Tips for Preventing Insomnia When You Have Chronic Pain
Sleep and pain are closely related. Many people who have chronic pain have difficulty sleeping because of the pain. Over time, this can develop into insomnia (1)
The good news is that there are some ways to reduce the impact of chronic pain on sleep.
If you already have insomnia, you may want to begin treatment using CBT-I. These tips are for prevention only. If you aren't sure if you have insomnia, or if you have questions, feel free to schedule a free consultation.
Insomnia Prevention Tips For People with Chronic Pain
TLDR: Set up a comfortable place to go when in pain (that is not the bed).
It can be tempting to go to bed when in pain- either to sleep it off to avoid pain triggers (like bright light). Sleep can help alleviate pain but the tendency to repeatedly go to bed when in pain trains the body to associate the bed with pain and stress.
The association can build over time from normal occasional difficulty sleeping into insomnia.
Planning for this ahead of time can be helpful so that when you are in pain, you don’t need to worry about also figuring out: what to do, where to sit, and where the things are that might help you feel more comfortable.
For Example:
Alex used to go to the bed when they felt a migraine coming on because it was completely dark and comfortable. However, they ended up falling asleep and taking long naps so it was hard to sleep at night. Alex knows that this might turn into a vicious cycle.
To break this pattern, they set up a recliner in a spare room. Next to the recliner are bottles of water to stay hydrated, a heating pad, and a neck massager. Now they are able to have a comfortable place to recover that is separate from the bed so the bed is associated with sleep.
This will be unique for each person.
If you need bed rest (awake time in bed) OR if you live in a very small space with no extra room for furniture besides a bed, you can set up cues to help the brain distinguish between awake time and sleep time.
Using the example before, let’s say Alex doesn’t have a spare room and lives in a small apartment. They make their bed each morning and lay a sheet over top of the bed. When they feel a migraine coming on, they rest on top of the sheet and use the same pain management tools.
Because Alex is only under the covers while sleepy or asleep their body has a strong association between the bed and sleep which helps Alex fall and stay asleep.
Bonus Prevention Tips:
Please note that these tips are for prevention, if you have insomnia, these strategies on their own likely won’t help. You can learn more about insomnia treatment here
With chronic pain, sleep is often lighter and more fragmented than healthy sleep. White noise machines may help with reducing the sleep disruption from noise (2).
Passive body heating (such as taking a 30-minute hot bath about 2 hours before bedtime) may increase quality sleep and may also help with managing pain the following day (3).
Talk with your doctor or specialist about an exercise routine. Movement helps with both sleep and pain.
I hope you found this helpful!
If you want to learn more or if you’d like to work together, feel free to contact me to schedule a free consultation. You can also learn more about me on the About Page
References:
Taylor, D. J., Mallory, L. J., Lichstein, K. L., Durrence, H. H., Riedel, B. W., & Bush, A. J. (2007). Comorbidity of chronic insomnia with medical problems. Sleep, 30(2), 213–218. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/30.2.213.
Smith, M. T., Perlis, M. L., Carmody, T. P., Smith, M. S., & Giles, D. E. (2001). Presleep cognitions in patients with insomnia secondary to chronic pain. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 24(1), 93–114. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005690505632.
Bunnell, D. E., Agnew, J. A., Horvath, S. M., Jopson, L., & Wills, M. (1988). Passive body heating and sleep: Influence of proximity to sleep. Sleep, 11(2), 210–219. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/11.2.210.