Pain can have a huge negative impact on sleep, and a lack of sleep can also make your pain feel worse. It is important to act towards improving your quality of sleep, because it may be the missing piece of your chronic pain puzzle. If seeing a sleep specialist is available to you, this might be a good option. In the meantime, here are a few tips and tricks to help improve your sleep.
Tip 1: Try to avoid bright light and screen time right before bed.
- Our circadian rhythm is a natural, internal cycle that helps regulate our sleep/wake cycle and is triggered by light. If you are frequently looking at screens or light before bedtime it may trick your brain into thinking it is morning. This prevents your body from releasing melatonin at the appropriate time – which is an important chemical to help your body relax, fall asleep, and stay asleep throughout the night.
Tip 2: Create a quiet space for sleeping
- Noise can also significantly impact your ability your fall asleep and stay asleep. Recent studies show that eliminating outside noises while trying to sleep reduces stress levels and improves overall quality of sleep. If you don’t have the option of a quiet sleeping space you can try sleeping with ear plugs or turning on a white noise playlist to muffle the sound and make it easier to sleep.
Tip 3: Find a strategy to ease anxiety before bed
Why is it that the second our head hits the pillow our “to do list” starts racing through our brain? To get a “busy mind” ready for sleep we have a few recommendations:
- Try to write down your to do list or thoughts before getting in bed to that your mind can stop focusing on everything that needs to get done in the future.
- Put your phone or clock on the opposite side of the room, or in a place where you won’t be able to continuously check the time as you try to fall asleep.
- Consider doing a bedtime meditation to calm your mind and focus on your breathing.
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