Tips to Combat Morning Back Pain
By Sara Butler
You know what would be really nice? If every morning your chiropractor could be at your house to help you wake up, stretch out and get ready to face your day. Well, your chiropractor has a life, too, so don’t hold your breath that service will ever be offered. But, what you chiropractor can offer you are some valuable tips to help you quell back pain from the moment you wake up in the morning. Here are some great tips to help you start your day off back pain-free!
Why Your Back Hurts in the Morning
Many people wake up every morning and have back pain. This is due to the fact that as your sleep in your bed, you’ve not only been in a similar position all night but the blood that kept your back warm has been diverted to other areas to keep them warm while you sleep. So, when you first open your eyes and roll over, your back is often stiff. This increases the chances of sustaining a sprain or strain to your back muscles when you first get out of bed in the morning.
Some other common causes of morning back pain include:
- Pillows that aren’t supportive – You need to find a pillow that will support your back in your particular sleeping position. Body pillows are a great way to keep your back healthy since you can use them to take some of the pressure off your back. Also, make sure the pillow you have supporting your neck only supports your neck. Your shoulders have no place on your nighttime pillow!
- Have a healthy sleeping environment – You need to create an environment for yourself at night that is cool, dark and quiet.
- Good sleeping posture – You need to make sure your spine is in a neutral position. This means no stomach sleeping! And if you sleep on your back or side you need to add extra pillows, as mentioned previously, to strategic places to help support your back.
- Stay active during the day – If you don’t get regular exercise and work on building up the support muscles of your spine, then your spine won’t be properly supported at night, causing morning back pain.
What You Can Do
Aside from getting regular chiropractic adjustments, it’s really important to take time before you get out of bed to stretch. This will increase the blood flow in the muscles of your back, so take about 10 to 15 minutes every morning to do it. If you need ideas about stretches you can try, talk to your chiropractor during your next visit to The Joint Chiropractic!
