There are many reasons people can’t sleep. Here’s one you may not have considered—chronic pain.
Having chronic or fleeting pain in the prior week caused 57% of Americans a significant loss of sleep, according to the 2015 Sleep in America poll by the National Sleep Foundation and reported by the Bloomberg News website.
People with chronic pain said they got 42 minutes less sleep than they needed every night.
Chronic pain causes a vicious cycle: Pain makes it harder to sleep; less sleep exacerbates pain, the article noted.
People in pain were more likely than others to blame difficulty sleeping on factors such as noise, light, temperature and their mattress, Bloomberg reported. The mattress was the most common problem they cited, at 10%.
The good news: Those who were determined to get a better night’s sleep, did. On average, they slept 36 minutes longer.
The poll found that sticking to a bedtime routine and “creating a supportive sleep environment” made a difference, the article noted.
