Back pain symptoms often appear when you wake up. The first instinct is to attribute the fault to his mattress. Savanna Calgary However, usually, the mattress or the sleeping posture are only aggravating elements or triggers. Physiotherapist Elaine Maher explains the possible causes of back pain when you wake up and offers some prevention tips.
People At Risk
In general, people over the age of 40 are more likely to experience back pain when they wake up. This correlation is explained by the inactivity of people in this age group, the increased risk of symptoms caused by the loss of joint mobility and the stiffening of tissues associated with osteoarthritis.
However, a 65-year-old in very good physical shape may be less at risk than a 35-year-old who is less fit, less flexible, and has poor muscle tone. This makes the association between back pain and age difficult and why it is better to focus on lifestyle habits. Consequently, an active person with a healthy weight reduces their risk of suffering from back pain.
Main Causes Of Back Pain When You Wake Up
Back pain can be associated with several factors. If back pain is present at night or upon waking, it may be caused by poor lying posture, the firmness of the mattress, or other sleep-related factors. However, in most cases and excluding cases of accidents, bad lifestyle habits and ways of moving are the main causes of back pain.
Sleep Positions Good And Bad
Humans spend almost a third of their life lying down. For a person living over 80, this figure represents approximately 250,000 hours. For people at risk, adopting good habits in bed is essential to preventing back pain.
A Few Habits To Adopt On A Daily Basis
Many people spend nearly two-thirds of their day in a seated position, either at work, in the car, during meals or in front of the TV. Depending on the surface you are sitting on or the support of your backrest, the spine is not always held in a neutral position and certain tissues may experience constant tension.
To help you maintain a better sitting position, you can use a lumbar roller or a rolled towel on the back of your chair that you place in the small of your back, above your buttocks.
It is also advisable to get up every 30 minutes to stretch your back backwards, to walk or to move (the back). This routine can last less than a minute and allows you to change the tensions on your back and sit back in good posture regularly.
Back Pain On Waking What Is The Role Of Physiotherapy?
To prevent and treat back pain, physiotherapy is certainly a frontline science. Elaine Maheu explains the process of consultation.
The context
During your initial visit, you will have to complete a medical questionnaire as well as one or more questionnaires to assess your functional limitations.
The subjective examination
Then comes the subjective examination which draws up a complete history of your symptoms and your functional difficulties. This allows the physiotherapist to plan what will need to be assessed during the physical examination. The subjective examination is composed of the following points.
Following the physical assessment, the physiotherapist will be able to educate the patient about their condition and discuss a treatment plan with them. It is important for each patient to understand their condition, what they should do to improve it, and what they should avoid so as not to make it worse.
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