Can Sleep Speed Healing?

A.“There is no evidence, even anecdotal, that more sleep promotes or accelerates bone healing,” said Dr. Melvin Rosenwasser, an orthopedic surgeon at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center.

“Fractures heal with proper alignment and immobilization,” he said, adding that healing is also affected by“the state of general health, nutrition and habits such as smoking.”

As for what might speed healing, Dr. Rosenwasser mentioned a study that indicates a slight acceleration of healing with ultrasonic stimulation in the treatment of wrist fractures. An analysis of several studies ofultrasoundtreatment for fractures,published in The Canadian Medical Association Journal in 2002, concluded that“there is evidence from randomized trials that low-intensity pulsed ultrasound treatment may significantly reduce the time tofracturehealing for fractures treated nonoperatively.”

But could sleep be a factor in healing other kinds of injury?A 2004 studyin the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology concluded that perceived stress and levels of stress hormones predicted the speed of wound healing but that several other factors, including alcohol consumption, exercise and sleep, did not.C. CLAIBORNE RAY

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