How to Relieve Lower Back Pain While Sleeping
Sleep is so important for all of us in relation to health and wellness. It helps keep our immune system strong and it’s the time that our body uses to heal and repair itself.
So as such, it’s problematic when back pain is keeping us up at night!
Try these few tips and tricks to help relieve that nagging low back pain that is preventing you from getting adequate R&R! Sick of dealing with back pain? Book a free 10-minute consultation call at our Toronto physio clinic.
Let’s talk about the three main sleep positions and how they can be modified to help relieve your back pain while sleeping
Sidelying (lying on your side):
The biggest mistake I find that people make when they sleep on their side, is when they fling their top leg far beyond their bottom leg onto the mattress which puts their torso in a rotated position for a prolonged period.
This is a surefire way to make a cranky low back even angrier without even realizing it!
It places stress on the muscles, ligaments, joints and discs of your lumbar spine.
The key is to keep both legs stacked on top of one another and if you place a small pillow between your knees, it keeps your spine in neutral alignment which tends to keep it happy.
Check out this link for a video that demonstrates this.
Back:
When your low back is bothering you, it typically won’t love when you lie flat on your back.
When you lie flat with your legs fully straightened it can place a lot of strain on your low back in the following ways:
It can increase your lumbar lordosis (the curve in your low back). This can compress the joints, discs, or nerves, exacerbating pain in those already sensitive areas.
It can place stress on your hip flexors. If they are already tight to begin with, the flattened position tightens them further. The hip flexors originate from attachments in your lumbar spine, so when they’re tight it directly pulls on the lumbar spine increasing strain and pain.
It places pressure on your sacrum and coccyx (your tailbone) so if those structures are already sensitive, they can easily become more inflamed.
Your mattress may not give you adequate support for your lumbar spine when you lie on your back (too soft or too firm). This can lead to uneven pressure on the spine and surrounding muscles. Without support, muscles in the lower back may tense up to stabilize the area, worsening pain.
So what’s the solution if you’re a back sleeper but it’s giving you grief?
Place a pillow under your knees and lower thighs which will reduce the arch in your low back.
This should automatically take stress off of the joints, muscles, nerves and ligaments of your lumbar spine and allow for a more comfortable sleep.
If your mattress is old and saggy, it may be time to shop for a new one with moderate to firm support!
Stomach:
Ok stomach sleepers, I’m sorry to say that in my humble opinion, this is the absolute worst position to sleep in and below I will explain why:
It flattens the curve of your spine and places your low back in a position of hyperextension. This is absolutely going to compress the joints, discs and muscles of your lumbar spine and make them incredibly irritated
It places your hip flexors on tension which as described above adds to compression and strain of the lumbar spine
It makes you place your neck in rotation to one side or another which places strain on the neck musculature and adds to spinal misalignment.
Some claim it can reduce blood flow because of all the pressure on your abdomen!
The best solution is honestly to train yourself not to sleep on your back but if that’s not possible, use a thin pillow under your head and place a pillow under your pelvis to offload the low back. Consider trying to switch up positions during the night if it’s not possible to fully avoid stomach sleeping.
Where to get in-person help for your low back pain
Here’s the thing, I know that it can be super frustrating to have low back pain. What we talked about above are management strategies if you have low back pain.
Ideally, we figure out a way to make sure your back pain goes away for good.
If you want someone who is super specialized in treating low back pain and also someone who understands what it’s like to have low back pain (you can read my story about my low back pain here and the update to my low back pain here), I’d love to work with you.
You can book a free 10-minute consultation call at our Toronto-based clinic. I’d love to hear more about your back pain and get you on your way to being pain free.
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