sleep Foundation by clicking on this link: How to Sleep Better
References
Krause, A. J., Prather, A. A., Wager, T. D., Lindquist, M. A., & Walker, M. P. (2019). The pain of sleep loss: A brain characterization in humans. The Journal of Neuroscience
Grier, T., Dinkeloo, E., Reynolds, M., & Jones, B. H. (2020). Sleep duration and musculoskeletal injury incidence in physically active men and women: a study of US Army Special Operation Forces soldiers. Sleep health
Gao, B., Dwivedi, S., Milewski, M. D., & Cruz Jr, A. I. (2019). Chronic lack of sleep is associated with increased sports injury in adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine
Friedrich, A., & Schlarb, A. A. (2018). Let's talk about sleep: a systematic review of psychological interventions to improve sleep in college students. Journal of Sleep Research,
Ho, K., Ferreira, P., Pinheiro, M., Silva, D. A., Miller, C., Grunstein, R., & Simic, M. (2019). Sleep interventions for osteoarthritis and spinal pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage
Kelly, G. A., Blake, C., Power, C. K., O'keeffe, D., & Fullen, B. M. (2011). The association between chronic low back pain and sleep: a systematic review. The Clinical Journal of Pain
Davies, K. A., Macfarlane, G. J., Nicholl, B. I., Dickens, C., Morriss, R., Ray, D., & McBeth, J. (2008). Restorative sleep predicts the resolution of chronic widespread pain: results from the EPIFUND study. Rheumatology
