We are likely never more alone than when we are experiencing chronic pain, and we’re up, awake, in the middle of the night, by ourselves, when everyone else we know and love is resting comfortably.

For someone with chronic pain, poor sleep can be both a cause and effect of body pain. It is difficult to sleep when you are in pain, and then, unfortunately, if you don’t sleep well, your experience of pain can be worse.

If you have back pain, you might make this worse by sleeping on your stomach, but if you sleep on your back, that is painful too.