If you’re one of the nearly two thirds of adults who experience back problems, you fully understand the challenges of even the simplest of tasks. Walking, bending, sitting for long periods of time, and even sneezing can cause agonizing back pain. And since back problems are among the most difficult medical problems to diagnose, back pain often lingers for years, or even decades.
While it’s bad enough to deal with chronic back problems during our waking hours, loss of sleep due to back pain is an even worse fate. While there’s no magic wand to cure your back problems, the good news is you’ll find you can improve or prevent a lot of back problems by adopting back-friendly sleep habits.
Even though you may get 8 full hours of sleep, if you have chronic back problems, chances are you still awake non-refreshed. This may very well be caused by your sleeping posture and alignment. Proper posture and alignment are just as important when we’re asleep as awake. Your back problems may even be caused by your sleeping posture.
How To Ensure Proper Sleep Alignment
A key factor in getting a good night’s sleep and reducing back pain is to make sure you have proper sleep alignment. This means sleeping in such a way that there’s no added pressure on your back or neck. It doesn’t matter in which position you like to sleep – what is most important is aligning properly to take pressure off your back.
Simply adding a memory foam pad to your mattress is one such solution. Memory foam pads rest on top of your mattress and are designed to gently conform to your entire body, thereby removing pressure from your lower back and neck. Similarly, a contoured “lumbar (spine) pad” provides continuous lower back support and helps compensate for less than ideal sleeping surfaces. Also, countoured pillows function in much the same manner, preventing neck and back pain by conforming the head and spine into proper alignment.
There’s a good chance your back pain is aggravated or even caused by how you sleep. You can greatly reduce or even eliminate your back pain with inexpensive, ergonomic solutions like memory foam pads or countoured pillows. Of course, it’s also important to add healthy habits to your life like non jarring low impact exercise. Pilates are extremely effective in helping back problems. Added together, these simple solutions can greatly improve not only your sleep, but your overall quality of life.
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