Sleep habits can absolutely cause an achy back!
Some people are not sleeping enough. It is really best for adults to get about 8 hours of sleep a night. Teenagers and kids actually need more; they need maybe 10 or 11 hours of sleep a night. So to start, you actually need to get sleep. Sleep is a really important thing because a lot of healing takes place during sleep. When you’re sleeping, you’re not digesting food, you’re not moving your body, so a lot of your body’s energy gets manifested towards healing. Healing your body or healing your back.
It is also important that you sleep in a certain position. Sleeping on your side or sleeping on your back is a good way to sleep. Sleeping on your stomach is not a good position. Right now our heads are right in front of our body. If you turn your head to a 45 or 90 degree angle, do that during the day for a couple of minutes, you’re probably going to put your head straight ahead again. If you sleep on your stomach that’s what you’re doing for six, seven, eight, nine hours and that can cause a problem in your neck. So it is best to sleep on your side or sleep on your back with a firm mattress. The mattress shouldn’t be like a hammock and shouldn’t be like a rock. That is probably the best way to sleep with a flat pillow, something that doesn’t really prop your neck up high. That is a good way to sleep so you can help your back to be healthy.
Dr. Steven Trauben is the founder of King Street Chiropractic Wellness Center, a pain relief and wellness center located in Alexandria, Virginia. He has been practicing just outside Washington DC for over twenty years now. If you’re interested in speaking with Dr. Trauben, you can call (703) 454-5180 to schedule an appointment or you can go online www.kingstreetwellness.com.