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Sleep
Many systematic reviews have shown poor quality of Sleep can affect pain in many ways. It can affects our energy, affects our balance between parasympathetic and sympathetic, increase the sense of pain and reduce the ability of suppress pain through the disruption of our opioid system, monoaminergic system, adenosine system etc. 1,2,3
Stress
Stress can cause muscles to tense up which cause pain. Stress also increase hormone cortisol in system which increase inflammations and cause pain. Stress can also heighten our symphathetic nervous system which heightens our sensitivity of pain. 4,5,6
Exercise
Exercise helps regulate our doplamin, our sleep and every aspects of our life. It has also proven to be as effective as depression medicine for depression, improve neuropathic pain and significantly improve functions for chronic pain patients. 7,8,9
Nutrition
Nutrient dense food such as whole food has been shown to improve pain significantly. Nutrient dense food can help regular body inflammation, oxidative stress, nervous system excitability, weight management, hormone balance and much more which can have significant effects on pain. 9
Social Wellbeing
Having good family and social support have been proven to reduce neural and physiological stress, reduce reliance on medication, have greater physical ability and reduce pain. 10, 11
References
1. Kelly GA, Blake C, Power CK, O’Keeffe D, Fullen BM. The association between chronic low back pain and sleep: a systematic review. Clin J Pain. 2011; 27(2):169-81. DOI:10.1097/AJP.0b013e3181f3bdd5.
2. Haack M, Simpson N, Sethna N, Kaur S, Mullington J. Sleep deficiency and chronic pain: potential underlying mechanisms and clinical implications. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2020 Jan;45(1):205-216. doi: 10.1038/s41386-019-0439-z. Epub 2019 Jun 17. PMID: 31207606; PMCID: PMC6879497.
3. Afolalu EF, Ramlee F, Tang NKY. Effects of sleep changes on pain-related health outcomes in the general population: A systematic review of longitudinal studies with exploratory meta-analysis. Sleep Med Rev. 2018 Jun;39:82-97.
4. Abdallah CG, Geha P. Chronic Pain and Chronic Stress: Two Sides of the Same Coin? Chronic Stress (Thousand Oaks). 2017 Feb;1:2470547017704763.
5. Timmers I, Quaedflieg CWEM, Hsu C, Heathcote LC, Rovnaghi CR, Simons LE. The interaction between stress and chronic pain through the lens of threat learning. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2019 Dec;107:641-655. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.10.007. Epub 2019 Oct 14. PMID: 31622630; PMCID: PMC6914269.
6. Hohmann AG et al. (2005). An endocannabinoid mechanism for stress-induced analgesia. Nature 435, 1108–1112.
7. Heissel A, Heinen D, Brokmeier LL, et alExercise as medicine for depressive symptoms? A systematic review and meta-analysis with meta-regressionBritish Journal of Sports Medicine 2023;57:1049-1057.
8. Leitzelar, B.N., Koltyn, K.F. Exercise and Neuropathic Pain: A General Overview of Preclinical and Clinical Research. Sports Med - Open 7, 21 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40798-021-00307-9
9.Field R, Pourkazemi F, Turton J, Rooney K. Dietary Interventions Are Beneficial for Patients with Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis. Pain Med. 2021 Mar 18;22(3):694-714.
10. Jamison RN, Virts KL. The influence of family support on chronic pain. Behav Res Ther. 1990;28(4):283-7. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(90)90079-x. PMID: 2222385.
11. Che X, Cash R, Ng SK, Fitzgerald P, Fitzgibbon BM. A Systematic Review of the Processes Underlying the Main and the Buffering Effect of Social Support on the Experience of Pain. Clin J Pain. 2018 Nov;34(11):1061-1076. doi: 10.1097/AJP.0000000000000624. PMID: 29697476.