There are several reasons that chronic pain sufferers, including those with debilitating CRPS, hurt more at night. One reason is that lying in one place causes the body’s joints to stiffen, increasing joint and muscle pain. The weight of your body may put pressure on your nerves in ways that it doesn’t when you are upright.
Additionally, as your body prepares itself for sleep, your hormone levels, metabolism, and many other biochemical processes adjust. Sometimes, this may result in an increase in your pain. Cortisol, which has anti-inflammatory effects, drops through the first half of your sleep cycle to assist you in sleeping, potentially increasing pain.
Another reason is that our body temperature fluctuates throughout the day and night. Typically, it goes down when we are sleeping. The hypothesis is that damaged nerves might interpret the temperature change as stress, resulting in pain.
Patients may find themselves more focused on the pain at night, as there are fewer natural distractions at night than there are during the day.
You may even find your bedsheets to be contributing to your pain. Almost as if the bed sheets themselves are causing you intense pain.
Start your patient journey with the Spero Clinic's neurologic rehabilitation program.
