Sleeping Away Back Pain
Many people suffer from back pain. It can be exhausting to deal with day in and day out. Whether back pain is caused by injuries or from wear and tear, it can be treated with some ease at home. One of the best ways to treat back pain is to monitor and adapt the way you sleep. Here are a few ways to change your sleeping positions to lessen back pain.
Check Your Current Sleeping Position
Without realizing it, many of us sleep in ways that are unnatural or harmful to the body. The body can be trained out of some of these positions over time, though. The first step to realizing the pain problems sleeping positions can cause the back is to check what positions you are in when you fall asleep and when you wake up. Try to monitor these positions to establish patterns over time. Is it the position you wake up in that hurts? Is moving out of the waking position difficult? Answering these questions can be a start to understanding which positions are harmful to your back.
Belly Sleepers
For those people who are belly sleepers, they may experience a lot of pain and neck pain without realizing the two are connected. Sleeping on the belly creates two problems. First and foremost, the neck has to crane itself sideways against a pillow to allow proper breathing. This position stretches and overextends many muscles in the neck and upper back, which can lead to pain and stiffness. Then, there is the problem of lacking support for your lower back. Many belly sleepers do not seem to sleep on firm mattresses, so there is a lack of support in the back that causes it to unnaturally bend inward.
If you must sleep on your stomach for comfort, then there are ways to help improve this method. Sometimes, a pillow under the abdomen helps with the lower back. Other times, sleeping partially on the stomach and partially on the side helps with craning the neck. However, this twisting position is also not good for the back, either.
Side Sleepers
Side sleepers might find that they experience less pain and stiffness in their backs due to the way they sleep. The major problem with laying on one side or the other is with alignment issues. The hips and shoulders tend not to line up with one another on traditional mattresses, thus creating an uneven spine throughout the night. A great deal of pressure then builds upon certain points of the spine. Here, pillows under the hips and knees can help with evening out the spine. Also, sleeping in an elevated position can also help with the shoulders, but it can also create a harsher curve in the back, so be careful with the height of pillows you use.
Back Sleepers
These people have it made when it comes to sleeping positions. However, there are some downsides to it if they do not have a firm mattress on which to sleep. A mattress topper can help with this concern. On the other hand, yet again, a pillow can be used to provide more support on various parts of the back and under the knees.
Back pain can be taxing. However, it does not have to be. Changing your sleeping positions and adapting them to new ones can help ease the pain over time. To find out ways to ease your back pain, please contact Jeffery M. Epstein for a consultation today!
