The results of a new study by Norwegian scientists have shown that people who have trouble sleeping can also be very sensitive to pain, potentially exacerbating chronic pain conditions.
During the study, specialists measured pain sensitivity in more than 10 thousand adult volunteers who became participants in a study that began in 1974.
A large-scale study showed that people suffering from insomnia were much more sensitive to pain than people without sleep problems. So, volunteers experiencing constant chronic pain, as well as those who suffered from sleep disturbances, feel hypersensitivity to pain.
“Sleep and pain are inextricably linked. In particular, chronic pain is sometimes more common in people suffering from poor sleep, and this becomes a vicious circle. Pain affects a person’s ability to sleep, and sleep deficiency makes pain worse, ”explains David Neumer, MD, deputy director of the Center for Sleep Disorder.
The results of the study proved that pain sensitivity is also directly related to the amount of time it takes a person to fall asleep.