End your back pain while you sleep: use the pillow
The Back pain It is usually associated with bad postures, sports injuries, stress ... and sometimes also how we walk or sit at the computer. But what we almost never think of is that it is related to rest. What would you think if you were told that your back pain is occurring during the night while you sleep?
Approximately, we dedicate 33 percent of our life to sleep, a necessary rest for both the mind and the body, which if not done in the right way can harm our spine and be the cause of back pain that you They annoy the day.
If your way of sleeping is not respecting the balance of your body, the director of Quiropractic Valencia, Ata Pouramini, teaches us how to use the pillow as a lever to compensate and balance the curves of the back.
How to end your back pain if you sleep ....
Upside down
It is the favorite posture for most people, but turning the head to the side generates a lot of stress on the neck and shoulders. To avoid this, the expert recommends hugging a thin pillow, while the head rests on the mattress, and placing another very thin pillow under the stomach or pelvis to reward and balance the spine.
Upside down with one leg bent
In this case, we will place a thin pillow under the chest to relieve cervical tension and another under the hip. Although we change them sideways, they will continue to exercise their work as levers on the nerves and joints, which will cause the relaxation of the stressed muscles that cause back pain. "People with low back pain," Pouramini explains, "can benefit in particular from this position."
Face down with head down
Typical of the chiropractor's stretchers, it is a very comfortable and neutral posture for the spine, and, although it is not specific to sleep, it will be good for relaxing the back for about 15 minutes. Let's say it is a posture to unblock the tension of the column before sleep.
To achieve the same effect as in the consultations and achieve adequate breathing, you must place a thick pillow on the forehead, another thin pillow under the chest and a last median under the hips.
If the desired balance is achieved, it can be very useful for elderly people with stenosis of the lumbar canal (entrapment of the nerves and spinal cord in the back), who have pain and numbness in the legs.
Face up
According to Ata Pouramini, sleeping on your back is the best way to avoid any kind of back or neck pain. The pillow to choose will be fine and we will intertwine the hands on the stomach. Very few people are lucky to rest all night.
Face up with pillows of different thickness
It will be ideal for those who suffer from chronic back pain. We must place a thick pillow under the knees, a thin second to support and arch a little lumbar and another for the support of the head. You can experiment and remove the pillow for the lumbar or knees until you find comfort.
Face up in tilt
Recommended for a minority of people with back pain due to a spondelosthesis (displacement of one vertebra over another) or a heart failure. "To sleep inclined, - explains the author of School of the Back -, can alleviate and improve the rest". He does not recommend, of course, to pile pillows behind his back but to invest in a special bed, whenever possible.
On the side with a thin pillow
Another very common and very healthy posture for the spine, although it is much better to put a thin pillow between the legs. If you can bend your knees slightly, better still.
The fetal position
It can relieve the symptoms of a herniated disc. Put yourself in the fetal position by bending your knees with a thin pillow. In this way the joints will be opened so that the stress on the discs will decrease.
In addition, it is very important to avoid back pain while we sleep check mattresses and pillows with certain periodicity, as we find ourselves when we get up. If you want to change them, it will be very important to try them before taking them home.
Marisol Nuevo Espín
Advice:Ata Pouramini. Director of Quiropractic Valencia
