Healthy lifestyle
Sleep & tiredness
Sleep is one of the most common problems for those with persistent pain, affecting 1 in 3 people. With chronic tiredness you can get irritable, while worrying about not sleeping just adds to the stresses of living with pain.
The good news is that there are lots of changes you can make to help you to sleep well. Over a period of five to six weeks these can make a huge difference.
Have a look at this video to help you work out what may help you to wake less during the night and get up feeling more refreshed.
4 changes for better sleep:
- Get into a regular routine: go to bed, get up, eat meals and do activities around the same times every day. Try to stick to this regardless of how you slept the previous night.
- Avoid taking naps during the day. This can be difficult – you may feel drowsy because of your medicines or because you’ve had a restless night. If you feel you absolutely ‘must’ nap, then keep it short – less than an hour.
- Avoid using the room where you sleep to rest in the daytime. If you need to take some time out because of your pain, then try and practice a relaxation activity.
Being physically active can make you feel less sleepy in the day, increase your drive for sleep at night and ease stress and tension.
- Try to do some activities outside. Being in the daylight during the day helps your body clock to be in balance with day and night time patterns.
- Physical activity can be really challenging when you’re in pain. See the section on ‘getting fitter and healthier’ for more guidance on this.
- Avoid caffeine in the late afternoon and evening. Caffeinated drinks, like tea, coffee and cola can have a stimulating effect which can last for around 4-5 hours. Check your medicines information sheet about effects on sleep too.
- Avoid drinking alcohol late in the evening as it has been shown to make you sleep more lightly and wake up more easily.
- Allow enough time between your last meal of the day and bedtime so that digestion does not interfere with your sleep.
The things that you do leading up to bedtime can help your mind and body get ready to sleep well.
- Make sure your environment is conducive to sleep: ideally your room is as dark as possible and a calm environment. Not too hot or too cold.
- Only go to your room when it’s time to sleep so that you associate your bedroom with sleep.
- Build in time every evening to relax. Aim to start this around 1-1.5 hours before bedtime. This could be taking a bath, reading a book or a more specific relaxation practice. You can try our relaxation exercises to help you wind down.
- Try this ‘Beditation’ video, designed to help you fall asleep. https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/mental-wellbeing-tips/how-to-fall-asleep-faster-and-sleep-better/#1
Key message:
Lots of people with pain have difficulties sleeping, but recent research has shown that sleeping well with pain is possible.
– Making some changes to what you do during the day will help you sleep better
– Regular physical activity will help improve your sleep
– Your food and drink choices will have an impact too
– Getting into a regular night-time routine is important
– Making sure that your bedroom is ‘fit for sleep’ can make a big difference