The Sleep Solution: Why Your Sleep is Broken and How to Fix It

by W. Chris Winter

One of the most unusual functions of REM sleep may be in the regulation of pain perception. In the past, most individuals have associated pain with poor sleep. Pain Poor Sleep The relationship, when stated in this direction, should not be terribly surprising. When one is in pain, one sleeps poorly.39 Studies have examined the reverse relationship in an effort to see if poor sleep could in fact lead to pain. Poor Sleep Pain In these studies, patients were allowed to sleep in a variety of situations. In multiple studies, sleep conditions that involved REM sleep deprivation were shown to increase the levels of pain experienced by volunteers who were healthy and pain free before the studies.