According to an American study, sleep two hours per night would reduce sensitivity to pain. This finding could therefore be used in the management of chronic pain.
Indeed, U.S. researchers have shown that sleep is more effective than some drugs against pain like codeine. Sleep seven to 9 hours per eight could therefore make it less sensitive to pain. To achieve these results, the scientists followed 18 people over four nights and made them place their fingers on a heat source. They then measured the time that each volunteer began to remove his fingers. They subsequently found that people who slept ten hours instead of eight were able to keep their fingers 25 seconds longer than the other. In addition, the effects were more consistent than those observed in a study in which volunteers had been administered 60 milligrams of codeine.
“We were surprised by the magnitude of the impact of sleep in terms of reduced pain sensitivity, compared to taking codeine, for example,” said Dr. Timothy Roehrs. This new study is the first to show that extra sleep duration is useful for reducing sensitivity “to pain.
