12 Oct Sleeping Right and Keeping your Spine Healthy
Sleep is a period of recovery. While you sleep, your body is actively healing and regenerating. However, it’s simple to twist your spine or tuck your pelvis in when you’re collecting ZZZs since you lose awareness of your body. Existing back pain can worsen, which makes it difficult to get a good night’s sleep.
According to Spine-Health, by using supported sleeping positions, you may keep your back relaxed and foster a healing environment while preventing the concentration of stress on your spine.
So which sleeping position is ideal for maintaining spinal health? In general, it’s not a good idea to sleep on your stomach since it throws off your spine’s natural posture.
For a better night’s sleep that is also healthier, you may want to consider a few, if not all of these suggestions.
- Align and Adjust your Hips
For those who sleep on their sides, it’s a good idea to align the lower spine with the hips by putting a flat, firm pillow between your knees. This prevents the top leg from pressing into your pelvis or lower back. Additionally, you can adopt this position to open up more space for your spinal nerves by relieving pressure on your lower spine. By using a pillow to raiser your head slightly, you can also adjust your shoulder alignment accordingly.
- Keep Your Knees Raised
Put a pillow between your legs if you prefer to sleep on your back. By raising them in that way, you keep your spine’s natural curve while lessening the strain on your lower back. Make use of a head pillow to support your head and neck.
- Make Use of a Medium-Firm Mattress
You’ll get the support you need and get a better night’s sleep on a mattress that isn’t excessively soft. A firm mattress provides a more level surface to lessen pain in the body.
Having said that, avoid going too hard because doing so could disrupt your neck and back support, resulting in discomfort and pain in the shoulder. You also shouldn’t use a very soft mattress either as that could make your pelvic area sag in due to the body weight.
- Curling Too Much could cause Distress
Be careful not to curl up too tightly while in the foetal position. Although it may seem snug, doing so can make it difficult to breathe and cause soreness in the back the next morning.
- Align the Pelvis and Ribs
Use a lumbar support cushion under your waist if you like to sleep on your side in order to keep your pelvis and ribs in proper alignment. Both your upper and lower back will appreciate it.
- The Best Position for You to Sleep In
The general agreement appears to be that sleeping on your back is the best position for maintaining spinal health. Through this technique, abnormal curvature in the spine is prevented while the weight is distributed uniformly throughout the body.
If you prefer not to sleep on your back, lying on your side with your legs extended is the next best posture.
Get in touch with the Center for Spine & Pain Medicine for additional advice on proper sleeping positions or to find out how we can treat your postural problems without using any intrusive procedures.