Improve Your Sleep to Alleviate Pain
A good night's rest can be an integral part of arthritis treatment.
Posted 5/8/07
Is arthritis pain making it difficult to go about your daily activities? Then perhaps what you need most is a good night's sleep, a recent study suggests. The study, in which 900 people with self-reported arthritis were questioned about their limitations from arthritis and how they treated it, revealed that more than 30 percent had difficulty sleeping because of arthritis. And those who had trouble sleeping were more than twice as likely to see their physician about their pain.
These people were also more likely to seek out a host of other treatments or remedies for their pain, including chiropractic, biofeedback, meditation, prayer, massage, ointments and medications, says Joanne Jordan, MD, a rheumatologist and epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the study's lead author.
While such treatments may help, Dr. Jordan believes improved sleep might be the best medicine for people in pain. "Frequently, the thing to do to treat the arthritis is to improve the sleep disruption," she says. The best way to do that depends on the individual patient, but may include taking medications like antidepressants to promote deep sleep; improving bedtime habits like going to bed at the same time every night; and avoiding foods such as those containing caffeine that may keep you awake.
Interestingly, the people in the study didn't necessarily make the connection between their sleep problems and arthritis pain, so they didn't think to mention their sleeping difficulties to their doctor. Dr. Jordan urges anyone with arthritis and sleeping problems to mention it to their doctors, who can help them find ways to improve their sleep -- and pain.
