Chronic pain has always been an apparent reason for poor sleep, but what makes this study unique is showing that a person’s poor sleep may cause low back pain. Specialists may improve a person’s chronic low back pain by treating the causes of poor sleep.

Significance of the Study

Specialists have previously treated chronic low back pain without asking questions or understanding a patient’s sleeping patterns. People have used prescribed and over-the-counter pain relievers to treat their low back pain without knowing that they perhaps just needed a better night’s sleep.

Treatable Reasons for Lack of Sleep

There are many reasons for lack of sleep, like too much stimulation before bedtime. This reason could include a person watching too much television before bed, having too much caffeine and exercising, or playing video games, which are under the person’s complete control to change.

In other cases, a person may be experiencing a great deal of stress, noise disturbances, or a work schedule that is detrimental to their sleep. Depression, other mental health issues, and restless legs syndrome should include a physician’s advice.

If a person has no physical reasons or disorder causing their low back pain, they may be relieved by changing their sleep positions or mattress.

There are cases where some people are genetically predisposed to poor sleep. This group of people need less than six and a half hours of sleep at night but feel well-rested and without pain in the morning.

A person can keep a sleep diary that notes any low back pain they may be experiencing. This notetaking is extremely helpful in a specialist’s challenge to define the best overall treatment.

The diary should also include the day’s activities, naps, bed, and waking times. The analysis can be all-inclusive if the journaling provides food, drinks, moods, and medications. With the diary information, a physician may order a sleep study test.

Treatments for Poor Sleep to Lessen Low Back Pain

The most uncomplicated treatment for poor sleep may be for the patient to create a better sleep environment in their rooms. Darkening curtains, cool temperatures, and a noise-free place to call it a day are always the first place to create change.

The next area for a patient to explore is avoiding napping, stimulating activities before bed, listening to music, or taking a hot bath to provide the extra care needed for a good night’s sleep. These lifestyle choices are healthy even if a person isn’t experiencing low back pain.

A physician may prescribe an appropriate sleep aid or medication for any anxiety disorders or depression the patient’ may be experiencing. These prescriptions may help with any worry, stress, or mental health issues interfering with their sleep.

A sleep diary will be helpful to you and your physician when taking these medications to document if symptoms, sleep, and low back pain is relieved. Patients who work closely with specialists and provide adequate information will achieve more accurate diagnoses, treatment, and the fastest relief from their low back pain.

Low Back Pain: Chiropractic Help in Everett, Wa

If your back pain is chronic, it’s a good idea to visit your local chiropractor. Those in the Snohomish County area can go to Everett Spine and Rehab to examine your condition and find the right treatment for you, which may include spinal manipulation. Please book your appointment by calling us at 425-347-8614.

Back and neck pain links to the spine, one of the most important parts of our body. Luckily, most spinal issues are preventable and treatable.

What Is The Spine?

The spine is the central structure of support for our bodies. Our head, chest, shoulders, arms, legs, and pelvis are all connected to our spine. It also carries the weight of our entire upper body. Without it, we couldn’t stand upright or move the rest of our bodies.

The spine consists of a long row of bones called “vertebrae”. The bones are all connected by ligaments and spinal disks. The ligaments and disks allow the bones to shift and stretch so that we still have movement.

Inside the bones lies the spinal cord and nerves, the key to all our body’s movements. The spinal cord is long and stretches the length of the bones which protects the cord.

The bones must protect the spinal cord because, without it, we wouldn’t be able to do anything. The nerves in the spine carry signals to and from the brain and muscles. This network connects the brain to all the bones and organs in the body. Together, the brain and spinal cord make up the central nervous system.

Why Is It Important To Keep Your Spine Healthy?

The spine protects your spinal cord and nerves which allows your body to function. If you experience a spinal cord injury, it can affect your ability to move and live your life.

Spinal injuries may occur due to everyday problems. Issues may arise because of stress, lack of exercise, and physical labor. Yet, a spinal injury can also be a result of events like a motor accident, a fall, or a sports injury.

