We all suffer from back pains at one point or another. For some people, it is much severe, and the pain can even make the simplest of tasks seem challenging to handle. What most people do not know is that some of the solutions to their back pain problems are very simple. Seeking professional physical diagnosis is essential, the blog about back pain FreeYourSpine recommends. However, you will find that it is even less costly for you, to make small changes in your day to day activities.
There are different causes of upper back pain ranging from an inactive lifestyle to terrible posture. We are going to look at how you can reduce the pain by being keen on your sleeping positions.
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1. Use a pillow if you want to lie on your stomach:
Most physicians will be quick to tell you that you should not sleep flat on your stomach. When experiencing back pains, it is natural to want to avoid sleeping on your back. That is why some individuals will automatically drift towards sleeping the other way around. When you sleep flat on your stomach, you will end up straining your spine. Your neck and shoulders will experience the strain, and your upper back pain will continue.
The best way to position yourself when you want to sleep on your stomach is by using a pillow. You need two pillows for this. One for under your abdominal and pelvic region and the other pillow to deal with any strain you will feel. This second pillow is for use under your head. Changing up this sleeping position will gradually reduce any back pain experienced when you wake up.
2. Use leg support when you want to sleep on your side:
Most people tend to be side sleepers. Sleeping on your side is another great way to relieve pressure off your back. One of the challenges of this sleeping position is how it can contribute to spine rotation. Such adverse effects come when the top shoulder of the person sleeping slouches forward.
Furthermore, this position often has individuals moving the top leg frontward. As you can see, sleeping like this affects your spine and can make it worse if you don’t use support. There are two ways in which you can switch up this sleeping position to help reduce back pain.
The first way is to use leg support. The recommended method of getting support for your legs is by using a small pillow. Whenever you want to sleep on the side, ensure that you put a pillow between your legs. Doing so ensures that your hips are not prone to twist and cause additional stress to your back. Alternatively, you can also use a body pillow. The thicker the body pillow, the better. You will be able to keep your body fully aligned when you use a thick body pillow.
When you start proper side sleeping, you will also gain more relief if you have a foraminal herniated disc, osteoarthritis or spinal stenosis.
3. Using additional support when sleeping on your back:
If you are still able to sleep on your back, you need to make a few adjustments, and you are good to go. Sleeping on one’s back plays a major role in back health. The reason behind this is that your neck and spine’s position is neutral. All you will have to do is enhance the level of support. There are a couple of ways to do this. The first thing you could do is to give your head more support. You can do this by using a neck pillow or towel. The pillow or towel will also help get rid of any neck pain and deal with the weight of the skull.
Another way is ensuring that you use a small pillow, positioned between your shoulder blades. You have to avoid sleeping flatly on your back. Focusing on your shoulder’s natural bends is the best way to seek relief. Using the wrong kind of pillow can also cause upper back pain. You need to buy a flatter pillow or an orthopedic one, in case you often wake up in pain. Adding an orthopaedic pillow to your sleep routine will result in better head and neck support.
