Extended Sleep Increases Pain Tolerance!
You know for a fact that getting enough sleep makes you feel refreshed the following day. Now, scientists found it can also increase your daytime alertness and reduce your sensitivity to physical pain.
Scientists from Henry Ford Hospital and Wayne State University in Detroit found that extended sleep has essential benefits in managing chronic pain conditions and may help in preparing patients for elective surgical operations. Their report was published in the journal ‘Sleep’.
For their study, the researchers recruited 18 healthy, pain-free, sleepy individuals to participate in a sleep experiment. They were all randomly assigned to four nights of either extending their sleep or maintaining their usual bedtime. Those who extended their nightly sleep had to remain shut-eye for 10 hours.
The researchers used the sleep latency test (MSLT) to measure the participants’ daytime alertness, and the radiant heat stimulus to assess their pain sensitivity.
They found that those who had an extended sleep snoozed for 1.8 hours more than those who retained their habitual sleep time. Such increase was linked to the improvement of daytime alertness, which in turn, made the participants less vulnerable to pain.
When the participants went through the radiant heat stimulus test, those in the extended sleep group had improved their pain tolerance by 25%. According to the researchers, it is much better than the effects of codeine – a narcotic medicine used to treat mild to moderate pain.
More people are sleeping less
Back in 1960s, the average nightly sleep was 8 hours. In 2005, it fell to 7 hours or less. Experts say there are several factors affecting this trend. They include the 24-hour access to internet, overtime at work, social and family responsibilities, and the time spent on commuting. Previous research shows that around 25% of the population fail to get enough sleep.
Sleep deprivation has also been found to increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.
According to Dr Timothy Roehrs, the study lead author and director of research at the Sleep Disorders and Research Centre of the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, their study suggests that even just short bedtime extensions can improve daytime alertness and pain sensitivity. So getting more sleep on a regular basis may have even more pronounced effects on pain.
Dear Readers,
Do you get enough nightly sleep? Maybe you can share some tips to busy individuals who suffer from sleep deprivation.
Source of this article:
Pain Sensitivity and Recovery From Mild Chronic Sleep Loss
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