The impact of sleep hygiene on pain management in patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia: systematic review

Background: Pain is a personal and subjective experience that can only be described by the patient, especially for those with fibromyalgia. While much is known about the key role of sleep in optimizing many functions, little has been explored regarding how it modulates pain perception. A bidirectional relationship between pain perception and sleep disturbances has been documented. This paper focuses on reviewing research on the relationship between sleep and pain perception specifically in patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia.Materials and Methods. A systematic review of published studies was conducted on the relationship between sleep disorders or poor sleep hygiene and pain perception in adult patients (18-65 years) diagnosed with fibromyalgia. The literature search was conducted in databases such as PubMed, MEDLINE and Scopus, Results. The results show that implementing strategies to improve sleep hygiene can reduce pain intensity and enhance the quality of life of patients. Additionally, it was observed that the lack of restorative sleep exacerbates fatigue symptoms and negatively affects cognitive and emotional functioning. Conclusión. The systematic review suggests that improving sleep hygiene is an effective intervention for managing pain in fibromyalgia patients. Incorporating healthy sleep habits into treatment could alleviate symptoms and optimize the clinical management of this condition, thus improving the quality of life.