Sleep Well to Ease Pain

New research suggests that people with chronic pain could be helped by improving the quality of their sleep. I couldn't agree more with that comment, however, what if you cannot sleep due to your pain. I find that I go straight to sleep after taking all my medication but wake up 2 - 3 hours later then really struggle to go back to sleep again. My GP will only give me a week's supply of sleeping pills to try and regulate my body clock which she thinks now automatically wakes me up. They do really help but a week's supply is neither use nor ornament. I need my afternoon rest otherwise I struggle to get through the rest of the day, but I agree sleep makes me feel in less pain. According to the research feeling less tired helps us to be more active, which in turn eases symptoms. They said that often GP's prescribe exercise classes, physiotherapy, walking and cycling programmes. But who would like to engage in these when they feel like a zombie? Sleep they say has a naturally recuperative power. A greater emphasis on sleep may help patients improve their daytime functioning. Maybe they should include some 'sleep clinics' in the 'pain management' programmes.