Is your insomnia caused by back pain? This may be a question you’ve posed to your doctor, and when you think about it, it makes sense. Chronic back pain can make it extremely difficult to fall asleep, and also to get a good night’s rest. If you’re one of the millions of Americans suffering from back pain, it’s also entirely likely you are suffering from insomnia or another related sleep disorder. That’s because these conditions often go hand-in-hand.
How Are They Connected?
Back pain is the most common type of chronic pain, and studies have shown that up to two-thirds of back pain sufferers also report sleep disorders. Whether it’s an inability to fall asleep, a disrupted sleep cycle, or another sleep disorder, back pain can negatively influence your sleep quality and quantity. Furthermore, research has shown that a disrupted sleep cycle can also exacerbate back pain, creating a vicious cycle where insomnia caused by back pain further aggravates the pain, which makes it harder to sleep, etc.
What Can You Do About It?
While insomnia is a term that includes a variety of sleep problems, including trouble falling asleep, awakening during the night, awakening earlier than desired, not feeling “refreshed” in the morning, and other problems, pain is the most common cause of this sleep disorder. Therefore, if your insomnia is caused by back pain, treating both of these issues simultaneously is not only beneficial, it’s often necessary.
There are a variety of potential treatments available to help you with your sleep disorder, as well as your back pain. Common sleep treatments can include medications, behavior modification, psychological approaches, and more. As for your back pain, treatments can vary depending on the cause of your pain – whether it’s due to a herniated disc, bone spurs, a pinched nerve, or some other issue. Regardless of the cause, initial options typically include nonsurgical, conservative treatments like exercise, physical therapy, hot/cold therapy, stretching, and more.
Minimally Invasive Surgery
A small percentage of patients are simply unable to reduce their neck or back pain through these conservative measures – therefore impacting their efforts to sleep better – and turn to surgery as an option. If you’ve suffered from insomnia caused by back pain and have failed to ease your pain and sleep better after weeks or months of conservative treatments, contact Laser Spine Institute today. Tens of thousands of patients have benefited from our revolutionary endoscopic procedures that are safe and effective, and our orthopedic experts may be able to help you rediscover your life without neck or back pain.
