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Mattresses And Sleep Positions For Each Back Pain Diagnosis

By Philip Yiga | October 16, 2015

The right mattress and sleeping-position can significantly contribute to having a better night’s sleep and waking-up feeling relaxed and refreshed. In fact, sleeping on the wrong mattress may cause sleepless nights, back-pain and aches in different parts of your body. However, when searching for the best mattress to solve your back-pain, you should remember that a mattress is just a matter of preference because there is no single mattress that works best for all people and the fact is that there is no best mattress for back-pains. Additionally, don’t expect that switching mattresses will cure back-pain but it will only help to improve of sleeping comfort and to reduce on back-pain.

On the other, there are also a few general guidelines about sleeping-positions that are most comfortable for the spine in order to solve back-pains. However, the position that is most comfortable to sleep-in is greatly dependant on individual-preferences and on the type of back-pain someone is experiencing. Additionally, there is no sleeping-position known to be best for all individuals experiencing back-pain due to several factors. So, in this article i have featured the different mattresses and sleep-positions for each back-pain diagnosis.

GENERAL GUIDELINES ABOUT MATTRESSES AND SLEEP-POSITIONS FOR EACH BACK-PAIN DIAGNOSIS:

Osteoarthritis (back-pain diagnosis): Patients diagnosed with back-pain from osteoarthritis of the facet-joints may prefer to sleep on their sides with their knees curled-up. This sleep-position will helps to open-up the facet-joints in the spine and can also relieve any corresponding pressure. Alternatively, sleeping in a reclining-chair or an adjustable-bed which allows the head and knees to be elevated will also help relieve pressure on the facet-joints.

Degenerative disc-disease (back-pain diagnosis): Patients experiencing pain from degenerative-disc disease may prefer to sleep on their stomachs because this helps to relieve pressure on the disc-space. Additionally, these patients may feel most-comfortable when using a relatively firm mattress and placing a flat-pillow under the stomach or hips in order to greatly reduce stress on the lower-back section.

Spinal-Stenosis (back-pain diagnosis): People with back-pain caused by spinal-stenosis may prefer sleeping on their sides with the knees curled-up in a fetal-position. This sleeping-position helps to relieve pressure on the nerve-root. Additionally, sleeping in a reclining-chair or an adjustable-bed which allows the head and knees to be elevated may also help to relieve pressure on the nerve.

Bursitis (back-pain diagnosis): Patients diagnosed to have inflammation of the bursa just over their hips can be more susceptible to pain from a mattress that is too-firm. So, try placing a thick padding on top a new mattress that is too-hard or place an egg crate foam-mattress cover over your old-mattress in order to provide some relief from the firmness.

Hip-pain: Patients experiencing hip-pain due to sleeping on their sides can actually find some pain-relief by simply placing a pillow in-between their knees because this helps to decrease stress across the hips.

Herniated lumbar disc: For a paracentral disc herniation patient, it is best to sleep on his/her stomach while for a foraminal herniated disc patient its recommended to sleep on the sides in a fetal-position. All in all, the most comfortable sleeping-position depends on the position of the disc.

SELECTING THE BEST MATTRESSES FOR BACK-PAIN:

Firmer mattress: most people actually prefer a firmer mattress because it tends to give the spine more support while sleeping. However, any mattress is expected to provide support for the spine at all points and also keep the spine in the same body-position just like a good standing-posture.

Firm-mattress: although a firm mattress usually seems to be good, a mattress that is too hard can cause aches and pains in pressure-points like hips. In fact, patients experiencing inflammation of the bursa over their hips can be susceptible to aches due to a mattress that is too firm. Additionally, people who sleep on their sides with pressure-points at their shoulders and hips pressed against the mattress may also be affected by firm or firmer mattresses.

Softer-mattresses: in case someone feels more comfortable and relieved of back-pain on a softer mattress or even a waterbed then it is reasonable to sleep on a softer mattress. In fact, there are no significant external-forces on the spine as someone is sleeping, so even a firmer-mattress is not absolutely necessary although it tends to offer extra-support.

In conclusion, any mattress that helps a person better sleep and back-pain relief so that he/she can wake-up feeling refreshed and relaxed, then this happens to be the best mattress for that person.

DIFFERENT SLEEPING-POSITIONS AND HOW THEY CAN BE ENHANCED TO RELIEVE BACK-PAIN:

The back sleeping-position: Sleeping on your back is actually a great position for sleeping because it enables you to sleep in a position that supports your head, neck and lower-back section. So, to combat any type of back-pain, stiffness or discomfort in this position, try sleeping with a few pillows or a knee-elevator placed under the knees for optimum comfort. Additionally, use a cervical traction neck-pillow under the neck in order to allow your head and neck to be in the correct position with less stress placed on the cervical-spine. In fact, sleeping on your back with a cervical support pillow placed under the neck and a positioning-wedge placed under your lower-back is the least stressful sleeping-position for your body. However, remember that you may move around during the night and change this position which actually natural for most people.

The side sleeping-position: this happens to be the most popular sleeping-position for most people. In fact, there is a natural tendency for sleeping on of the sides after starting-out on your back. But make sure that when sleeping on one side your pillow has enough support to keep the shoulders relaxed at it. Additionally, if your pillow is too-low your head will be tilting-down and it the pillow is too-high then your head will stretched-up uncomfortably. So you will need a cervical-support pillow which is properly-sized to make side-sleeping comfortable. likewise, to make side-sleeping more comfortable and less-stressful on your body or back, try placing a pillow in-between your knees so as to keep the legs/hips apart because this helps to properly support the lower-back section.

The stomach sleeping-position: sleeping on your stomach is the worst sleeping-position of all. This is because it places extra-stress on the cervical-spine, upper-back section and even on your stomach-muscles. Additionally, sleeping on the stomach implies that the head and neck are going to be turned to one-side so that you may breathe and this can actually lead to stiffness and pain by morning. Likewise, sleeping on the stomach also places strain on your cervical-paraspinals and levator-scapulae muscles. So, if you like sleeping on your stomach and you’re trying to prevent this sleeping-position then sleep with a pillow placed to your side because it will stop you from rolling onto your stomach during the night.

RESOURCE:

http://www.gargmattresstudio.com/mattressesandyou.html

http://www.spine-health.com/wellness/sleep/mattresses-and-sleep-positions-each-back-pain-diagnosis

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2014/01/best-sleep-positions/index.htm