Is Your Insomnia Linked to Back Pain?
By Paul Rothbart
Few things are worse than insomnia. The importance of sleep to overall health can not be overstated. Poor sleep or insufficient hours of it can cause confusion, depression, lack of energy, and a slew of physical problems. There are many things that can cause insomnia including anxiety, too much caffeine too close to bedtime, overstimulation of the body and mind before sleep, or an inadequate sleep space. Another problem that may be linked to the inability to sleep is back pain. You won't sleep well if you're not comfortable and a back that hurts will be uncomfortable, to say the least.
How Your Back Pain Affects Sleep
Any kind of pain is distracting and can interrupt any activity, including sleep. Back pain in particular will have a negative impact. When lying down, your spine is laid out across the mattress. If you have any kind of compressions in the discs, subluxations, or other problems, they may flare up in this position. Finding a comfortable position becomes more difficult. When you have back pain, it is more important than ever to lie with your spine straight and aligned. During sleep, it's common to turn over a few times during the night. This too can cause pain to flare up and make sleep difficult.
Seeing a Chiropractor
Dealing with back pain is one of the things that chiropractors do best. They perform examinations that find the compressed discs, subluxations, or other problems in your spine and then adjust them. This can put things right and relieve the pain. With the pain gone, falling and staying asleep becomes easier. Regular adjustments can prevent problems from recurring as you go about your daily tasks and reduce the risk of pain ruining your sleep.
Other Chiropractic Benefits for Sleep
Back pain is a prime culprit for poor sleep but pain in the joints can have the same effect. A chiropractor can also find and adjust joint problems, relieving that pain. Stress and anxiety are also factors that keep many people up at night. It's hard to shut down the mind when you are worried and you can't sleep with an active mind. Many chiropractic patients find that they are better able to manage stress when receiving regular treatment. Finally, there are patients who just find that they sleep better when they are seeing a chiropractor.
Nothing is more important for your health than good sleep. If your back hurts, sleeping well is not going to happen. Consider a visit to The Joint Chiropractic. You don't need an appointment. Find out how a chiropractor can ease your back pain and help you sleep better.
To learn more about your health, wellness and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Cedar Falls, Iowa