Cognitive behavioral therapy to treat insomnia can also help people with knee pain, reports WHBL in Wisconsin.

Researchers assessed participants’ perceptions of pain before treatment and again three and six months after the interventions finished. The study team expected the CBT-I to achieve a greater reduction in what’s known as pain catastrophizing, or feeling exaggerated levels of pain that are amplified by being emotionally upset about the pain. Instead, they found similar reductions in negative perceptions of pain with both the cognitive behavioral therapy and behavior desensitization.

“Sleep is really important and when it is compromised like in insomnia it can increase the risk for many negative health outcomes, including chronic pain, depression, obesity, high blood pressure and more,” said lead study author Sheera Lerman, a behavioral health researcher at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

Read more at www.whbl.com