Wakey Wakey, Is Your Neck or Back Achy Achy?

By Dr. Steven Warfield

Environmental stresses that can adversely affect your neck abound in the modern world.  Everything from chairs with poor or no lumbar support, to laptop computer screens that cause your neck to crane forward for hours on end can produce both long term and short term aches and pains that can take a toll on your lifestyle.  But the cruelest rub of all is the fact that many people start off the day with neck strain or pain before the morning commute even begins.  This is caused by pillows and/or mattresses that are anything but form fitting.

Banged Up Before Breakfast

If you routinely wake up with a headache, stiff neck or aching back, chances are either your pillow or mattress is to blame.  When choosing bedding you should take a lesson from Goldilocks.  Avoid mattresses and pillows that are either too hard or too soft and sleep only on the ones that are just right.

Finding Bedding That’s Just Right

Firm Mattress:  The term firm is nebulous, since a firm mattress that is comfortable to one sleeper is  like a bag of bricks to another.  While firmer mattresses are generally preferable in terms of support to ones that are very soft, in the final analysis the decision is up to the individual.  As a rule avoid mattresses labeled as ultra-firm unless otherwise advised by your physician.

When choosing a mattress, the last thing you want to do is climb atop one in a store for all of thirty seconds only to find out later that what seemed like a good fit was really way too stiff for either you or your bedmate to tolerate all night long.  Buying the wrong bed can be detrimental to your relationship.  What I recommend is that you and your partner test drive any bed you are considering by having both parties lie down on it for at least five minutes.  Particularly if you are petite and your spouse is built like King Kong, finding the right mattress could take a bit of trial and error.   

Plush Mattress: Pillow top mattresses are all the rage these days.  But they could prove too soft or even too hot since the topper tends to rise up to engulf your body while the mattress beneath can be either too soft or too hard to take for any extended period of time.  From a chiropractic point of view, plush mattresses as a rule do not offer sufficient support to maintain the ideal back curvature.  As a result, the muscles and soft tissues of the back and neck tend to increase their tension in order to offset this problem, which many times results in back and/or neck pain.

The Best of Both Worlds: Today there are a number of hi-tech mattress materials such as memory foam that are used to provide both support and body-cradling comfort.  This is especially helpful if you like a harder mattress while your partner prefers a stiffer one.  Some beds even allow each bedmate to tailor the hardness or softness on their side of the bed.  Since a mattress is a long-term investment for most people, don’t be in a hurry to buy one until everyone is satisfied with the decision.

Pillow Problems: Even the best bed in the world will not guarantee you a restful night’s sleep if your

 pillow doesn’t provide adequate neck support.  If you find yourself waking up in the middle of the night with your neck contorted into an unnatural position or if your neck is typically stiff or sore as soon as you roll out of bed, then chances are your pillow is to blame.  So what is the best pillow to use?  Just as with bedding, there is no simple answer to this question.  In fact when it comes to pillows, there are many makes and models from which to choose.  Whether a pillow is filled with foam, feathers, goose down or some space age material matters not if it is uncomfortable. 

Next, you want to choose a pillow that positions your neck in a neutral position.  Any pillow that is too high can cause pain upon waking.  On the other hand, a pillow that is too soft can cause the neck to bend toward the pillow and lead to neck strain and pain as well.  The ideal pillow is one that not only offers proper support and comfort when sleeping in one position, but one that can adjust whether you lie on your side or your back.

Different Strokes for Different Folks

Speaking of sleep posture, people who predominantly sleep on their sides typically require a softer mattress than those who sleep mostly on their backs.  Sleeping on your stomach is never a healthy position in which to sleep, since it not only puts added pressure on the neck, but it also makes breathing difficult since it presses on the diaphragm.

This Old Bed

The real culprit for many people is a bed that is simply too old.  While a plush mattress tends to sag when weight is applied, there is a big difference between a mattress that was designed that way and one that is worn out.  One way to tell if it is time to buy a new mattress is to pull back the covers and lay a yardstick across the mattress.  If there is any space beneath the ruler, then it is time to head for the nearest bedding store.  Another test is to sit in the middle of the mattress in order to see if the edges rise.  If the mattress resembles a banana with someone seated in the middle then the inner support system is shot.

Taking the Show on the Road

Another suspect when it comes to back and neck strain, has to do with the quality of hotel mattresses.  Particularly if you are forced to do a lot of travelling for business purposes, I can’t stress enough that choosing lodging that provides top quality bedding is far more important than a free breakfast any day of the week.  So important is this topic that there are actually websites dedicated to hotel bedding, such as http://www.mattress-wiz.com/best-hotel-mattress-reviews.html and http://mattreslo.com/best-hotel-mattresses/.  

While top quality bedding can cost thousands of dollars, it is well worth the investment since it can cost much more to have your aching neck or back put right again. 

Dr.’s Steven Warfield and Dave Edenfield offer the most advanced treatments for back pain, sciatica, neck pain, whiplash and headaches. They also treat auto accident victims with state-of-the-art technologies.  For more information visit http://endyourpain.org or http://chiropractor-jacksonville-fl.com