Weakening of the supportive muscles and ligaments can also restrict your life. Without the strength of those supportive structures, movement may become painful and difficult.

Limited movement places more pressure on the spine. This increases the risk of further injury and pain. Yet, a healthy and stable spine supports movement and flexibility.

By keeping your spine strong and healthy, you’ll continue to have a full range of motion. It will also reduce or end your pain, leading to a better life.

How Can You Keep Your Spine Healthy?

The key to a healthy spine is regular exercise and activity. The stronger the muscles are that support your spine, the less likely you are to experience pain.

Exercise

Muscles and ligaments support your spine. It’s common for them to weaken with age or injury, but that doesn’t have to be your reality.

If you work to strengthen the spine and ligaments, your spine will be more stable.

To strengthen your spine, you should engage all the muscles in your back and your core. Having a strong core will stabilize your spine and maintain flexibility without pain. Some of the best exercises for this include curl-ups, side plank, and bird-dog.

Good Posture

Your mom was right all along when she kept telling you to stop slouching and stand up straight! Bad posture can lead to spine issues and not to mention back and neck pain. Some simple tips to help include making sure you have an ergonomic office setup (including your table, chair, computer monitor), take breaks from sitting or standing, and having a supportive pillow and mattress for sleeping.

Chiropractic Care

Another good option to keep spine health is receiving chiropractic care. Chiropractic care is a natural way to relieve pain without medication. It also helps your spine stay healthy.

Chiropractors generally focus on the spine. They manipulate your body and realign the joints. This can relieve pain in the bones, cartilage, connective tissue, joints, and muscles.

Besides reducing pain, chiropractic care contributes to the health of the spine. It can increase mobility and improve posture. It may even reduce deformities of the spine.

Conclusion

Maintaining a healthy spine can help you continue to lead the life you want to live. A stable spine ensures you keep your mobility and will prevent pain.

Fortunately, for most people, this is achievable through regular exercise. However, if you want to see a chiropractor to take a look at any back or potential spine issues you could have, those living in Snohomish County can visit Everett Spine & Rehab.

Benefits of Chiropractic Care for Athletes

Why would an athlete even benefit from chiropractic care? One of the most frequently cited benefits of chiropractic treatments is improved range of motion. Football and hockey players go through rigorous training and can suffer huge blows during games, which can disrupt spinal alignment and restrict movement, leading to pain and tension in athletes’ joints. With regular chiropractic care, athletes can get their bodies back into top condition and prevent further injuries.

Numerous studies have found that football and hockey players are at greater risk for neck and back pain. One study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that athletes saw a significant reduction in pain after “exercise, biomechanical modifications, and manual therapy” under the care of a chiropractor. This reduction in pain decreases the need for strong pain pills, which are very addictive even after short periods of time. 

Perhaps most importantly, patients undergoing chiropractic care report that they are highly satisfied with the results of their treatments. In a 2015 study, 92% of 544  participants reported reduced pain, and 80% reported increased mobility. The researchers concluded that patients were highly satisfied with their chiropractic treatments.

But what about the cost? Is chiropractic treatment expensive?

Actually, chiropractic care can be very cost efficient than repeat visits to the doctor and expensive prescriptions. One study conducted in 2016 found that patients under the care of a chiropractor had less expensive costs overall in comparison to those who were not receiving chiropractic care. In addition to this, the length of their treatments was shorter as well.

An alternative to surgeries, which are invasive and often require a long recovery time, is chiropractic therapy. Some examples of the noninvasive treatment techniques include but are not limited to treatment methods, such as electrical muscle stimulation, dry needling, massage, stretch exercises, electrical muscle stimulation, and tools to help rid players of scar tissue.

Everett Spine and Rehab: Snohomish Chiropractic Clinic and More

It’s not just for athletes– all people suffering from stiffness or pain can benefit from chiropractic care. However, athletes who push their bodies to the limits in high-impact sports like hockey and football should consider ongoing chiropractic care. Many studies have shown the numerous benefits from this cost effective and noninvasive treatment. You’ll be thrilled at how quickly you reap the rewards of chiropractic therapy.

