Aches and pains are a struggle any time of day. But first thing in the morning, even prior to getting out of bed, pains can really knock the wind out of you and steal the joy of a day before it’s even begun. In today’s video article we’ll look at how sleeping posture can be a factor (for better and worse), and my colleague Dr. Brett Cardonick shows several exercises you can do while still in bed that can help to relieve pain and stiffness in the low back and the neck. Let’s begin by looking at the best way to sleep.
Sleeping postures
If you are sleeping in the incorrect posture things will hurt when you wake in the morning, even if you don’t normally have chronic pain. The best way to avoid having acute pain in the morning is to sleep on a supportive mattress. Ideally, you want to sleep on your back with a mattress that is supportive to your lower back. If you have a low back problem, placing a pillow or two underneath your knees can go a long way to help alleviate the strain.
Pillow placement is also important. If the pillow is resting under the back of your head it is pushing your head forward all evening, and this creates neck pain. You want to have the pillow pulled down lower so it rests at the top of your shoulders, to support both the head and neck while sleeping on your back. So, when sleeping on your back have a pillow under your head that is touching the shoulders and another pillow under your knees to relieve strain on the lower back.
If you are a side sleeper, you want a pillow that is thick enough to make up the distance from the mattress to your neck, to support your head from tilting down sideways all evening. If it’s too thin it will hurt your neck tilting downward and if it’s too thick it will hurt it by tilting it upwards. So, when side sleeping you want a pillow to fill the space between the mattress and your neck and another between your knees, which should be bent slightly to take pressure off the low back.
In all cases do not sleep on your belly because your abdomen will not be supported and will sway and jam the joints of your lower back. Also, the nature of front sleeping means your head must be turned to one side, which constricts the neck, and often one arm is held above the head, which makes neck pain worse.
Low back pain relief
If you wake up in low back pain, here is what you want to do. First, you want to get onto your back. Raise one knee toward your chest and hold the knee for 5 seconds, and then the other leg. Then hug both knees toward your chest for 5 seconds. Repeat this sequence for a minute or two, or until you start to feel relief in the lower back.
Next, put your feet on the bed to raise both knees and rock slowly from side to side. Each time you can increase the range of motion to aid in mobility.
Neck pain relief
To help relieve morning neck pain, first get onto your back and remove the pillow. Now slowly and steadily turn your head to one side and then the other side. Repeat for a minute or two until the muscles become loose. Next, do a series of head raises, brining your chin toward your chest a few times. Follow this with a few repetitions of brining your ear toward your shoulder on one side and the on the other side, until you feel relief in the neck and shoulders.
These simple exercises will help warm the areas of the low back and neck, bring blood to the area and loosen the muscles and joint and go a long way toward relieving morning pain and stiffness.
