Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.
Do you sleep well? Do you wake up often throughout the
night? Do you just toss and turn all night? Has your doctor or some
professional told you to sleep on your sides as the best option?
If you sleep poorly, I’d bet you are a stomach or side
sleeper. If you are waking up in the morning with shoulder, neck, hip, leg, or
back pain, it could be from your sleeping positons.
The biomechanics of pressure points on the body show that
if you are side-lying, there is much less surface area over which to spread
weight bearing than there is when lying on your back. Try watching a long movie
by just laying on your side. You can’t do it, something hurts or goes numb and
you must change position.
That is the reason you toss and turn all night long. The
area of the brain that senses pain and the area of the brain that controls
sleep are very close. When your body is in pain, it wakes up, or moves you out
of that position. This is a reflex. It can be suppressed with drugs, alcohol,
sleeping pills, or just plain extreme tiredness. In instances of suppression of
this reflex, when you stay in one bad position for prolonged periods, it is
possible to pull muscles or sprain ligaments. Yes, in your sleep, and doing
nothing else! I see it all the time in my office. And that is just in one
night’s sleep.
Imagine if you spend years sleeping improperly. What you do
every day defines your current state of health. If improper sleep position
directly affects spinal structure and nervous system functions, it’s easy to
see why you would want to stay in a proper, biomechanically functional
position.
Maintaining the proper curves of your spine is crucially
important in helping your body distribute weight and stress when you walk and
move. When areas do not function, you will develop scar tissue, which leads to
more loss of motion, and eventually degenerative arthritic changes of the
joints.
A proper sleeping position is a neutral position,
supporting the natural curves of the spine and distributing weight as evenly as
possible. This can only occur on your back. You say, “I can’t,” but I say, “you
can” with practice and persistence. It can take you three to six months to
change this habit, but work at it and your body will thank you.
When lying on your back, you should have the most support
under the neck, and not the head. You have seen the “chiropractic” pillows that
have a neck roll or a hole in the middle of the pillow. These are ideal for
supporting the natural neck curve. Your mattress should also have firm support
(how firm is determined by the weight of the people in the bed) with a very
soft 2-3 inches of pillow top of some sort.
Those with major snoring problems can literally tape their
mouth shut to force nose breathing. I know that sounds radical, but sleep
professionals say it is a viable solution and can be tried by most anyone.
Sleep is so vital to our overall health that proper rest is
not something to ignore. It is something to be worked at, intentionally, and
with better health in mind as the end result of sleeping properly. Take your
time and don’t get frustrated as you change over. It is a lengthy process which
will pay dividends of less pain and better mechanical function, not to mention
better rest.