Our office not only offers chiro care, but also physical therapy and massage therapy. Please swing by our Everett location or call to book an appointment today: (425) 347-8614.

Ability to Get Back to Normal

A study published in Medicine (Baltimore) showed that a 4-week inpatient interdisciplinary program of physical therapy, occupational therapy, psychotherapy, and strength/endurance training helped car accident victims in many areas of life in the months that followed. The patients were able to increase their working hours from 0 at the onset of the injury to 21 hours a week after 6 months and 30 hours a week after 60 months. These patients were also less likely to “catastrophize” and ranked themselves lower on the pain scale.

Addressing “Invisible” Injuries

Of the injury-causing collisions that happened in the US during the last year data was available, 31.4% were rear-ending crashes. These types of crashes are notorious for causing whiplash, which is an injury to the soft tissue of the neck typically caused by a sudden overextension. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, whiplash symptoms can occur immediately after the trauma, or they can set in many days later. For this reason, many car accident victims have “invisible” injuries. They might look healthy and well to the people around them and even to themselves for a few days. Physical therapy can help address the underlying issues that might not be obvious to the onlooker. Range of motion exercises through a therapy program can help address stiffness and prevent chronic headaches and neck pain.

Preventing Chronic/Long-Term Pain

Physical therapy can prevent long term pain later on. A study out of Japan showed that a physical therapy program given to Whiplash Affective Disorder patients with indefinite pain reduced their symptoms by 80 percent. On average, they initially reported 13.1 symptoms, which decreased to only two at discharge.

Lessening the Need for Certain Surgeries

The need for certain surgeries to address lower back pain can be eliminated with physical therapy. While spinal stenosis is not usually caused by trauma, something like a car accident can make underlying cases come to light. A study conducted by Harvard followed a group of patients who underwent physical therapy for their low back pain and a group who underwent surgery. Two years after the beginning of therapy or surgery, both groups had made equal progress in pain and physical function.

Reducing Need for Pain Medication

Physical therapy can help minimize necessary dosages of pain medication. In a study conducted on pain management in trauma, researchers found that a routine of physical therapy could reduce a patient’s need for opioids. Since most injured car accident victims have to take medication of some kind, physical therapy could play a huge role in preventing reliance/addiction to these medications.

If you are looking for non-invasive treatment for your car accident injury, please contact us. We are located in Everett, near Lynnwood, Marysville and Mill Creek.

Sources:

Ahmadi, A., Bazargan-Hejazi, S., Heidari Zadie, Z., Euasobhon, P., Ketumarn, P., Karbasfrushan, A., Amini-Saman, J., & Mohammadi, R. (2016). Pain management in trauma: A review study. Journal of injury & violence research, 8(2), 89–98. https://doi.org/10.5249/jivr.v8i2.707

Haiduk, P., Benz, T., Lehmann, S., Gysi-Klaus, F., Aeschlimann, A., Michel, B. A., & Angst, F. (2017). Interdisciplinary rehabilitation after whiplash injury: An observational prospective 5 years outcome study. Medicine, 96(9), e6113. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000006113

Matsui, T., Iwata, M., Endo, Y. et al. Effect of intensive inpatient physical therapy on whole-body indefinite symptoms in patients with whiplash-associated disorders. BMC Musculoskelet Disord 20, 251 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12891-019-2621-1

Howard, L., M.D. (2020, June 17). Physical therapy as good as surgery and less risky for one type of lower back pain. Retrieved December 04, 2020, from https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/physical-therapy-as-good-as-surgery-and-less-risky-for-one-type-of-lower-back-pain-201504097863

National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration. (2018). National Statistics. Retrieved December 04, 2020, from https://cdan.nhtsa.gov/tsftables/National%20Statistics.pdf

Whiplash Information Page. (2019, March 27). Retrieved December 04, 2020, from https://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/all-disorders/whiplash-information-page