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We spend more than 1/3rd of our ENTIRE LIVES in bed!!! 

Neck and back problems are often worsened, if not caused, by improper sleeping habits and bad or worn out pillows. Sleep is very important to your body’s repair process. Compromise the quality of sleep, and overall health and mental fitness may suffer as well as daily sleep deprivation issues taking over.

The way you sleep could be causing you unnecessary aches and pains. We are told time after time that we should be sleeping flat on our backs, but many of us have already developed habitual sleeping patterns, which are hard to get out of. However, if you suffer from neck or shoulder stiffness, muscle tension or more commonly back pain, you might want to think twice about curling up into a ball next time you reach for the sheets.

Different alignments and supports of the structures of your spine and limbs will put pressure on different areas of the body, which is why you may sometimes wake up with pain or discomfort.

Your spine plays a huge role in sending nerve signals around the body; delicate nerve tissues help control your critical organs, so any impairment to these tissues can lead to problems affecting impairment in balance, vision, temperature regulation, digestion and hormonal regulation problems.

Follow these sleeping tips and give your back a break:

• Refrain from sleeping on your stomach as this causes your spine to arch unnaturally and usually results in both back and neck stiffness
• Laying on your back or side is the ideal position, however try and change your alignment – you may wish to try an orthopaedic pillow to give your neck adequate support
• If you sleep on your side, consider placing a pillow in-between your knees for support to prevent your back and pelvis from twisting
• If you sleep on your back, consider placing a pillow under your knees to take the tension off your lower back
• Acknowledging and correcting your posture throughout the day will help you find ease when it comes to sleep
• in truth, there is no one solution that suits all. We all come in different weights, shapes and sizes, but have one thing in common; we spend more than a third of our lives in bed, so should choose our beds carefully.

 

When picking a Mattress 

hard or soft mattress?
? The best mattress is a ’supportive one‘. A 16 stone person sleeping on a mattress may not get the same support as a 10 stone person sleeping on the same mattress.

which is the right mattress for me?
? If you are lying on your side, your spine should be parallel to the mattress and your spine should not sag (bed too soft) or bow (bed too hard). The longer you can spend lying on a mattress before you buy it, the more accurate this feeling will be.
? Your pillow should be an extension of this i.e. your neck should be a continuation of the straight spine and not too high or too low.

What about my partner?
? Always shop with your partner as your respective ideal mattress tensions could be very different. If this is the case, buy beds from a range that allow two single mattresses to be zipped together, so that you both get the support you need.

Does my current bed/mattress needs replacing?
? Are you and your partner getting comfortable nights sleep? If the answer is no, your bed may be the problem. You may even wish to get a Split Tension mattress to suit both your needs.

Can you feel the springs through the mattress?
If the answer is yes, it is definitely time to buy a new one.

Is the bed more than 10 years old?
If the answer is yes, consider purchasing a new one – beds wear out and may sag or lose support with timE

What things can I do to help prevent back problems even with my new mattress??

Try and adopt a sleeping position which creates less physical stress on the back.

For example, lying on your side is better than lying on your front with your neck twisted to one side.

No matter how comfy the position may initially feel, the longer you stay in one position, the more this will ‘load joints’. If your partner moves around a lot at night, try separate beds for a while as your partner’s movement could aggravate YOUR back condition!

Drink water.
Keep well hydrated; dehydration can make muscles ache.

Don’t leap out of bed first thing in the morning. After you have woken up wake up, try some gentle stretches.

?Wake up your body.
Once up, avoid bending or doing anything sudden or strenuous until you back wakes up!

 

Pillows

You may find benefit in a pillow shaped to hold your neck in alignment and adequately support your head

support of a pillow should be mostly under your neck. Pillows that can be fluffed and squished to fit your unique contours, shape, and sleeping posture offer the best solution. A pillow should “fit”, just like a pair of shoes.

Natural-fill pillows such as down and feather provide the most comfort, long-term performance, and adjustability of any pillow, and they gently support your head. Unfortunately, most people hang on to a pillow long after its healthy sleeping power.

It is crucial you avoid using little or no pillow as this places your unsupported neck under strain all night long. It is equally unwise to use too many pillows or a pillow that is too firm as this can push your neck up, preventing the neck joints from moving properly, regardless of which position you sleep in.

It is also important to remember that a pillow should be placed between your neck and shoulder, but not underneath your shoulder itself. Taking this into account, a person with broader shoulders will require a larger pillow than someone with narrower shoulders, if they sleep on their side.

