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Melatonin usage has grown in popularity over the last few years as a natural sleep aid alternative to prescription medication, but a new study suggests that the supplement may do more than just lull people to sleep.
Melatonin is a natural hormone produced by the brain‘s pineal gland that regulates the body‘s sleep-wake cycles, according to Northwestern Medicine. The hormone is secreted at night in dim light or darkness and signals to the body that it is time to go to sleep.
World of Pain
Over-the-counter melatonin supplements can be helpful for people with circadian rhythm-related sleep issues, helping adjust the sleep-wake cycle so people can fall asleep and stay asleep.
Now, research published on June 30 suggests that the supplement may be effective in helping to manage musculoskeletal (MSK) pain. MSK pain, including low back pain and osteoarthritis affected up to 47 percent of the global population in 2020, the PAIN study reports.
The study explains that pain and sleep have a bidirectional relationship that suggests the possibility of melatonin’s benefits.
“Pain often causes discomfort and activates stress responses, making it harder to fall and stay asleep,” the study writes.
“Conversely, sleep disturbance heightens pain severity and pain sensitivity by increasing the concentration of substances… that promote inflammation and disrupts central pain inhibitory mechanisms.”
The study examined both chronic pain, defined as pain lasting three months or longer, and postoperative pain following surgeries such as knee and hip replacements, spinal procedures and fractures. A total of 23 studies involving 2,028 participants were conducted.
Researchers found that the effectiveness of melatonin on pain management may depend on the type of pain.
“For chronic pain, the reduction was large enough to rival common painkillers. For post-surgical pain, the results were less clear,” reports Healthline.
“Importantly, we also found no evidence that higher doses of melatonin produced greater pain relief, suggesting that more is not necessarily better,” study author Michelle Hall, an associate professor at the University of Sydney, revealed to Newsweek.
Two Main Ways
Lead study author Kangchao Wu, a PhD candidate, physiotherapy researcher and faculty member at the University of Sydney’s School of Health Sciences, told Healthline that there are two main ways in which the supplement works to reduce pain.
The first, he explains, is that melatonin may have intrinsic pain-relieving properties such as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. While not previously considered a pain-fighting supplement, these qualities are crucial to pain management.
“It is also important to remember that, based on current evidence, melatonin should not be viewed as a standalone treatment for chronic MSK pain but rather as one potential component of a broader evidence-based management approach,” Hall told Newsweek.
The other ties back to the relationship between pain and sleep.
“Melatonin can improve people’s sleep, help them feel better, help them move better, reduce anxiety and depression related to pain, and help them stay active during the daytime,” Wu told Healthline.
“All of that together can help reduce pain intensity.”
Dose and Long-Term Use
While this research is promising, it does not confirm melatonin as a replacement for traditional pain medicine, rather as an addition to pain management regimen.
Wu also clarifies that the research has not determined an optimal dose and a clear read on long-term use.
Nevertheless, this everyday supplement may just be changing the way people manage their pain without medicine, a promising prospect for chronic pain sufferers.
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