Mays and Schnapp Pain Clinic and Rehabilitation Center

Affairs of the heart and the mind are the predominant cause of insomnia, but physical pain certainly ranks a close second.

As a physician who specializes in pain management, I am confronted daily with cases considered very difficult to treat. Although these patients come to me for problems with pain, one of the first items I ask them about during the initial consultation is sleep.

We know that sleep is good for us, but we don’t exactly know the reasons. With very rare exceptions, everybody must sleep. Lack of it can lead to problems ranging from fatigue and irritability, to mental impairment, and even death.

Ironically, while pain can keep us from sleeping, many people may not realize that lack of sleep may be the cause, or at least contribute to, some forms of pain, including fibromyalgia (FMS) and headaches. FMS affects mostly women and many of its symptoms are similar to what one would see in cases of sleep deprivation: fatigue, lack of concentration, generalized muscle pain, and depression, just to mention a few.

Cause and effect between sleep and pain can be blurred in certain medical conditions, such as restless leg syndrome (RLS), a neurological ailment that may be present at one time or another in up to 10 percent of people. Even when people with RLS do sleep, they may not “rest well” since they frequently display a twitching and jumping of the legs and the body.

The most common cause of nighttime pain is plain, garden-variety osteoarthritis (OA), the wear and tear of the joints that eventually occurs to all of us as we age. The joints become sensitive, so it is difficult to fall asleep, and something as simple as turning in bed may be problematic.

Contrary to what people may believe, sleeping is an active process. Let me clarify that: nerve cells in a particular area of the brain accumulate specific chemicals during periods of wakefulness, which eventually causes them to inhibit, or block, nerve cells responsible for alertness in another part of the brain, therefore shutting down the system that keeps us awake. Paradoxically, despite the enormous importance of sleep, even small, mundane things like noise and temperature can easily disrupt it.

The treatment of pain-induced sleeplessness depends, of course, on the cause of the problem but the good news is that there are answers. Begin by talking with your doctor who can explore treatments, including but not limited to medication. Start an exercise program to include stretching and relaxation exercises which can improve many acute and chronic painful conditions and often improves the quality of sleep as well.

Mays and Schnapp Pain Clinic and Rehabilitation Center, a joint venture between Baptist Memorial Health Care and Kit Mays, M.D., and Moacir Schnapp, M.D., is the only comprehensive center for the treatment of severe chronic pain in the Mid-South