Neck Pain Due to Fragmented Sleep
A recent study at John's Hopkins University, published in the Journal Sleep, discovered what many of us have known for years: lack of sleep hurts, literally.
What researchers called "fragmented sleep" (waking their patients up every hour for 7-8 hours) caused lower pain tolerance and more spontaneous pain in normal healthy women than keeping them awake for 36 hours straight.
This is a great case of science finally listening to MOMS, who say that waking up all night with their kids "just hurts!"
What does this mean in the long term? It's hard to say -- but these researchers are asking if poor sleep can be an early signal of chronic pain.
Related Topics:
Technorati Tags: sleep doctor, chronic pain, neck pain, insomnia
What researchers called "fragmented sleep" (waking their patients up every hour for 7-8 hours) caused lower pain tolerance and more spontaneous pain in normal healthy women than keeping them awake for 36 hours straight.
This is a great case of science finally listening to MOMS, who say that waking up all night with their kids "just hurts!"
What does this mean in the long term? It's hard to say -- but these researchers are asking if poor sleep can be an early signal of chronic pain.
Related Topics:
Technorati Tags: sleep doctor, chronic pain, neck pain, insomnia
14 Comments:
I agree. I literally have pain in the neck, shoulders and back due to lack of sleep. I am so used to not going to sleep on time that it has became "abnormal" for me to go to sleep until at least after 12am. And, I wake up early all the time. No matter what. Not matter what time I went to sleep. My body is like a clock and timed to get up at 7 in the morning. Go figure huh! So yes it is true that its painful not to sleep.
my eyes popped out of my head when I read the subject. could it be true that my pain in the neck has a somnolent origin? While I see no solution, considering that I still get woken up to texts from college students at one in the morning, teenagers coming in after midnight, my kindergartner waking up in the middle of the night, my husband snoring, and up again at 6, at least it's comforting on some level to know that there are others out there suffering with me for the same reason.
I also agree.. I have a hard time going to sleep at night at normal time of 9:30-10:00pm.. if I go lay down I just toss and turn, so I stay up later 11:30pm-12:00 watching tv, computor etc. til my eyes are heavy then I can go right to sleep, however it only lasts 2 hours and then I'm up again for 1-2 hours and the cycle continues until alarm at 5:30am..At this point I'm really tired and my body hurts all over especially neck and shoulders.. this is a continuous cycle
Wow, this was amazing to read. I have had neck & shoulder pain for a long time... maybe it explains why I wake often and am now getting insomnia almost every other night. Not bad enough to have chronic pain, but knowing it is exacerbated by not sleeping well... bummer.
i wake up at 12:30a, 2:30a, 5:00a and then have to be up at 6:00a, I suffer with neck and shoulder pain during these times and sometimes end up with a really bad headache. i would have never put it all together as sleep related
Well I'm glad to see that doctors have only proven waht I and many others already knew. I go to sleep every night fine and the days where i get up early to go to school I know that I will be limping around all day with chronic knee pain and asking my boyfriend for a shoulder rub. Where as on non-school days when I sleep for at least 8 hours I am evergized and there is NO shoulder neck or knee pain
As someone who has two different sleep disorders, as well as fibromyalgia - I can definately state that lack of good, quality sleep causes pain - not only in my neck and shoulders, but in other areas as well. Using a cpap machine has not helped me get any better quality sleep, nor for any longer. Makes for a very miserable day because I have to keep working.
Okay--I agree. I am in perimenopause and my sleep patterns are a mess!! I fall asleep too early, 8 or 9pm, then wake up around 11 or 12pm, can't go back to sleep for an hour or two, then sleep only 3 or 4 hours, wake up, toss and turn, etc. I feel terrible-all sorts of aches and pains, especially in my neck and shoulders like several others have said here. So, what is the answer? How do I fix this?
7 years ago I had a lunbar puncture that was normal. I have a Chiari malformation and somatosensory evoked potentials showed a delay in transmission to and from the brain at the cervico-medullary juntion. I see one of the top neurologists in the NE and he doesn't think I have MS, and thinks the Chiari could cause all my problems. However, one sysmptom is something I have only found three other people having. When the light is just right, if I swing one of my arms around in a figure eight I see trails. It's been calld cerebral polyopsia and my MRI shows a restriction of flow that could be causing pressure at the back of the brain. But does this vision issue sound like something relatyed to MS? My MRI's show no demylenation, but I feel like I'm walking in a pool of water. They can;t do another lumbar puncture as I definitely have excess pressure of CSF. There have been some reports of the cerebellum herniating even more when that amount of fluid is removed.
Any hint at MS from what I have stated?
Thanks,
S
P.S. I have a hot tub and heat does not seem to affect me.
When I do not get a good nights sleep, my knees hurt like crazy, it has been that way for over 30 years.
I am posting this to the person with Chiari Malformation,
I had decompression surgery last year for this very thing. The thing is with the delay in transmission to the organs in the body many a problems have been resolved due to the surgery. Chiari is scary when you have the facts, don't stop searching for relief. It took me years. I thought I had MS also. But fortunately for me Mine was somewhat fixable.
I am posting this to the person with Chiari as well.
I had the chiari decompression surgery 5 weeks ago. I'm only 19, but have been dealing with delays in transmission and severe headaches and neck pain, as well as sleep apnea. I would have the chiari surgery over again! it has helped me so much. i get much better sleep, i have more energy. the delays, headaches, and neck pain are a million times better!!! i can live a normal live now! i recommend the surgery to everyone who is suffering from any symptom of chiari! it's VERY worth it!
I was diagnosed with Chiari Malformation about 7 years ago, after experiencing excruciating headaches. At that time, the diagnosing doctor made it seem almost like an "afterthought" and assured me that my headaches were not due to the Chiari Malformation. As the years passed, I went to a neurologist as well as two chiropractors. In the meantime, for the past few years, my first indication that I will have a serious headache is neck and shoulder pain. I wake up with it in the morning, and couldn't understand why this was happening if I was getting a good night's sleep. Was I sleeping all "crunched up"? Should I sleep on my side instead? Unfortunately, we can't control how we sleep once we're already asleep! I have been seeing my current chiropractor for about a month and a half, with little relief.
What does the Chiari decompression surgery involve? Who is an ideal candidate for the surgery? Do you have to go to a craniosacral specialist to have this surgery performed?
I just got a report from my doctor today, stating that my MRI showed that I have a Chiari I malformation with cervicomedullary compression, without edema. It also stated that the cerebellar tonsils extends approximately 12 mm below the foramen magnum. If any of you bloggers have the same diagnosis, please let me know where I might find further information concerning this type of malformation? I am a 60 year old lady and have had many MRIs, so I know that this is not something I was born with, or something that has been long standing. In 2004 I had a laminectomy and disk fusion at the C4-5 level, with a resultant solid fusion. My orthopedist is in the process of referring me to a neurologist, but I like having as much information beforehand so that I might converse intelligently with medical professionals about my body. Somehow, they seem to give you a bit more respect if you've taken the time to do some research on your own, not too much, so that you don't end up sounding like you know more than they do. I look forward to hearing from any of you who may have been diagnosed with the same condition.
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