The following is a summary of “Spontaneous Pain and Pain Sensitivity in Response to Prolonged Experimental Sleep Disturbances—Potential Sex Differences,” published in the February 2025 issue of Pain by Olia et al. 

Insomnia, a widespread condition that increased the risk of various chronic pain disorders, many of which exhibited significant sexual dimorphism.  

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to examine whether experimental insomnia-like sleep disturbances (ESD) influenced spontaneous pain and pain sensitivity and whether sex impacted pain responses.  

They included 24 healthy adults (50% females, age 28.3 ± 5.9 years) in 19-day in-laboratory protocols for twice. The ESD protocol involved repeated nights of disrupted, short sleep with intermittent nights of undisturbed sleep, while the control sleep (CS) protocol offered 18 nights of uninterrupted 8-hour sleep. Spontaneous pain was measured using electronic rating scales during daytime and nighttime wake periods. Pain sensitivity was evaluated through pressure and heat pain thresholds every other day.  

The results showed that females reported higher daytime pain ratings during the ESD compared to the CS condition, while males reported lower pain ratings (P < 0.05 for condition*sex). Spontaneous pain was higher at night than during the day and worsened over successive disturbed nights, regardless of sex (P < 0.05 for condition*study day* daytime-night-time). Females exhibited greater sensitivity to pressure pain, whereas males demonstrated increased heat pain sensitivity in the ESD condition compared to the CS condition (P < 0.05 for condition*sex).  

Investigators concluded that pain responses to sleep disturbances varied by sex and might have contributed to sex differences in chronic pain conditions, suggesting a need for further research and targeted night-time pain management in individuals with sleep-disturbed pattern. 

Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ejp.4789