Did you know that pain can be caused by not getting enough sleep? Researchers have been able to create muscle pain in healthy, young college students simply by depriving them of sleep!
The kind of pain they developed was the type that people with Fibromyalgia Syndrome have: all-over joint and muscle aches.
If you have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep, try these suggestions and see what works best for you.
1. Eat a cup of cottage cheese before bed. (Protein + calcium; seems to help.) The time to have a larger meal is 3 or 4 hours earlier. This is just a snack.
2. Have a routine before bed. Do relaxing things. This is not the time to pay bills that worry you or watch worrisome newscasts. (Maybe never is a good time to watch the news!)
3. Get lots of movement during the day. You were built to move and your body loves it. Walking and other forms of exercise during the day satisfies your muscle’s need and allows you to rest better. It reduces anxiety and depression.
4. Use breathing as a meditation or learn to meditate and slow yourself down. Paying attention to your breathing–in, out, in, out, slower, in, out, slower, in, out–can be very relaxing.
5. Reduce stimulants like coffee, chocolate, sugar and alcohol. If you can avoid them from afternoon on (or all together 🙂 ) that will help you relax at bedtime.
Don’t worry if you can’t fall asleep; it is not life-threatening. “Play” with your breathing–listen to the sound of your breath, pay attention to your ribs moving, explore how many parts of your body you can move simply by breathing.
Get comfortable and breathe. Try these tips and next thing you know, it might be morning!
I have noticed that my shoulders/arms/wrists bother me much more when I did not get very good sleep the previous night. On days where I slept well, I’m pretty much pain free. I would like to take a look at this research article if you have the link. Thanks.
Hi Johnny, Thank you for writing. I wish I could supply you with the article. The study was probably about 10-15 years old. I remember being at a Fibromyalgia Study Group and feeling almost as poorly as the women there who had the syndrome simply because of too little sleep and sitting for long periods.
I wonder whether your poor sleep may have been caused by neck and head positioning. The muscles on the sides of your neck cause pain in arms and wrists when they get aggravated. Check out the Causes or Video Categories at http://CarpalTunnelPainReliefNow.com for more about that.
Best,
Kathryn