Back/neck problems and sleeping

[touma.akagi]

Been seeing a chiropractor due to increasing back and neck misalignment, and I've just been fluctuating between feeling better and then getting worse. One month I only steadily get worse, leading up to the next appointment, and the next I'll start feeling worse just one week after the appointment.

I usually feel the most in pain when I first wake up. Do I just need a new bed? I have a relatively average mattress that's gonna be two years old soon, and usually fall asleep just lying on my back because sideways does not remain comfortable for terribly long. Occasionally I fall asleep facedown too, and that's comfortable to wake up from. But on the off chance that I fall asleep in most other positions, the pain I wake up in is worse.

Frankly I'm tired of it. Some days one or both of my arms or legs end up feeling weak for most of the day.

What mattress do I need? What do you guys sleep on? I think for now I'm just going to try ditching the pillow I use for my head because I used my first pillow since going to college, then a MyPillow, then the old one again, and it seems like the "extra support" I got from the MyPillow caused more harm than good. Switching back to the flatter pillow didn't seem to help much either.

I would like to get a new, comfortable mattress without going broke.

 

[sazc]

Dude... That f'in sux, for real.

I have a latex mattress. I found when i turned it to the less firm side, I would wake up with hip pain. Turned it over to the firm side and have less pain in the morning.

I also found that, when I sleep on my side I must have a knee pillow in between my legs so that I don't get hip pain. I'm also thinking that sleeping on my stomach, because I have to turn out my knee, might also be causing my hip pain, so I'm trying to only sleep on my back.

I would go firmer with a new mattress but don't go too hard, because then your pressure points will get irritated.

What I am seeing is that most new mattress offers have a 60 day (or so) trial period, so you'll have a chance to really try the mattress.

I'd Google your symptoms along with matress suggestions to see what the internet says about what type of mattress you should pick.

 

[EyeOnThePrize]

Sleeping on your back is the healthiest for you. I used to get bad lower back pain because my mattress was too soft. I ended up throwing it away and building a wooden frame. I threw a couple mattress pads on it and slept on that. Back pain went away within a week and I grew to love how firm it was. After a couple years I decided to buy the firmest mattress I could find. So far so good. Go firm!

 

[speed dawg]

Sleeping on your back is the healthiest for you. I used to get bad lower back pain because my mattress was too soft. I ended up throwing it away and building a wooden frame. I threw a couple mattress pads on it and slept on that. Back pain went away within a week and I grew to love how firm it was. After a couple years I decided to buy the firmest mattress I could find. So far so good. Go firm!

This. Firm is best.

OP you really need to start working on your posture, i.e. holding your head straight up. It will feel weird if you are used to slouching.

It will also create a more dominant aura about you.

 

[AttackFormation]

Sleep on your back, don't sleep with your head on a pillow (fixed my neck cramps), don't sit down for too long (hardest to follow but likely to be the most important, try to get a standing desk for example and if you can't stand then lie down rather than sit), work out and do some cardio (I do it 3 days a week), and do daily stretches of your hip flexors & adductors and lower back alongside working on your posture.

 

[AttackFormation]

I will attest to the sit/stand desk. There's a lot of debate about their being beneficial. I use mine for work and I spent $250.00 for a good one (Staples brand) because I never doubted that it would be a healthy, moneymaking tool. A few colleagues of mine have a sit/stand desk and (amazingly) rarely ever use it in the stand position.

I also have a cordless headset and plenty of vacant space to walk around in while I'm on the phone doing business deals. I am convinced that I am thinking my best when I'm standing and/or walking around.

But even when I am not on the phone I'm at times standing. I estimate 60% of my time at the office is spent on my feet, which in my mind is obviously healthy because I'm engaging the core, hips, glutes, hams, quads, and calves. This by far beats sitting on my ass all day, and in my opinion primes my body for my workouts, especially with the complex movements like squats and deadlifts.

I literally threw my chair out and got rid of it when i came home tonight, put my laptop on a couple boxes on my desk. From now on i will spend my life moving, standing or lying. I can already feel my body healing and feeling much better. The catalyst was my stationary's keyboard stopping to work, so a few days later now i just said **** it, im changing my life.

