# Lower back problems **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 25, 2000, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lower-back-problems/42626 "2000-11-25T05:47:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lower-back-problems/42626/1 "2000-11-25T05:47:02Z")
Too mundane for GQ and cross posted on Fathom: 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? ---
**Author:** ![malkavia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malkavia/32/5621_2.png) [@malkavia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malkavia)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lower-back-problems/42626/2 "2000-11-25T05:55:04Z")
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. _shrug_ Just an idea. ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lower-back-problems/42626/3 "2000-11-25T06:07:56Z")
Thanks malk, 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. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lower-back-problems/42626/4 "2000-11-25T16:45:44Z")
Ah, how about [http://www.legpillow.com](http://www.legpillow.com) ? 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. ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lower-back-problems/42626/5 "2000-11-25T16:53:47Z")
handy, 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. ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lower-back-problems/42626/6 "2000-11-25T16:59:40Z")
handy, 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. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lower-back-problems/42626/7 "2000-11-25T19:01:58Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lower-back-problems/42626/8 "2000-11-25T19:12:46Z")
casdave, Actually I read every night to fall asleep. This helps take my mind off the daily grind. The latest is “The Valley of Horses”. ---
**Author:** ![blastfurnace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5e9695/32.png) [@blastfurnace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blastfurnace)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2000, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lower-back-problems/42626/9 "2000-11-26T11:45:16Z")
Hey techchick! 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. Just a suggestion. ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2000, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lower-back-problems/42626/10 "2000-11-26T19:08:58Z")
blast, 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. ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2000, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lower-back-problems/42626/11 "2000-11-27T03:14:29Z")
Try stretching your back muscles in the morning and at night before you go to bed. It helps relieve stiffness.