Pain and Sleep

This week I really wanted to focus on the connection between pain and sleep. If you are in pain, you often can’t sleep well, but if you don’t get enough sleep it often causes you to be in pain. It can be a vicious cycle that can seem impossible to break. So what on Earth can you do to make sure that this doesn’t spiral into a very serious problem?
1. Stretching. Often times, stretching before bed can help to loosen up your muscles and relieve some pain. Do some gentle movement before laying down and even after getting into bed to help your joints relax for the night.
2. Heat Pads. Heating pads or electric blankets can help to relax your muscles and joints so that you can get comfortable and sleep well. They also keep you nice and toasty warm during the winter when your body will naturally curl up to conserve body heat. Make sure that you keep a healthy temperature in your bedroom at night to prevent shivering or sweating, as both will interrupt your sleeping.
3. Warm Bath or Shower. Taking a nice relaxing bath before bed or a warm shower can help you sleep well due to the relaxing of your muscles. If you are into aromatherapy, you can try some lavender candles or extract in or around your bath to further relax your body and help to aid sleep.
4. Correct Pillows and Mattress. You need to make sure that the mattress you are using is right for your body. It can’t be too firm, otherwise you will continue to be in pain. However, you don’t want it to be too soft either, as that will cause your body to not have support while resting. Be sure to replace each when necessary.
5. Change it up! Changing the position you sleep in may be helpful as well. If you sleep on your side, you are putting pressure on your hips and back. Try sleeping on your back and seeing if that helps at all.
We all want to wake up and feel refreshed, but that is almost impossible when we wake up in pain. Try these tips and come into Wirth Chiropractic for a spinal adjustment to see if you start waking up pain free.