Having a healthy spine and back doesn’t end at the gym or your chiropractor.
It ends once you go to sleep.
Your bed is where your back spends its most immobile amount of time.
If you’re using subpar sleeping equipment, your back is going to pay the price.
Choosing The Right Bed
Sometimes you may awaken feeling stiff or pained in your neck or spine.
There are a variety of simple techniques that you can use to stop this pain from turning into chronic conditions that need the care of a medical provider.
It’s a surprising place to turn for the health of your spine, and therefore is often overlooked. We think of beds as providing the right amount of comfort to sleep well. However, they’re equally important in providing the right amount of skeletal and muscular health inside our bodies.
First check your mattress.
If it’s not supporting you well, you should really get a new one. Figure that you need a new mattress about once in 10 years. There are many styles to choose from, with different levels of firmness.
The only way to really know what you’re buying is to lay on it before your buy. When you’re in the store, take a chunk of time – 10 to 15 minutes – and experience what the mattress you like best does to your body.
These are some of the mattresses you may possibly consider:
- When coils are put inside soft supports, the result is called an innerspring mattress.
- When steel coils are mixed with foam or gel, the result is a hybrid mattress. Both of these mattresses provide more support than a standard spring mattress.
- Waterbeds mold to your body using large channels of water on the inside. They take some getting used to, but you may find them comfortable.
- You can find varying levels of support in a foam or a gel mattress. The same is true for an air mattress that can be set for different levels of strength.
Choosing The Right Pillows
Deciding what’s the right pillow depends on the way you typically sleep.
If you sleep on your back, you’ll need one that’s middle of the road in firmness. If you sleep on your side, you’ll need a hard pillow, which will help support your head from the bottom of your shoulder to your neck.
If you sleep on your chest, your pillow needs to be soft so that it won’t push your neck up too far back.
With all of these options, you’re in a much better position to care for your back and spine while you sleep.
If you have questions, make sure you talk to your chiropractor about what is the right place for your unique body structure.
Then go a to a leading mattress dealer where you’ll be given a wide selection and can find the perfect mattress with knowledgeable sales people.