Many people have suffered from low back pain in their lives, so when it comes to low back pain, everyone must have deep feeling. Lower back pain is very tormenting, when the pain is severe, no matter what position you are in, it will hurt, even though you lie in bed. You may wonder that your whole body including the waist will not be stressed when lying down, how come the pain is not relieved at all? If you want to know the answer to the question and how to relieve your lower back pain when sleeping, read on this article.
Part 1. Why you still have lower back pain when lying down
The first thing you need to know is that the spine has a physiological curvature. From the back, our spine is a straight line, but from the side, it has four curvatures: cervical curvature, thoracic curvature, lumbar curvature and sacral flexion.
The pain is not relieved when lying down because the waist is not effectively supported at this time, so the pressure on the waist still exists. This pressure mainly comes from the iliopsoas muscle and the tense erector spinae at the back of the lumbar spine. Due to the high tension of these two muscle groups, we cannot relax even if we lie down. Continuing to pull our lumbar spine forward will also cause pain.
Besides, the firmness of your mattress may also play a role. In addition to being uncomfortable, a bed that is too hard will also cause a larger gap between the body and the bed, which will also lead to abnormal physiological curvature. A bed that is too soft lacks support has the same problem.
Part 2. How to sleep better with lower back pain
1. For side sleeper:
One of the problems when sleeping on the side is that our shoulders and hips are wider than the waist and our legs, so it is inevitable that the upper shoulders will buckle and the pelvis will rotate downwards, which will cause the lumbar spine to deflect, so that the lumbar spine will be deflected. And the increased tension produces pain.
To solve this problem, placing one or two pillows between our knees will allow our pelvis and lumbar spine to return to the correct position, reduce the pressure on the lower back. At the same time, it should be noted that the pillow under your head should not be too high or too low. The standard is that the spine should be in the correct position, that is, the cervical spine should not be bent upward or downward.
2. For back sleeper:
When lying on the back, we can put one or two pillows under the knees, which on the one hand can release the tension of iliopsoas muscle, on the other hand, it can also make our waist fit better with mattress for more effective support. If you still have low back pain, you can try to put a small pillow or folded towel under your waist, which is also to provide better support for your waist.
3. For stomach sleeper:
We do not recommend sleeping on the stomach, because the cervical spine will inevitably rotate to one side when lying on the stomach, and maintaining this position for a long time will cause strain on the cervical spine. Unless you have acute low back pain, sleeping on your stomach is usually taken to relieve the pain.
The bottom line
The back pain is relieved, and the quality of your sleep can be improved. If you sleep well, in turn your body will be healthy and the pain in your lower back will gradually recover. Hope your back pain will be effectively cured when sleeping after reading this article.
