Vancouver Back Pain Benefits from Good Sleep
The exercise topic of the month is…sleep?! Unusual? Not at all! Sleep is just as valuable as exercise for pain management including back pain management. Vancouver Disc Centers helps many Vancouver pain sufferers cope with their spine, neck, and back pain with chiropractic spinal manipulation, nutrition advice, and exercise direction. Sleep – adequate sleep – is added to that list for a good purpose!
CONTROLLING BACK PAIN
Since low back pain many times is a condition for life that comes and goes, a condition that is handled rather than cured, it is a good thing that researchers are looking into just how a back pain sufferer can control the Vancouver back pain and the frequency that it ‘rears its head.' Question any back pain sufferer and you’ll know that warding off a pain episode is an objective. But how? Researchers are studying sleep, fatigue, emotion, and more to figure that out. Vancouver Disc Centers shares the term “flare” as it has to do with a back pain episode.
BACK PAIN FLARE
A Vancouver low back pain flare is one that incorporates intensified pain, paresthesia, or muscle tension, increased duration of symptoms, decreased functional (social, cognitive, physical), and negative emotions. Researchers found that back pain sufferers do not consider their back pain to be a flare just because of increased pain, therefore healthcare professionals need to look past the pain to see what else is happening around the pain event, what psychosocial factors are at play. (1,2) The mind-body connection cannot always be overlooked! Nor can the time of day that pain is experienced.
PAIN: MORNING NOON AND NIGHT
Patients dealing with low back pain for over 3 months were studied to see what might bring on a flare up of their pain. Researchers discovered that poor sleep quality and morning pain were risks for such flare-ups. Increased pain risk grew with days of more afternoon and evening pain, fatigue, and fear of activity. Sleep is suggested to reduce the intensity, frequency, and risk of back pain flares. (3) Sleep quality also plays a role in how Vancouver back pain is experienced.
SLEEP QUALITY
A study of sleep quality in older adults in six middle-income countries uncovered that women had more sleep problems. Additionally, age, depression, low back pain, and poor self-rated health were also significantly linked to sleep problems. (4) Sleep, perceived stress, and anxiety contribute to chronic low back pain. Luckily, sleep quality is capable of mediating anxiety, making sleep a practical recommendation in the treatment plan. (5)
CONTACT Vancouver Disc Centers
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Ted Siciliano on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes his use of Cox® Technic Flexion Distraction to deliver relieving treatment for his arm pain and numbness that was preventing him from sleeping.
Schedule your Vancouver chiropractic appointment soon. Let us talk sleep next time you are in for a visit!
