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Study: Most Sleepwalkers Feel No Pain, But Suffer More Headaches And Migraines

Have you ever woken up with a bruise, unsure of how you got it? You may have been sleepwalking.

According to a study by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, based in Darien, Illinois, the majority of sleepwalkers feel no pain while sleepwalking, even when they suffer injuries.

"Our most surprising result was the lack of pain perception during the sleepwalking episodes," said Dr. Regis Lopez. "We report here, for the first time, an analgesia phenomenon associated with sleepwalking."

This discovery was at odds with another finding in the study. Though few sleepwalkers feel pain while sleepwalking, sleepwalkers appear to have an increased rate of headaches and migraines while awake.

Sleepwalkers were almost 4 times more likely to have a history of headaches and 10 times more likely to have a history of migraines. 79 percent of the 100 test subjects felt no pain during sleepwalking episodes, causing them to remain asleep.

The study is going to be published in the November issue of Sleep. Read more about it here.

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