Nighttime is supposed to be a restful time for your spine to recoup from the stresses of the day, but if your back pain is at its worst at night, it can be hard for your spine to get the rest it needs to handle the stress you’ll throw at it tomorrow. You can fall into a hard cycle to break out of if back pain is preventing sleep and lack of sleep is contributing to spine pain. So while we’ve talked about breaking out of this cycle in the past, we want to use today’s blog to focus on why back pain tends to develop at night, and what you can do to prevent and treat nighttime back pain.
Why Does Back & Neck Pain Develop At Night?
Back pain can develop during the nighttime hours for a number of reasons, so we’re going to take a look at some of the most common contributors before we touch on how to use this knowledge to your benefit to help prevent and treat nighttime back pain. Here’s why your back might start hurting when it’s time for bed.
- Too Much Inactivity – You may be surprised to learn that inactivity is actually one of the leading causes of back pain. If you’re stuck at a desk or behind a wheel for hours each day, your spine is forced to handle stress in a similar manner for an extended period of time. This can lead to overstress injuries, cramps or spasms that can be triggered later on in the day because of this prolonged spinal positioning.
- Poor Sleeping Environment – Your back pain may also be caused by an unsupportive mattress. If your mattress is more than a decade old, it may not be able to provide adequate spinal support, and that can trigger spine pain when you lay down.
- Too Much Activity – On the flip side of the first point, putting too much stress on your spine can also lead to back pain later in the day. If you work a physically demanding job and then you stay active when you’re off the clock, it can actually be more than your spine can comfortably handle. Activity is better than inactivity, but it’s also important to remember that you can have too much of a good thing.
- Bad Daytime Posture – Poor posture throughout the day is another common underlying cause of nighttime back pain. Whether you’re active or inactive, you need to have your head, neck and spine in alignment, otherwise your back will be handling excessive stress.
Preventing And Treating Nighttime Spine Pain
Preventing and treating nighttime back pain really comes down to understanding what factors are contributing to your pain and taking some simple steps to avoid the issue. If you’re unsure of your root cause of back pain, connect with a specialist like Dr. Sinicropi and he’ll provide a diagnostic assessment to get an idea of what factors are likely behind your nighttime back pain. If it’s something on the above list, treatment will be based on your specific needs.
For example, if inactivity is the culprit, finding more ways to be active or stretching or walking for 30 minutes before bed can help to work out some of the stress of the day. Switching out a bad mattress or making your sleep environment more conducive to restful sleep can help if your bed or bedroom are to blame. Listening to your body and taking up some less stressful hobbies can help if excessive activity is to blame, and regular posture checks and self-corrections can be beneficial if your posture is the problem.
Other helpful prevention and treatment techniques include anti-inflammatory medications, low-impact exercises, physical therapy, spinal injections and even a minimally invasive operation can all help you find relief. For help with any of these techniques, or to get control over your spine pain, reach out to Dr. Sinicropi’s office today.
