Five ways to get a good night sleep, despite serious back pain.

Dr. Ron Nusbaum, Back Clinics of Canada, advises that even if you suffer with serious low back pain or neck pain, it’s still possible and important to get a good night’s sleep. Sleep is all-important to re-energize and heal.

Pain can make it hard to fall asleep; it can disrupt the sleep cycle, and it makes it difficult to find a comfortable sleeping position. Pain also can seem to increase at night because distractions of the day are gone, leaving you alone in the quiet. Some pain medications even cause insomnia (inability to sleep). Sleep deprivation can aggravate and worsen pain during the day.

Here are 5 Tips for getting a good night’s sleep, despite your back pain.

Mattress: Your mattress must offer the right firmness and support for you. For a while plush pillow tops were popular. Then memory foam was seen everywhere. Recent innovations include a mattress core made of thermoplastic material, formed to resemble uniform honeycomb walls. These types of mattresses offer beds that you gently sink into. They feel good at first, then, you’re sunk and stuck.

For best back support while sleeping, look for a tight-top mattress with a high firmness. Really try each one out, and don’t be shy to lie down and roll around on each one in the showroom. The right mattress will give you the important support you need without sacrificing comfort. Financially speaking, it’s worthwhile to invest in the best mattress you can buy. This is not an area to skimp.

Pillow: Today there are neck pillows, body pillows, knee pillows and others available for sale. They’re not all gimmicky; they are also not all necessary. You really just need a good head pillow and body pillow.

• Buy a head pillow that also supports your neck. Water pillows are good because they shift as you do, providing constant support under your neck. (The drawback is, they are not good for stomach sleepers.) You may have to try several before you find one that’s right for you. Your head does not have to be raised, but your neck must have gentle support to help keep it aligned properly.
• A body pillow helps you to comfortably maintain a side-position, which is great for sleeping (see below) and reduces stresses on the spine. Invest in one of these. Buckwheat, foam or down… it’s your choice.  It should be long enough to be able to hug against your chest while also fitting between your knees and your ankles.

Meditation: Try to calm yourself and release tension through simple meditation before bedtime. A combination of deep breathing, focus on a pleasant object or scene, and mindful relaxation can do wonders to ease the tension that has built up in the body and mind. If someone can give you a gentle massage, that also contributes greatly to relaxation and better sleep.

Sleeping Position: We each have our natural default sleeping position, but sleeping on your side helps to keep your spine in alignment and reduces stresses. For a back pain sufferer, the best position, if you can manage, is on your side with your knees pulled up slightly. Have good support under your neck with a proper pillow. Position a body pillow against your chest (to keep from rolling), between your knees and between your ankles. If a side position is not possible, then sleep on your back, but you must have good support under your neck and place a small pillow under your knees to raise them slightly. (This relieves pressure on your lower back.)

Eating and Drinking Before Bed
Refrain from drinking or eating within two to three hours of retiring. You don’t want your sleep to be interrupted with trips to the washroom. And if your body’s energy is directed to digesting, it is diverted away from healing and rest. People who go to bed on a full stomach report interrupted and un-restful sleep more often than those who go to bed with a relatively empty stomach. Also avoid caffeine and alcohol before bedtime. The latter, while relaxing at first, actually wears off and disrupts the sleep cycle, leaving you feeling un-rested in the morning.

Sleep is an important component of the healing process. For an active person suffering with acute low back pain or neck pain, it may be difficult to rest. And for someone with chronic pain, it may seem far-fetched to get a good night sleep. But rest is exactly what your body needs. Follow these five tips for restful sleep even with low back pain or neck pain. Patients undergoing non-invasive, drug-free treatment from Back Clinics of Canada, who make sure restful sleep is included in their program, have very good healing results.

Goodnight Sleep
Sleep deprivation
Tips for getting good night sleep
I can’t sleep at night