The Connection Between Lack of Sleep and Body Pain
We all know how important sleep is, but did you know that a lack of sleep can increase how much pain you feel?
It can be a vicious cycle with pain causing you to lose sleep, then losing sleep increasing your pain, and so on. As a chiropractor, most people come to me with a pain complaint. Not every complaint is an easy fix, however, addressing sleep can be an important part of recovery.
There are many ways to improve your sleep, so finding what works for you is important.
Some areas to focus on include increasing the length of your sleep, increasing the quality of your sleep, looking at your bedtime routine, and sleep hygiene.
Some of these areas can be harder to tackle if you’re already struggling with falling and staying asleep, so another consideration would be to look at the pillow and mattress you are using. Some questions to ask yourself are: How supportive is your mattress? How old is your mattress? In what position do you normally sleep? How thick or thin is your pillow? Once you’re asleep you can’t control what your body does, so being proactive and setting yourself up for success can be one way to get you sleeping more restfully.
Although getting more sleep won’t fix every pain complaint, it’s a step in the right direction.
Pain is a multifactorial problem, so if we can improve one of the contributing factors, it can make recovery a little bit easier. Pain can have a big impact on the quality of your life, so it is worth tackling as many contributing factors as possible, to get you back to feeling your best.
Health and wellness is a process, and we all have different capacities for making adjustments.
Finding small actionable changes can result in big improvements over time, so focus on what you can change.
Dr. Sarah Creasor is a chiropractor from Parry Sound, Ontario. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Guelph, and then attended the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College where she received her Doctor of Chiropractic. Sarah has a deep love of the outdoors, and when not in clinic, you can find her exploring local areas by foot, water, bike, or skis.
From the blog
View all
Latest posts