Like you i have no doubt about the benefits. Sitting fvcks you up.

 

[xplt]

I feel with you. I had a severe whiplash in 2013. It caused a chain reaction though my whole body, from neck to shoulders, to lower back, to pelvis, to hips and ankles, even elbows.

Work out. For me, compound exercises where key. If you sit throughout the day, stand up every half an hour. cardio helps you to losen up a little bit.

I made bad experiences with chiropractic. Try to strenghten your body and watch your posture. Try mobility or yoga.

 

[Kotaix]

I get horrible shoulder pains sometimes and I've found that a lot of it has to do with the fact that I sit behind a computer most of the day at work. Ironically, it's the mouse that fvcks up my back and neck. I've cured the problem just by adjusting my seat height on more than one occasion.

It might also be your bed, I've gotten horrible back pains from sleeping on beds that I'm not used to.

 

[AttackFormation]

I've gone nearly a month without sitting now as part of my new lifestyle of moving, standing or lying down, having gotten rid of my desk chair. I have NO pain anywhere in my body anymore, and no tightness. I don't sit anymore unless I have no other choice.

Stop sitting and your body will heal. I can now verify that. Try it out for yourself.

 

[switch7]

I've gone nearly a month without sitting now as part of my new lifestyle of moving, standing or lying down, having gotten rid of my desk chair. I have NO pain anywhere in my body anymore, and no tightness. I don't sit anymore unless I have no other choice.

Stop sitting and your body will heal. I can now verify that. Try it out for yourself.

I tried a standing desk but it after around 30 mins I start to get joint pain on the inside of my knees from locking out my legs and it gets pretty painful. I can't stand in the same place for long..

But yea we aren't built to sit, we are built to squat/crouch or stand.

 

[AttackFormation]

I tried a standing desk but it after around 30 mins I start to get joint pain on the inside of my knees from locking out my legs and it gets pretty painful. I can't stand in the same place for long..

But yea we aren't built to sit, we are built to squat/crouch or stand.

Fix your standing leg posture lol. Humans aren't supposed to be in acute pain from standing up. Move around slightly too.

 

[SeymourCake]

Been seeing a chiropractor due to increasing back and neck misalignment, and I've just been fluctuating between feeling better and then getting worse. One month I only steadily get worse, leading up to the next appointment, and the next I'll start feeling worse just one week after the appointment.

Has it ever occur to you that it is your chiropractor that is destroying your back? They are not legitimate doctors nor did they ever went to medical school.

 

[Alvafe]

the harder the mattress better for you back,

also take note are you doing anything else to help your back? like better chair, working out on focus on your back muscles, this helps a lot.

I'm getting a lot of legs pain lately, I then start to get back to walk on tredmills, since I need to recover from a ankle lesion, I pushed back for too long, so now i'm paying it in pain lol, 2 weeks wroking on tredmills and my legs are feeling better already, so working out do help on pains, getting strenght back helps.

Has it ever occur to you that it is your chiropractor that is destroying your back? They are not legitimate doctors nor did they ever went to medical school.

could also be malpractice, maybe a new one? anyone who used your quiro?

 

[touma.akagi]

I got a posture correction brace about a month ago, and it's been pretty good. It slightly rides up me because I'm a little overweight. This is the full one for both back and shoulders, and I can wear it while working or while sitting at home. The straps irritate my sides after a few hours, which I can loosen for around 15 minutes before reapplying. Sometimes I can even fall asleep with it on, although I usually don't because it isn't always easy to do so. I no longer experience the arm/leg weakness anywhere near as much.

 

[touma.akagi]

Has it ever occur to you that it is your chiropractor that is destroying your back? They are not legitimate doctors nor did they ever went to medical school.

The one I see mostly is actually a woman smaller than me. I went to another chiropractor who was a man ($10 special appointment)and he was able to do more thorough stretches because he's actually big enough to lift me up etc. Obviously the woman can't do that although she probably can with customers smaller than she is.