 

Sleep Tips to boost your productivity potential ? ?‍? / reduce deprivation  – Sleeping vs sedation 

Try a set routine ? which will eventually grow into a natural rhythm ☀️ 

Natural cycles of sleep are shown to be better than forcing sleep – can improve your days performance (be it gardening, competing and normal daily work). For some individuals, they find benefit in taking regular small mid-day naps. According to the National Sleep Foundation, taking a short nap (20-30 minutes) improves alertness. It also is the best length of time to help you feel refreshed when you get up and not interfere with your nighttime sleep. A nap is critical if you are drowsy when driving!

This is critical in allowing your natural natural body clock (circadian rhythm) to function effectively and best help you in productivity. Naturally our alertness peaks at 11am, and dips a lot between 2-6pm. Having a good sleep cycle can help tune your  body clock to best suit your daily needs.

Sleep Worthy environment

Keep room slightly ventilated – wether that’s from slightly opening the window or you have a built trickle vents around your windows  (temperature should be kept roughly between 16-18 degrees). Others factors to keep in mind include everything from a suitable mattress, pillow, and coverings,  keeping room dark, smell and regular changing of linen.

Consumption habits

Eat light. A piece of fruit or a few whole grain crackers before bedtime can ward off hunger pangs. However, large meals will cause your digestive system to be working into the night and disrupt your ability to sleep. This will affect the way your body digests sugars — there will inevitably be a crash in blood sugar around 2am and this will surge your Adrenaline causing you to possibly awaken and have a racing mind for no apparent reason.

Limit Coffee and Alcohol. Coffee ☕️ – the stimulant – has a quarter life (how long it takes for there to be 1/4 of the coffee we absorbed to be left in our systems later on)  of 12 hours. It has a half life of 6 hours. So if you have a coffee at noon, then you will theoretically still have 1/4 of that cup of coffee in your systems at night! One dose of caffeine in the evening can reduce you ‘deep sleep’ by 15% – it would otherwise take YEARS, to produce this effect on DEEP sleep if coffee was excluded. Remember that.

Alcohol ? we can all be impartial at times when it comes to advice and alcohol consumption. However if you are having sleep troubles and rely on alcohol to help, your not exactly helping the situation. Alcohol is a SEDATIVE, it does not benefit the QUALITY of sleep you get. Sleep is QUALITY > QUANTITY. It reduces REM sleep (responsible for dreaming, all muscles in this part of sleep are atonic).

Cut out Blue / Artificial light. Admit it or not – most of us know this but again crave our phones for notification and the latest news or games. Exposure to blue / artificial light will massively affect our Melatonin levels. If your having difficulty sleeping or suffer with deprivation – try cutting all forms of artificial light (TV/Screens/ Bulb/ LED) and replace with natural light (candle/ sunset) and see if this helps.

Immune system 

A published study stated 7/8 hours of sleeping will give you a percentage risk of 18% to develop a cold or flu. But when you have poor sleep this figure rockets to as much as 50%!

 

Sleep Deprivation 

Can cause you to be:

Hungry all the time (to make up for deprived energy). Body produces more of the hunger hormone – ghrelin and less of the hormone that makes you feel full (leptin). The result is that you crave certain foods (and you can bet they don’t include broccoli and carrots!). Your brain does not receive enough messages to stop eating. This combination can lead to another sign you are sleep deprived: weight gain. In addition, sleep deprivation for four days in a row can reduce the ability of your fat cells to respond to insulin by 30 percent

Affetct decision making – sleep deprivation can cause you to have the same signs as if you were 5% above the alcohol limit when driving. Further causing brain fog, worsened depression, anger, anxiety, confusion, and fatigue. Researchers found that sleep loss caused males to make riskier decisions than when they were well rested, while females did the opposite. You become more impulsive and revert to a primitive way of thinking and handling emotions (ego’s are more easily threatened- or you get into more arguments with spouses).

Memory can decline sharply as well as causing you to be mor susceptible

(You must be falling asleep now after reading all this! ?)

Importantly, remember that an underlying neck/ back issue, can cause poor quality sleep or back problem causing increased muscle tension. So if you are experiencing poor sleep, see a chiropractor to have your neck and back checked.

….After all if you spend 1/3 of your life doing it (or anything for that matter) it must be an important LIFE PROCESS!! Do the best you can to look after it! ?

 

Some of the sources

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/sleep-may-be-best-prevention-cold-flu

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/