Sore Back – What Not To Do

December 27, 2008 by soreback · Comments Off 

WHAT NOT TO DO

As important as it is to know what you should be doing to help your back pain, you also need to consider some common treatment methods that people often employ that actually make the situation worse.

Sleeping on the floor.

Imagine there are two pictures below.  One of course is of a human being from the back view, and the other is of a few boards.  Notice any difference?

Before you spend all day scratching your head and wondering what we’re getting at, the point is that a human body is not straight up and down the way a board is.  There are curves and contours on every part of the body, front and back, men and women.  We often forget about this; perhaps because we’re told to “sit up straight” or to keep our backs “ramrod” straight that we get the thought in our heads that the human back is flat and straight like a board.

No matter what your build – whether you’re as muscular or developed as this cartoon illustration or not – your back has curves and contours all up and down it, but especially in the area of the small of the back.  This area, if not supported, will begin to collapse which then causes those muscles to tense up further to keep the back supported.

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It’s unfortunate that many people with back problems have a tendency to sleep on the floor or a flat surface, thinking that this gives them more support than their own bed or a cushion of any type.  In reality this might relieve the pressure in some areas of the back but cause more pain in others as that flat surface is not giving support in these curved and contoured areas of the back.

If you find that sleeping in your bed causes you to wake up stiff and sore, it’s time to shop for a new mattress or to address the one you have.  Some have found that putting a firm piece of foam between the mattress and box spring can keep it from sagging in the middle so that they have better support.  Usually when your mattress is lumpy and old your back starts to hurt because it needs to tense up to support the body during sleep.  By having a better sleeping surface you’re bound to have less pain in the morning – but the floor is not that sleeping surface!  If you must sleep on the floor be sure to use a piece of foam or a thick sleeping bag, or a few thick sleeping bags, between you and it.  Your body needs more support than a flat wooden surface can give it and chances are you might feel some relief in some areas of the back but are doing more damage than good when you sleep on the floor.
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