Sleeping With Chronic Pain

With Pain Awareness Month around the corner, I wanted to sit down with my colleague Natalie to talk openly about how pain affects sleep, and the role that pillows and posture can play in finding relief.

At Groove, we hear stories like this from our customers all the time, but Natalie’s personal experience really brings it home.

Here’s our conversation.

The Interview

Charlotte: So, Natalie, what’s your personal connection to chronic pain or sleep-related discomfort?

Natalie: I am in the process of diagnosis for a connective tissue disorder where unfortunately the joints all over my body have become increasingly susceptible to excessive wear and tear from everyday life.

Connective tissue disorders are a big umbrella of various types of smaller conditions, but essentially they cause inflammation and pain in any or all joints of the body. Most of my joints are affected but the worst is in my hips, and I find it really impossible sometimes to lay on the sofa or lay comfortably in bed unless the surface is really firm and my posture is perfect.

Charlotte: That sounds like it would affect your quality of life quite a lot because some nights you must just have the worst night's sleep! Did any specific experiences shape your interest in how pain affects sleep?

Natalie: Obviously working at Groove Pillows for the last few years, I've been super aware of the connection between pain and illness, particularly of the upper body during sleep.

But it was quite eye opening when I started developing this condition affecting my lower body also posture related and I very quickly got a Groove Pillow to see what relief was possible.

Since then, I've become more interested and more passionate about the impact of pain on sleep for my own personal experience!.

Even though I would have previously called myself a perfect sleeper, I am really noticing the difference now in my perception of sleep quality and my morning mood. If I'm going through a pain flare up, it really opens my eyes to what our customers have probably been experiencing for a long time.

Charlotte: What do you think people misunderstand about chronic pain at night?

Natalie: I think what stands out the most is probably that often, our sleep quality is being compromised even if the pain is not strong enough to wake us up.

I don't have insomnia or completely sleepless nights as a result of my pain but it still affects my life in quite a big way.

So, if someone has got chronic pain, that suboptimal sleep over time really compounds to  a fatigue that impacts their daily life.

And that’s the other thing, chronic pain asks for lot of lifestyle and practical changes that can become annoying, like the amount of different pillows that's under my bed now is silly depending on where I'm in pain.

My partner's often impacted by me tossing and turning in the night.

It's not just the pain itself, it's all the ways it affects your lifestyle around it.

And when sleep is something that we all love, everyone's excited about going to bed at the end of a crazy day, and then you kind of come to start dreading bedtime, it can wear you down a little bit mentally.

Charlotte: How do you see poor sleep affecting people with persistent pain conditions?

Natalie: In my experience, it’s like a slow water torture. The fatigue creeps into every part of your life, from ambition to energy to willingness to do physical activities.

The daytime impact of pain often gets the focus, but pain at night makes things worse and it’s often overlooked.

Charlotte: Definitely, I think you’re right there it must really build up! Why do you think pain at night is under-discussed?

Natalie: The first thing that comes to mind is that it’s because back and neck pain complaints are pretty common.

So I think it becomes a bit trivialised, both in our day-to-day perception, but also with medical professionals and physiotherapists.

It's probably especially overlooked in a younger demographic. I'm in my late 30s and because I'm walking, talking and able to go to work my condition isn’t taken seriously.

When I’ve been to see doctors, they look at me and think I can’t be that bad since I don’t have a walking stick or something.

And I think it’s also the same as what we said before, that night time is seen as an escape from the very noticeable impact of pain during the daytime. But it's a cycle, so sleep posture, pillows, prioritising rest and sleep can actually alleviate the daytime pain rather than the other way around.

Charlotte: What are the most overlooked causes of pain when sleeping that you've seen?

Natalie: We’ve probably all struggled to separate the familiarity and the emotional attachment of our current sleep setup from what's actually good for us.

I had a super soft mattress for a long time when I still lived at home and it was so warm and welcoming and you know, it had that mattress for years and bed just was that kind of familiar place that you got to at the end of the day.

And obviously looking back now with how my body is, that's obviously the worst possible thing, for my joints.

So, I think if we're in pain, we've got to be willing to reevaluate our bedtime routine, pillow, mattress, room temperature and so on to give it the best chance of finding relief. Especially if that pain's chronic, you can't really just afford to tough it out because you're attached to what was there before!

It's being brave enough to make some big changes, around bedtime.

Charlotte: How important is sleep posture in reducing pain overnight?

Natalie: Hugely important.

Think about it, when you think you go meet a friend for coffee and you're in an uncomfortable cafe chair for just 40 minutes and your neck’s a bit wonky or body is when you stand up.

So if that's happening in 40 minutes, what's happening when you sleep in the wrong position or with the wrong posture throughout the night?

I think it's probably important to say as well, from working with so many customers at Groove, that posture isn't the magic cure if you've got a serious medical condition or you've come from a serious injury.

But, overwhelmingly for a large majority, helping the head, neck and spine to maintain a neutral position is going to bring a lot of relief to customers.

Charlotte: What common mistakes do people make when trying to fix pain with sleep products?

Natalie: From what I've learned from working with Groove, I think choosing a hotel style, bouncy, luxury pillow or mattress.

We're probably getting luxury confused with pain relief.

99% of pillows are a generic shape, they're generic height, they just don't cater specifically for the curves of the human skull and neck.

In my case with hip bursitis, I've also tried to use a generic pillow between my knees, and of course, it was too soft, it slipped around.

And the other thing is stacking pillows. It's like a house of sand that goes nowhere, you know, it's only going to collapse during the night!

Charlotte: Why do awareness months like this one matter?

Natalie: It seems like 99% of the conversation about chronic pain and illness refers to the daytime, but actually we spend a third of our time in bed.

How much relief could be found by turning our attention and our concentration to bedtime for people who are struggling with the neck, the back or their hip pain?

Not just for relief, but also considering that the sleep position could actually be the cause in the first place of what potentially or at least could be contributing to that daytime experience.

It’s equally as important to think about the night time, even though we’re unconscious.