Having difficulty sleeping after back surgery or spinal surgery, like lumbar spine surgery, discectomy, disc replacement, laminectomy, or spinal fusion is completely normal. Your body has been through trauma as a result of surgery. Additionally, you may be dealing with pain, a sore incision, and simply not being able to get comfortable in order to sleep. However, getting enough sleep, particular uninterrupted continuous sleep, can help your body heal faster, getting you back to your normal routine faster. That said, here are a few tips, as given by medical experts, to help with your sleeping after back surgery.Sleeping Position After Back SurgeryAccording to John Hopkins Medicine Orthopaedic Surgery Division, to reduce your pain after spine surgery, the best sleeping position is either on your side — or believe it or not — on your back. Either position decreases the pressure on your low back and spinal discs. You should avoid sleeping on your stomach after back surgery.Sleeping on your side – If you choose to sleep on your side after back surgery, it’s best if your knees are bent and you tuck a pillow between your legs.
Your legs, with knees bent, should rest right on top of each other with one leg ever so slightly forward. You should avoid allowing your knee to rest on the bed. Similarly, you should avoid sleeping with your arms under either your head or neck. Utilize a pillow behind your body when sleeping on your side. This pillow tucked under your hips and back will prevent you from rolling onto your back while in a deep sleep. – If you choose to sleep on your back after back surgery, it’s important to keep your knees and hips bent and tuck a pillow (or even a rolled up blanket) under your knees. While it might feel comfortable sleeping with your arms over your head, don’t do this reports John Hopkins, as this puts undue stress on your neck and shoulder. Depending on the location of your incision (particularly if at midline) however, you may find it painful initially to sleep on your back.Other Practical Sleeping Tips After Back SurgeryLimit daytime naps. While you may be fatigued, tired, and sleepy, it’s best not to nap too much during the day.
If you do, you may not be able to sleep at night, and end up getting your days and nights mixed up in terms of normal sleeping patterns.Consider elevating your upper back, shoulder, and head slightly. If you have an adjustable bed, this can easily be achieved. Or simply use pillows for desired elevation.Use a medium firm pillow under your knees when sleeping on your back.Sleep on a firm mattress, or medium-firm, but avoid sleeping on a too soft mattress after back surgery. Latex mattresses are great, as they can be customized for comfort.Avoid sleeping on your stomach. When you sleep on your stomach, there is increased pressure on the bones in your back and increased pressure on the disk spaces, so you should avoiding sleeping face down after surgery on your back.Tighten your stomach when turning in bed or getting out of bed, recommends Ashland Community Hospital’s Spinal Surgery division.Use a log roll technique to keep your spine straight when getting out of bed. It’s best if you have assistance getting out of and into bed for the first few days after back surgery.
While the discomfort of back/spine surgery can leave you unable to sleep through the night initially, by implementing the above practical tips for sleeping after back surgery, you should be able to improve your quantity and quality of sleep in the days and weeks after back surgery.If you found this article useful and shareable, please copy and paste the following into the html code of your website or blog:Share!54 What’s the best mattress for my back? 164 N. Broadway Green Bay, WI 54303See how it all works here. if you use the links below to buy a Casper. In April 2016, Casper sued me in federal court over my reviews and I am fighting that lawsuit. The review below, like all my reviews, reflects my honest opinion. 2017 Update – After over 2 years of mattress testing and sleeping on over 100 different mattresses, a lot has changed since I first tested the Casper mattress. These changes include Casper re-designing its mattress twice. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to test all three Casper mattress design iterations.
If you’re interested in the specific changes, click here to see Casper’s design timeline. Below is my updated review, including updated pictures, updated video (coming soon), and updated analysis. Casper launched in 2014 and has quickly become one of the most popular mattresses on the internet. It’s hard to browse the web, drive your car, watch TV, or listen to the radio without hearing or seeing Casper ads. But does Casper really live up to all the popularity and hype? Continue reading below to find out! Thinking about buying a Casper? Check out these four mattress companies that Sleepopolis loves.Click here to jump to the Casper review summary. The Casper is an all-foam mattress utilizing four different layers of foam. This mattress is designed to create a responsive, but contouring feel for sleepers by combining a response poly foam with memory foam. The biggest detractor to memory foam is its tendency to “sleep hot.” The memory foam absorbs heat and creates a core of support and pressure relief for the mattress.
By putting the memory foam below a top layer of poly foam, you get the better cooling and responsive benefits of poly foam while maintaining the great support and body contouring that you get from memory foam. One note about the foam densities listed above. These densities were previously published on Casper’s website. However, they have since been removed from where they originally were and I have not been able to find a new reference to them elsewhere. FAQ: How to choose a mattress? The cover of the Casper mattress is simple and has become somewhat of the standard design for many online mattress companies. There is a single piece of white fabric on top that runs from edge to edge. The top piece of the cover is stretchy and quite thin and has a soft texture. The materials used within the cover are from Belgium (border fabric) and the United States. Most covers are assembled in the United States, with some covers being assembled in Mexico. The cover is fairly porous, which helps improve the cooling and breathability of the mattress at large.
From a functionality standpoint, the cover meets its basic requirements. The thinness of the cover also allows sleepers to more directly feel the foam layers. The top portion of the cover (the white piece) is 100% polyester, side panels are 51% polyester and 49% polypropylene, and the bottom is 100% polyester. The Casper mattress has a medium feel. Casper is a “universal comfort” or one-size-fits-all mattress design. The foam layers and materials were selected because they create a feel that’s designed to be suited to the needs of most sleepers. I would rate the Casper at a 6 out of 10 on the firmness scale. However, the Casper can feel unsupportive for heavier sleepers. Casper states there is no weight limit on its website; however, in August 2016 I chatted with Casper’s chat support, who told me the following: “The Casper was designed to hold a combined 450 pounds [for couples]. For optimal performance, we recommend that individuals be 250 pounds and below.
If you are over this weight, you may find that the Casper is not firm or supportive enough for you.” With only 3″ of true comfort layers (1.5″ response poly foam + 1.5″ memory foam), heavier sleepers can easily sink through these layers, forcing the transitional poly foam and base foam to engage more with sleepers. Based on my sleep test, Casper’s chat support, and feedback from my readers over the last 2 years, I feel that heavier sleepers should avoid the Casper. The top layers of the Casper are fairly soft, allowing for about 3″ of sinkage (see below for specific sinkage measurements), but beneath these soft layers is a noted “support wall” that sleepers quickly hit. The addition of the transition poly foam in May 2016 helps to ease the transition, but it’s still more sudden than I would like. Depending on your sleeping position and preference, that type of support may be well suited to you; however, many heavier sleepers and side sleepers especially may find the support too abrupt, creating pressure points.
The hug and contour of the Casper is fairly standard. Having response poly foam on top eliminates a certain degree of the sharpness in the contour that you would get with a 100% memory foam mattress. The contour reminds me a bit of a trampoline. There is a generalized compression around your entire body where pressure is applied, creating a type of bowl sinkage effect. During my sleep test, I never felt particularly hot or uncomfortable on the Casper. If you have average cooling needs, the Casper should do a fine job of keeping you cool. I experienced lots of smell with my Casper the first few days, with strong odors present especially while lying down on the mattress. However, by the end of a week most of the smell had dissipated. Overall, the Casper mattress has average support in all sleeping positions. The one exception to this would be edge support. In comparing Casper to the universe of competing similar online foam mattresses, the Casper is among those with the worst edge support.
You’ll experience ~5″ of sinkage when sitting directly on the edge. Additionally, sleeping close to the edge can be difficult. If you sleep on or use the edge of your mattress for your daily routine, watching TV, sex, etc., be prepared for lots of sinkage. The following section outlines the major Casper mattress design iterations. Over the past couple of years, Casper has had at least three major design iterations. I have been fortunate enough to have tested all three different design versions. The three different designs looked like this: For all Sleepopolis mattress reviews, I like to do five different sinkage tests. These tests are designed to show you how the mattress performs in varying positions and to give you an idea of the sinkage/hug you’ll experience with the mattress. Bear in mind that I weigh 140 pounds. Your sinkage results will vary based on your weight and body type. When I first tested the Casper mattress in 2014, I was fairly impressed.
I upgraded to the Casper after sleeping on a low-end spring mattress that was about 8 years old. The Casper was a massive upgrade over that mattress and by most standards is still a very good overall mattress. That said, over the course of the last 2 years I’ve tested virtually every online mattress (about 100 different mattresses), including all of Casper’s primary competitors. My conclusion at the end of these sleep tests is that, while the Casper is a pretty good mattress, there are many other mattresses that offer better quality and better performance for the same amount of money. COMPARISONS: See how Casper compares vs. others The biggest issue with Casper is it only has 3″ of true comfort foams (1.5″ responsive poly foam + 1.5″ memory foam). The 2016 addition of the 1.5″ of transition poly foam did help to improve support, but it’s not enough, in my opinion. This transition poly foam that was added in the 2nd Casper design iteration feels more like a base foam than a comfort foam.
All things considered, the mattress still has a similar feel and continues to suffer from the same basic support, comfort, and edge support issues. Final Summary – The Casper is an above average 9.5″ foam mattress, but it’s not above average enough. There are simply too many other mattresses available that I find offer better support, comfort, and feel for about the same price (some even less). For these reasons I recommend other mattresses ahead of the Casper, including Leesa, Loom & Leaf (which is a little pricier, but gives you some nice extras), Helix, and Brooklyn Bedding. All offer improved performance at a better value compared to the Casper. Page last updated March 3, 2017, by Derek Hales. Casper is an above average mattress that offers a medium firmness and good support for average weight sleepers. The response poly foam + memory foam combination creates a balance of contour, but could deliver better performance with a thicker comfort layer.