Sketchy sleep increases pain sensitivity
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Fresh science! Sketchy sleep increases pain sensitivity.
A major driver of chronic pain is sensitization, basically turning up the “volume” on all pain. The phenomenon is well-known, but how it works is still a mystery, and its relationship with sleep has barely been studied. A 2016 experiment looked carefully at 133 patients with knee arthritis, comparing those who slept well versus those who did not. They found, with a high degree of certainty, that:
sleep fragmentation may strongly affect the pain and CS relationship; consequently, these results underscore the importance of considering and treating sleep in patients with chronic pain.”