For about a month or two now I have been dealing with serious lower back problems.
At first I thought is was mainly directed at the fact I actually use a regular office chair now. I moved my computer up from my living room where I had my and keyboard on the coffee table and I had several pillows I would sit and lean back on (leaned back into the couch.)
Well, this morning it hit me. I woke up and the way I sleep at night has changed. I used to sleep in a fetal like position, knee on knee on my side. Lately I have been sleeping with the bottom leg stretched out and the top leg still in the semi curled up state but then it’s down on the bed surface. For a visual my legs make a P kinda sorta.
Anyhow what this does is twist the lower part of my spine in an unnatural position. My hips twist to the side while I am sleeping.
It’s creating problems as such that when I get up from my computer chair for any length of time I am somewhat stooped over like an old lady. In addition to that, standing for very long is extremelly difficult.
Anyone have any ideas as to how I can get myself to sleep like I used to? My sleep is a pretty deep sleep but I was wondering if there are any clear cut ways to get one’s self to change that?
I wonder if you used a body pillow if it would keep your knee from dropping and keep your hips from contorting.
Or maybe you just need a pillow between your knees. From your pictures, you seem like a thin woman and I wonder if its not just that your knees arent comfortable resting on one another, so maybe just a small pillow would keep you comfortable enough to keep from moving.
I have tried the body pillow thing in the past for a similar sleep issue and it’s just too big. I have tried the pillow between the knees but somehow through the night I end up tossing it to the side.
I am a very heavy sleeper and slept in a waterbed for many many years. When I was a child I slept on a very soft bed, one made out of horse hair that was on an antique bed I still have. That mattress is long gone but having slept on that and a water bed for so many years I am used to a softer sleeping surface.
I have had this regular bed for several years now and I can’t figure out why this is happening so suddenly. If I do wake up in the morning and am able to fall back to sleep I make sure to adjust my position.
I think your bed is way too soft. Usually I sleep with no pillow on the head when that happens as it seems the body has it’s own way of correcting things. If it gets really extreme, then I may take a nap on a wood floor.
Actually, the bed isn’t soft enough for me. Someone else mentioned that over at Fathom.
Since I have hips and shoulders my waist has no support and curves my spine towards the bed furthering the problem. I have tried placing a towel lightly rolled up to put underneath the waist but it didn’t work. When I had a waterbed I did not have these types of back problems (no baffles in the bed either.) Also, my arm falls asleep and I get those pressure points on my hips.
If I could afford it I would get one of the air mattresses where you can adjust the support level and they conform more to your body but right now that’s out of the cards.
BTW, thanks for the link…I am looking at the full Contour Sleep thing…that may be the resolve to my problem. I just wish I could afford it at this time. With Christmas coming up and the fact I haven’t had a lot of hours at my job, money is very tight right now…I have placed the link in my Favorites for when I am able to fork over the cash.
But any suggestions to tide me through until I am able to afford something like that would be appreciated.
I had lots of similar problems but put much of it down to riding 4-500 miles a week on my bicycle.
Turned out that I was wrong, I was twisting my upper body one way and my hips and lower body the other.
Eventually and after much tiredness I managed to force myself to sleep in the recovery position.
I only managed it by waiting until I was absolutely dog tired, forcing myself to stay awake so that when I hit the sheets I feel asleep almost immediately in the desired position.
Maybe you are the sort of person that goes to bed with lots of things on your mind and as a result you don’t fall asleep right away but instead struggle to go under and when you wake up you don’t feel like you had a nights rest.
While you lie in bed in a state of semi-consciousness you tend to twist about,that’s what I was like anyway.
Can you think of any reason this position change started happening? I mean, if you have been sleeping in the same position for years, why do you think your body suddenly changed?
May I tell you a story?.. I work in the “Technical Support” industry, and am chair bound for 12 hours a night. Why, yes, it IS fun!! But, if I go home and crash immediately, my back makes me pay a price…a price of PAIN. So, I stretch before I goto sleep. Sitting down all day in combination with stress (and we know your stressed out ::backrub: will kill your back. So you might consider stretching out that lower back so when you do sleep, your all loose. This killed any back pain, and it is a really pleasent way to relax mentally and physically.
I am on my computer everyday pretty much from the time I get up to the time I go to bed. There is the occasional jaunt to the real world but for a year and a half I sat on the floor in my living room. That is the only major change except the fact that I went back to my crappy eating habits and gained back some weight. Can’t be more than five pounds.
I did sleep in my flannel pants Friday night and that seemed to help. Don’t laugh but I can’t stand the skin of one leg touching the other so I usually shove the sheet between them. During the summer I don’t get much of a choice as I move around a lot because of the heat.
Last night I crashed on my little foam chair and my lower back actually feels pretty darn good.
will kill your back. So you might consider stretching out that lower back so when you do sleep, your all loose. This killed any back pain, and it is a really pleasent way to relax mentally and physically.