According to new research, pain leads to poor sleep and a longer recovery time in the hospital for many patients after undergoing a surgical procedure.
Researchers at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit took advantage of the opportunity to present their findings at the 2014 American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) this month.
50 patients who had recently undergone a knee or hip replacement surgery were used in the study. Measuring these particular surgeries allowed the researchers to more accurately obtain results, as they have a standard pain protocol in place before and after surgery.
Past studies have already indicated that hospital staff, light and noise are all serious problems that keep patients awake, so a hospital with quiet hours was chosen to better isolate pain and sleep.
Sleep quality, sleep duration, narcotic use for pain, and pain scores, were all considered in the results:
- Poor sleep was associated with higher pain scores
- Compared to the general population, the patients experienced significantly poor sleep quality with shorter overall sleep times and more awakenings
- Better pain management led to better overall sleep with fewer times of waking up while sleeping
- Improving the overall sleep of patients was associated with a shorter hospital stay
Sleep continues to prove itself important in so many aspects of our lives. Tuck in for 7-9 hours of rejuvenating snooze every night on a quality mattress to increase your pain tolerance, boost your health, stay optimistic and keep winning big.
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