Mark Johan
A few days ago, one of my friends cracked a joke that, he doesn’t have to set an alarm for waking up in the morning. His lower back pain in the morning does the work of an alarm clock for him.
Though it was a joke, I know how much pain was behind that smiling face. Because I myself was a sufferer of it, a very unfortunate one. And that eventually led me to figure out the solution to it.
And the best part? Yeah, I did find something that worked like a magic spell! And that’s what I will be talking throughout the article.
How It Feels Like to Wake Up With a Lower Back Pain
Waking up with lower back pain is obviously not a ‘Good Morning’. But do you know what causing you this back or neck pain is nothing but some of your routine habits? Like, how you sleep, what type of pillow you use, whether you do your regular exercise or not etc.
Whatever may be the reason, you just want to put up an end to this, right? So let’s know the reasons and how to get rid of this back pain while sleeping.
What Causes Of Back Pain?
1. Low-Grade inflammation
It’s one of the well-known but rare reasons for back pain having in the morning. But inflammatory back pain (IBP) is often very severe.
The stiffness and back pain due to inflammation is severe in the morning. But to say technically, it’s the leftover of nighttime back pain. But that you feel it as soon as you wake up in the morning and start moving. You sleep through it but if you are conscious enough, you can also feel it even when you’re sleeping.
However, its biological reason is still mysterious to the medical science. Moreover, it’s an expert in eluding in diagnosis. Following are some of the signs that you may consider as IBP symptoms.
- Family history regarding spondyloarthritis,
- Inflammation in other parts of the body like eyes, tendons, colon, fingers etc.
- Any infection a week before your back pain begins.
- The response of your body to Aspirin and Ibuprofen.
2. Inflammaging
Back is the most vulnerable part of your body for pain due to ‘imflammaging’. The process of ‘inflammaging’ is slow but ramps up as you grow old. Like IBP, It’s also severe in nature. Though it’s not possible to get rid of inflammaging permanently, you can certainly keep it in the limit. The strategies will be described later in this article.
3. Myofascial pain syndrome
It’s one of the common reasons for hijinks in the morning. Aching patch (soft tissues) and sore are two of the common symptoms of MPS. This deals with the muscle tissues and therefore is difficult to heal completely.
4. Fibromyalgia (FM)
Another morning back pain causing condition (though it causes pain in other parts too). There are a lot of similarities between MPS and FM. The main difference is MPS causes problems in muscle tissues. On the contrary, FM dysfunctions our nervous system. Its sensitivity gradually increases.
The major reason for it’s the lack of restorative and continuous sleep. Conversely, it again leads to fragmented nighttime sleep. Though it’s acute in the morning, it can also get worse as the day progresses. For example, while-
- exercising
- exposing yourself to sunlight
- while drinking coffee
- when too much crowded or noisy
5. Osteomalacia
Osteomalacia is one of the lowest suspected diseases and often misdiagnosed as FM. This is the weakening of bone caused by the deficiency in vitamin D.
Osteomalacia causes bone aching in the back and for no particular reason, it gets worse at night. But people usually don’t notice back pain while sleeping until they wake up. It’ll get even worse if you put up some weight on the back.
The affected areas are- Lower back, Pelvis, Legs, Hips and Ribs.
6. Tissue stagnancy
- The reasons behind tissue stagnancy are-
- Uncomfortable lying or sitting postures
- Forceful immobilization
- Inappropriate sleeping position etc.
How You Sleep (It’s Important)
Most of the causes of back pain having in the morning are related to the sleeping situation. That is, in which posture you use to sleep and also your bed set-up.
First of all, if you are used to sleeping in an uncomfortable and awkward position, give up that habit. Sleeping on your stomach, that is your face down is probably the evilest practice. It puts your spine in unnatural positions which leads to neck and back pain and headache.
A conducive sleeping posture is one that helps to maintain the curve of your backbone. Sleeping on your side or back are good for mitigating back pain while sleeping. If you use to roll around a lot while sleeping, use some extra pillows as bracing. A pillow between legs for side sleepers is advisable. And for back sleepers, a pillow beneath the knees is conducive to back. They help to maintain the spine in its natural position.
How to Fix Lower Back Pain Naturally
Choose right bedding (pillow and mattress)
Choose the right supplies for your bed. The pillow under your head should be such that it supports your neck and keep it at the same level with the spine. Too-soft pillows like feathered pillows don’t provide sufficient support to the neck. Besides, they can lead to neck soreness.
If you already have severe lower back pain, you may need a cervical pillow. It’s a specially designed pillow that keeps your spine in the natural curve position. But you must sleep either on your back or your side.
Now coming to the mattress fact, like the pillow, too firm or too soft mattresses aren’t recommended. It’s been observed that people who sleep on medium-firm mattresses are less victim to lower back pain. In addition to this, you should change the mattress in every 10 years if you want to escape the chronic back pain.
Do regular exercise (It’s really work)
Some of the regular exercises to help your back pain in the morning are listed below-
- Yoga with laughter
- Flexing your foundation
- Bending the knees and then pressing it flat
- Lifting the leg affected
- Stretching your back and holding the position for a few moments
- Front to back shoulder squeeze
- Kneeling hip flexor stretch
- Side plank knee up
- Lunge to hip extension
Ice and heat therapy
Ice and heating do a lot of benefit to the people with lower back pain. Again, it’s really popular among the back pain patients. This is because it’s an easy as well as an inexpensive way to comfort your lower back. Heating pad, warm gel pack, hot bath are easy to try. Heat helps to relieve the pain from muscle. The benefits are listed below-
-
Heat excites the receptors of muscles. It decreases the transmission of signals from the back to the brain. Thus you’ll feel less pain.
- Heat dilates the blood vessels of the affected area. It increases the oxygen and nutrient flow. Thus it helps to heal the damage.
-
Heat therapy helps to stretch the soft tissues which consequently decrease the stiffness. In another word, it increases the flexibility which is important for a pain-free back.
Be aware of heavy work!
If you have severe back pain, it’s advisable not to do any heavy work or heavy lifting. Any kind of heavy work that put excess pressure on your lower back is strictly prohibited.
Final Words
As you can see, reforming very small everyday habits can save you from a painful life to a great extent. How you sleep, you walking, sitting and lying position, every single thing matters. I hope, after reading this, you don’t have to start a day by waking up with lower back pain.
Sleep well, stay well.
