I sometimes say to my patients that the physical therapists at Solstice are in a unique position to be the best “quarterback” of care for a variety of conditions. This is because we have more time with our patients (45-minute follow ups), more breaks in our days to coordinate care with physicians, psychotherapists, and other members of the healthcare team. We have time to think cases through, discuss with our coworkers, dig further into research, and even advocate for you at other healthcare appointments. I also say this because we view you as a whole person through a lens of overall health and wellness. You are more than your pelvic pain or your back pain.

This month I want to talk about the role that sleep takes in overall health and wellness, how this affects pain, and what we can do as physical therapists to improve your sleep.

Sleep plays a role in physical and mental health in many ways, namely, immune function, tissue healing, pain modulation and perception, cardiovascular health, cognitive function, learning, memory, mood, anxiety, motor skill performance, and more. Poor sleep can lead to issues with work performance or other daily tasks such as exercise, which can increase fall risk and increase risk of pain and other issues related to lower physical activity.

 More specifically to many of the patients we see at Solstice – chronic pain can reduce the amount of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep that you get in a night. REM sleep is a form of deep sleep that is associated with dreaming. This is also when your body’s repair of tissue and pain modulation peaks at night. Therefore, less REM sleep = increased pain, and increased pain = less REM sleep.

 Deep sleep can also be more difficult for women in the perimenopausal period due to hormonal changes, as well as women in different phases of her menstrual cycle.

 Basically, sleep affects everything and everything affects sleep. Therefore, optimizing your sleep can help you to improve your overall health, wellness, function and pain.

 We work with our patients to optimize sleep through a variety of ways:

-       Screening for sleep disorders that require a referral to a physician or another healthcare provider

-       Sleep promotion education that includes

o   Consistent sleep and wake times

o   Consistent light exposure (natural or not)

o   Strategies for timing of sleep

o   Taking menstrual cycle phase and other hormonal statuses into consideration

-       Sleep hygiene

o   Controlling sound and light in the sleep area to the best of ability (not always possible in NYC!)

-       Physical activity – timing, type, and amount.

o   Meeting the recommended physical activity guidelines has been shown to improve sleep quality as well as daytime drowsiness and concentration.

o   Sleep improves physical activity and physical activity improves sleep!

-       Addressing bed mobility issues

o   Finding a comfortable sleeping position and strategies for getting in and out of bed without pain

-       Tracking your sleep, how you feel before bed, and how you feel when you wake up in the morning

o   What things help YOU specifically have more deep sleep? For me, it was introducing blue light blocking glasses into my nightly routine. The difference was subtle, but significant. I figured this out thanks to my Whoop fitness tracker, but using a journal, another app, or another fitness tracker can also help you to hone in on what can optimize your sleep. This can also be used to track your menstrual cycle and how this can affect sleep and physical activity tolerance across the phases.

o   Get a free month on Whoop when you use my referral code! https://join.whoop.com/A76728

More questions on how this holistic view could help you to reach your goals? Call us at 929-269-2505, or email us at info@solsticept.com today for a free 15-minute phone consultation or to make an appointment with one of our specialists!