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Sleeping Habits And Neck Pain: What You Can Do About It?

Sleeping Habits And Neck Pain: What You Can Do About It?
April 05, 2024

Sleep is an important part of your daily routine. It is very important to get adequate sleep every day. It is often said that if you sleep well, you will feel fresh throughout the day and will feel energetic. As advised by medical professionals and health care experts, it is quite essential to get at least 7 to 8 hours of sound sleep each day. But there have been several cases when people complain that they wake up with mild to acute pain in their neck and in their surrounding areas. There are people who tend to suffer from poor sleeping habits and this is the main reason why people have health issues such as neck pain and aches in different areas of the body.

Many healthcare professionals have always advised changing the patterns and positions in which we sleep. This is important because if you do not change the positions in which you sleep you might continue to suffer from neck pain and back pain. There is evidence that people have poor sleep habits for which they tend to suffer from pain in the neck after they wake up in the morning. So, in this case, it is quite crucial to take proper care of your neck and back and to follow steps so that you do not wake up with terrible back and neck pain.

Sleeping Patterns And Neck Pain

Once you start changing the sleep positions, the pain in the neck and back will gradually reduce, and you might start getting relief. Though back and neck pain may be related to age-related disorders, they can also be a cause of faulty patterns during your sleep.

According to recent studies and research experiments that have been carried out in recent times, it is quite evident that almost around10 to 20 percent of adults and aged individuals are prone to suffer from neck pain, backache, and related symptoms. Though almost 50% of the cases are chronic problems and the disorders occur due to age-related factors, there are still cases when people suffer from pain in the back and in the neck due to improper positions while sleeping or resting.

When a person suffers from neck and back problems due to improper positions while sleeping, the person is most likely to suffer from conditions like arthritis, bone joint disorders, muscular ache, and so on. When you wake up in the morning and feel soreness and pain in the neck and back, then the rest of the day will become tiresome due to the continuous pain. The pain mostly results from the imperfect positions during your sleep time. This will create continuous discomfort in your back and neck. So, it is very crucial to change your sleeping habits and positions.

But, the thing most aged people often feel confused about is, how to change the position of sleep and how to sleep differently when they already have a backache or neck pain. So, here is the solution to this question.

Best Sleeping Position For Reducing Neck And Back Ache: Changing Your Sleeping Habits

Whether you will get problems in your neck and back will somehow depend on the way you sleep. According to recent studies and experiments it has been found that the way you sleep, most times decides how many problems you will get in your neck and back. In some cases, the quality of your sleep is also a determining factor for the intensity of neck and back pain. For instance, if you have a lower quality of sleep and if you have increased levels of stress disorder, then you are most likely to suffer from mild to acute back and neck pain.

Methods Of Changing Your Sleeping Habits:

Now that you know that you need to change your sleeping habits in order to get rid of your neck pain and back ache, you might be confused about what can be the best position to sleep, so that you may get rid of the unnecessary neck and back pain. So, here are some of the most impactful and the most effective techniques that might help you to treat back and neck pain by improving your sleeping positions. Some such techniques can be listed here as follows:

  • Try to sleep on your back: This is probably the first step to changing your improper sleeping pattern. When sleeping on your back, you tend to keep a correct posture of the spine and the vertebral column. When you are sleeping on your back, the position of your head should be a little bit raised above, and thus when you wake up in the morning, you will not experience any pain in the neck. If you want better relief, then you can use a soft cervical pillow or a memory foam pillow so that there is no sprain on the neck portion while you are sleeping.
  • You can sleep on your side: Apart from sleeping on your back, another useful thing you can do to improve your sleeping patterns is to sleep on your side. When you sleep on your side, you will be able to keep your head in a neutral position. Try to use support with a pillow or a similar spongy material to align the position of the neck properly, so that you do not wake up with a sore neck.
  • Do not sleep on your stomach: This is what doctors often say. Try not to sleep on your stomach, because this increases the tendency to suffer from neck pain. This happens because, when you sleep on your stomach, you are forcefully making your head be placed on one or either side of your face. If the neck continues to remain in such a position for your entire sleeping period, which is quite a long time, then you can start developing pain in the neck and even in your back due to improper posture while sleeping.

Do You Already Have Back Ache And Neck Pain? This Is What You Should Know?

There are people who already suffer from back pain and sprain in the neck. They should always maintain special postures and keep proper positions while sleeping. Apart from these, there are some methods also that must be followed in order to reduce the amount of pain in your neck and back. According to recent studies and research experiments it has been found that people with back aches and neck pains should sleep with the support of a viscoelastic polyurethane memory foam pillow or use it along with chiropractic treatment to get better results than chiropractic treatment and to lower neck pain easily. If a memory foam pillow is not possible, you can also use cervical support for reducing the sprain on your back and neck to get rid of the pain in those areas.

Besides these, you should also follow certain rules and regulations while sleeping. Some of them can be listed here as follows:

When you are sleeping on your back:

  • Try to support it with a thin pillow. When you are using a thin pillow, you are automatically maintaining the upper portion of your spine in the original position with a slight forward curve, which will help to reduce neck and back pain.
  • Also, use a cervical pillow. As mentioned above, a cervical pillow will help you to provide ample support to your neck and head so that they can remain in a neutral position and you do not feel any pain in these areas after you wake up.
  • Use a supportive mattress. Try to find a soft mattress that will help to provide enough comfort to the areas in your back and neck that hurt the most and you will also be able to have a sound sleep. But one thing must always be kept in mind, a mattress that is too short might make you feel like you are going some inches deep into it, so, try to choose a moderately soft mattress.

When you are sleeping on your side:

  • Do not sleep on high pillows. Try to avoid pillows that are too high. This is because, when you continue to sleep on such pillows, you will start having sore necks and back pain. Try to choose a moderately lower pillow, so that your ears, neck, head, and back all remain perfectly aligned and there is no further chance of backache or neck pain.
  • Keep your chin in a neutral position. This is very important when we sleep. Do not try to tuck in your chin when you are sleeping.
  • Try putting a pillow between your knees. When you are sleeping try to take additional support with a pillow kept in between the knees so that the lower portion of the spine and the vertebral column should remain in a proper position.
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