Arthritis Pain and Sleep

0
95

The pain of arthritis makes it tough for many people to get a good night’s sleep. Worse yet, tossing and turning at night can actually increase the perception of pain.

“There’s a reciprocal relationship between pain and poor swimming, water insomnia. But if you’re suffering from chronic , which is often true for many people with arthritis, the first-line treatment should be better sleep hygiene, says Pigeon. “Medications treat the symptoms. Behavioral medicine can actually cure insomnia,” he says. In fact, some studies show that behavioral medicine may be more effective for many people.“Sleep medications are often useful for helping people get through a bad patch of insomnia,” says Pigeon. “But when people stop taking them, the insomnia often returns — unless they learn to practice better sleep habits.”

8. Put it All Together in Good Sleep Hygiene

Basic tips on how to promote good sleeping habits are sometimes called “sleep hygiene.” Together, they can have a dramatic effect on improving sleep quality. In a study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine in 2009, older volunteers with osteoarthritis who took part in a program of sleep hygiene reported significantly better sleep and less pain. The benefits were apparent even a year after the program ended.