While your spine naturally curves, it curves in places it shouldn't if you suffer from scoliosis. When the spine rotates, twists or curves due to scoliosis, you may experience outward symptoms like one hip or shoulder being higher than the other. Typically diagnosed during adolescence, scoliosis results from a congenital disorder, nerve condition or from an unknown cause. If you have been diagnosed with scoliosis, finding the right sleeping position can help to relieve pain. Improper sleeping position or poor posture do not cause scoliosis, according to the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital. While scoliosis may make sleeping uncomfortable due to the abnormal curvature of the spine, the way you sleep will not worsen your condition. However, adopting a better sleeping position may help relieve some of the pain related to your scoliosis. A curve in the upper back or thoracic spine is one of the most common scoliosis types, according to the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital. This scoliosis type tends to curve to the right.
To relieve pressure on this area, you may wish to sleep on your back with a towel or thin pillow tucked underneath your shoulder blades in addition to a standard pillow under your head to take pressure off your back. If you sleep on your side, use a body pillow tucked between your legs to open up the spinal canal. Take a rolled-up towel or small pillow under your upper ribcage to correct your abnormal spinal curvature. Avoid sleeping on your stomach, as this position can temporarily distort your back and neck, causing pain in the morning. Another common area where scoliosis occurs is the lower spine, known as the lumbar region. For a scoliosis curve of this type, try different positions with a rolled-up towel directly underneath or just above your lower back. You may also wish to place a small pillow underneath your neck in addition to your usual pillow under your head. Try placing the pillows in different positions before leaving the pillows under your body overnight. Check with your physician before adding pillows or devices to manipulate your spine while sleeping.
Because some scoliosis forms can impinge on the spinal cord nerves, ensure you will not decrease blood and spinal fluid flow through your sleeping position. If your back curve or related symptoms are severe, a physical therapist may be able to provide specific recommendations related to sleep position and your unique back curvature. Gain 2 pounds per week Gain 1.5 pounds per week Gain 1 pound per week Gain 0.5 pound per week Maintain my current weight Lose 0.5 pound per week Lose 1 pound per week Lose 1.5 pounds per week Lose 2 pounds per week Exercises to Avoid With Scoliosis Mild Lumbar Scoliosis Symptoms The Best Back Exercises for Scoliosis What Are the Treatments for Lumbar Scoliosis? Can You Reverse Scoliosis with Exercise? Swimming as Exercise for Scoliosis How to Correct Scoliosis Posture How Effective Is Massage Therapy to Treat Scoliosis? How Does Scoliosis Affect the Body? What Are the Effects of Scoliosis?
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The patients didn't know which mattress type they received. This study, published in the upcoming issue of the Lancet, is among the first to test the popular belief -- at least among some orthopaedic doctors -- that the firmer a mattress is, the better it is at preventing or relieving lower back pain. While there's little hard scientific data to support that firm mattresses are better -- only a handful of studies have been conducted -- the Spanish researchers say that about three in four orthopaedic doctors recommend firm mattresses to their patients. In fact, a survey of Atlanta-area orthopaedic surgeons indicates that two in three said they recommend a firm mattress to their patients, and most believed that a mattress' firmness had a definite role in managing back pain. This finding, by Emory University orthopaedist Howard I. Levy, MD, was presented at the 1996 annual meeting of the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons. But chiropractors have long argued that firm mattresses are not the best choice, says George McClelland, DC, spokesman for the American Chiropractic Association.
"Traditionally, what we have recommended is that a moderately-firm works best, or when using a firm mattress, you should add a 1½- to 2-inch thick padding on top of it," he tells WebMD. "It's wonderful to be validated by some form of research." McClelland says that this extra padding -- or using a medium-firm mattress without the extra padding -- better adapts to the natural curvatures in the spine. This padding is available at most stores that sell mattresses or bedding supplies. "The spine is not a straight line, and padding or a moderately firm mattress 'gives' better to the concavities and convexities of the spine," he says. "A younger spine may tolerate a firm mattress perfectly well. But as we get middle years any beyond, when back pain is more prevalent, we find that more equalized support seems to be better." The researchers, led by Francisco Kovacs, PhD, who operates an independent medical research company in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, say that a medium-firm mattress leads to better "pressure distribution" when lying in bed, resulting in less pain while lying or after getting up.
But McClelland and others say you also shouldn't use a soft mattress, because it doesn't provide enough support. "From my own perspective, if a mattress is soft or too hard, it's not comfortable," says orthopaedic surgeon Dana C. Mears, MD, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. "Something in the middle works best for me -- a medium-firm mattress. If a mattress is too firm, you might as well be sleeping on the floor." When buying a mattress, McClelland advises against relying on store ratings as an accurate guideline. "These numbers are all over the place," he says. "Individual companies use different rating systems, so you don't really know what you're getting." In fact, in the U.S., firm mattresses typically have a higher rating number; in Europe, a lower number goes to firmer mattresses. His advice: "When testing for a mattress, don't push on it or bounce up and down, as many people do. What's better is to lie on it for 10 minutes or so -- on your back, on your side, every way.