Painsomnia: The Link Between Pain and Sleep Disruption

When the lights go out and the world quiets down, many people look forward to a restful night’s sleep. But for those living with chronic pain, nighttime can be a battleground, where rest is replaced with discomfort. This frustrating phenomenon is known as painsomnia, and it affects millions.

Dr. Thomas Nguyen, as featured in Everyday Health, leads the way in recognizing and treating painsomnia as a critical yet often overlooked contributor to chronic health decline. Identifying and managing painsomnia is essential to restoring both sleep quality and overall quality of life.

Why Is Painsomnia Important to Identify and Prevent?

As we all should know, good sleep is the cornerstone to good health. In fact, we spend nearly a third of our lives sleeping. Most people focus on nutrition and exercise while overlooking how critical sleep really is. While up to 50% of the general population struggles with insomnia, that number skyrockets in those with chronic pain. In fact, painsomnia may affect as many as 75-80% of the chronic pain population.

What Impact Can It Have on Overall Health and Wellbeing?

The Cost of Poor Sleep Architecture

Painsomnia or poor sleep architecture has major detrimental consequences to one’s general health. Just like charging your phone’s battery at night, your body and mind need to be recharged to work at their best. If we cannot achieve good, healthy, and restorative sleep, every aspect of your health can be affected: your immune system, mental health, energy levels, weight, and focus.

When Pain Disrupts the Sleep Cycle

Sleep interrupted by pain or painsomnia can lower your immune defenses, making you more vulnerable to illnesses like colds and sinus infections. It can affect your mood by increasing anxiety and depression, disrupt hormone balance and lead to weight gain. It can also lead to poor concentration, memory issues, and increased inflammation.

What Should You Do If You Suspect Painsomnia?

Chronic pain and insomnia (painsomnia) typically go hand in hand. Chronic pain tends to intensify or become most noticeable at night and when going to bed, when your surroundings are quiet and the mind has no other distractions but your chronic pain.

Finding the Right Specialist

The ideal specialist for painsomnia management would be someone who can get to the source of your problems. Painsomnia may involve difficulty getting to sleep, difficulty staying asleep, or most commonly, a combination of both. One of the first questions I ask my patients is how they are sleeping at night. Your specialist should address not only the physical aspect of managing the pain at night, but also the psychological aspects of fear and anxiety that result from this pain.

A Comprehensive Treatment Approach

It is a complex algorithm of developing a plan throughout the day for sleep hygiene, managing the pain appropriately, and then adding sleep agents and medications to assist with the ultimate goal of restorative sleep. Improved sleep results in more energy, better mood, less pain, and improved overall health.

What Conditions May Be Associated With Painsomnia?

Insomnia is already prevalent in today’s society, often due to busy work life, unhealthy lifestyles such as lack of exercise and poor nutrition, and being distracted by our phones at night. Painsomnia takes this a bit further, adding chronic pain to the mix and making it even harder for the body to achieve restorative sleep.

Common Conditions That Cause Painsomnia

Conditions like back or neck pain, migraines, nerve pain, and even post-surgical pain can all contribute to painsomnia. When pain is a constant presence, it can wake you up throughout the night, disrupting the natural sleep cycle your body needs for healing and recovery.

How to Prevent Painsomnia?

Yes. While not all chronic pain can be avoided, there are steps you can take to reduce your risk of developing painsomnia. Prevention comes down to addressing both pain and sleep consistently by taking care of your body during the day and setting yourself up for quality rest at night.

On the physical side, managing chronic pain through proper diagnosis and treatment is key, ideally guided by a pain specialist who understands your specific condition. Lifestyle changes like reducing inflammation, staying active, and maintaining a healthy weight can also keep pain from worsening at night.

But managing pain is only part of the picture. When we prioritize sleep, we give our bodies the best chance to heal, which is essential for managing chronic pain over time. This includes sticking to a consistent sleep schedule and prioritizing your wind-down routine by limiting screen time, keeping your bedroom dark and quiet, and avoiding caffeine or heavy meals late in the day. Stress management matters too, since anxiety can make it even harder to fall or stay asleep.

When you sleep better, you feel better, and you heal better.