Rest Up for Spine Health

By Sara Butler

You do what you have to do to ensure your spine is healthy. You eat right, exercise, drink water, practice proper posture, and see your chiropractor regularly. So, what could you be missing? Well, you may not be getting enough rest. Yes – you need to make sure you’re getting enough sleep at night in order to make sure your spine is as healthy as it can be.

Why Rest is Important

When your body isn’t getting enough time to rest and rejuvenate, then you’re putting it in a state of constant stress. Stress can be damaging to your emotional, mental, and physical health, often resulting in an increased incidence of back pain in many people. Stress can also make you more sensitive to any pain you are experiencing, effectively amplifying it and making it more difficult to deal with – only stressing you out more!

It’s estimated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that about one-third of adults don’t get enough sleep. It’s time to be honest with yourself about how much stress you carry around every day, how much rest you get and what you can do to try to reduce stress and increase rest so that you can be happier and healthier. You don’t want to crash and burn!

What You Can Do

When you allow your body time to rest appropriately, you are giving it the time it needs to restore stores of energy it has depleted to keep you going. When you get enough sleep, it helps to improve your immune system function, metabolism, memory, healing, and learning capabilities. This means you’ll be sharper, more alert, and hopefully have more energy too.

Make sure you’re getting about eight hours of sleep every single night. During this time your body can fully relax, including the muscles that help to support your spine all day. The discs in your back can also use this restful time to rehydrate. During the day, gravity works to effectively wring out these discs, so when you’re laying down and the pressure is taken off of them, they are able to decompress and rehydrate. Just make sure you’re drinking enough water throughout the day!

Nothing you do during the day is worth sacrificing your own health, so make sure you’re letting yourself get adequate rest so you can be your best. If you need more tips on how to get this done, discuss it with your chiropractor the next time you visit The Joint!

To learn more about your health and wellness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic.