Back pain stands as the 5th most common reason for hospital visits and it’s the third most common cause for surgery. In fact, more people visit the doctor for back pain symptoms each year than for the common cold. And a common public misconception is that back pain is the result of a serious health issue like arthritis or a bone fracture. The truth is that: “Our own bodies are worse off most simply because of the many differences between the wilderness in which we evolved and the modern world in which we live,” wrote Rob Dunn of the Smithsonian Magazine. Our hominid ancestors stood upright because standing on our hind legs was a survival advantage. Then we could see longer distances, and simultaneously free our hands for other tasks (multitasking, although now mostly just texting.) The famous evolution depiction above everyone has seen before shows how our back evolved from an arched bridge to the current S shape. Admiringly prettier, the evolution of the human body did provide us with a new survival edge, but our back was never meant to support the extensive amount of weight we pile on.
Humans are the only mammals that carry things in front of them, which is why our backs fail. In 2013, anthropologists met at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting to defend and argue about some aspects of human evolution. “We’ve known for a long time, since Darwin’s time, that humans have evolved, and that humans are not perfect, because evolution doesn’t produce perfection,” said Jeremy DeSilva, anthropologist at Boston University. We humans have a lot of aches and pains that our close mammal relatives don’t deal with. “Owners of a Homo erectus skeleton from around 1.5 million years ago and the Lucy skeleton, more than 3 million years old, both appear to have had back problems,” said Bruce Latimer of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Humans are the only mammals that have scoliosis, a spinal condition consisting of an abnormal curvature. Over our now extended lifetime, the daily activities we punish our bodies with have a drastic effect on our back.
“Even walking, with the process of moving our arms and legs to carry an upright back, results in a constant twisting and torquing of the spine, Latimer said. No other animal has to deal with a mechanical system in this way.” Walking, running, and sitting at the office—a 20th century invention, only adds extra wear and tear to our fragile spinal discs. So, problems like herniated disks develop. So when you think about all the tasks you put your body through daily, back pain can surface from a myriad of contributing factors. Factors like medication side effects, irregular sleep patterns, caffeine, alcohol, tobacco use, sleep apnea, anxiety, stress, poor posture, lack of exercise and stretching, poor eating habits, unsupportive shoes, and of course, a poor mattress. But in order to protect your back, good posture is important while sleeping. When your mattress stops working for you, it begins reinforcing poor sleeping posture. A poor mattress affects your daily life: 56% of people who reported lower-back pain said it stopped their normal routines like sleep and sex.
When you sleep on poor quality mattress for years, you can develop insomnia, overall aches, pains, and back pain. Since you spend 1/3 of your natural life spent sleeping, it’s important. A good, supportive mattress will relieve back pain by adjusting to your natural spinal alignment, relieving the curves of your spine at the neck, mid and lower back, so as to form a line (like below). Looking at the natural position of your spine: from your back side, your neck should curve forward towards (or through) the throat. Your mid back curves out (or backwards), and your low back (or lumbar spine) curves forward to the stomach. Your back muscles and ligaments work hard to protect your back during the day. And these very important muscles and ligaments need to relax and heal themselves while you sleep. When you continue to sleep on a poor quality mattress, your lower back is under continuous stress (during the day and at night), not to mention added stress on your neck and mid back.
And for mattress owners who have been sleeping on the same mattress for over 10, 15 years, that is probably making their back worse (since the lower quality mattresses should be changed every eight to ten years) Sleeping on an air bed can trap air between your body and the mattress, which can cause back pain. For decades, Doctor’s recommended a “very firm” mattress for patients with back pain. But a recent study overturned that long-held belief. The study, “Sleep Quality in Patients with Chronic Nonspecific Low Back Pain” found that out of 300 patients with bad backs, two to one saw improvement with the the medium-firm mattress compared to a firm mattress. The research now shows that you don’t need a rock hard mattress to relieve back pain. The study helps people that are currently mattress shopping. It will help the customer trust their instinct, and not feel so cornered with one model of mattress. Instead of going to a store and picking the firmest mattress available, they can choose a brand like the Saatva Luxury Firm which is the medium-firm, “not too hard, not too soft” crowd-pleaser mattress.
Check out our guide for help on picking the right mattress to reduce back pain.Achy and sore joints are the hallmarks of osteoarthritis. And one of the most frustrating aspects of the joint pain related to arthritis is when it occurs in the morning. Often, the pain can make it hard just to get out of bed.On the positive side, morning joint pain related to osteoarthritis doesn’t last long. “The good news is that the amount of morning stiffness with osteoarthritis is less than 5 to 10 minutes as a rule,” says Nathan Wei, MD, clinical director of the Arthritis and Osteoporosis Center of Maryland. And, he adds, the more you move around, the more quickly you'll loosen up.Of course, just moving around is easier said than done if you have osteoarthritis. Here are simple strategies that can make your mornings with arthritic joint pain more manageable:1. Do more the night before. One easy way to simplify your morning routine is to do the heavy lifting before you go to sleep — like packing your briefcase, laying out clothes, setting the coffeemaker, and setting the table for breakfast.“
I recommend that all of my patients ready things the night before. I do that myself,” says Robin K. Dore, MD, a rheumatologist and clinical professor of medicine at UCLA. “That way, if they are too stiff in the morning or need to sleep in a little if they had a bad night, there is very little that needs to be done before they can start their activities of daily living.”2. Try supportive sleep accessories. Lumbar and cervical pillows are the two main supportive devices our experts recommend to banish morning joint pain.“Sleep aids can definitely be helpful by cushioning tender areas and supporting areas that are painful to move if unsupported,” says Dr. Dore. “Be certain to try different cervical pillows before purchasing one, as individual preferences vary.”3. Perfect your posture. You can avoid a lot of arthritic joint pain in the morning by simply sleeping in the correct position. “The best sleeping posture for an arthritic spine will vary based on the unique aspects of the individual,” says Kirt Kimball, MD, an orthopedic surgeon in Orem and Provo, Utah.
“As a rule, lying on your side with cervical and slight lumbar support allows one to flex or extend as needed to find that ‘best’ position.”4. Stretch away the pain. Stretching away arthritic joint pain before you even get out of bed can minimize the pain you experience once you get on your feet. “When doing stretches, it is important to gradually apply stretch rather than bounce against the end point of a particular muscle group,” says Dr. Kimball.“As you attempt to stretch each muscle group, whether it be back, hip, thigh, knee, ankle region, or upper extremity regions, first consider the normal range of motion of that joint. Try to isolate the affected joint such that you are only working one joint at a time, and then take it to the extreme, gradually, and then gently push against that extreme to slowly improve the range of motion. All stretches should be done decisively yet gently and avoiding impact or bounce.”5. Take your time. With osteoarthritis, it’s often best to work your way up to getting out of bed rather than bounding out of bed immediately in the morning.“
Roll to your side; sit up in bed using your arms for support; put your feet on the ground; gently apply force to your feet as you push up on the edge of the bed with your hands,” says Kimball.6. Try a hot shower. “A hot shower is a pleasant way to apply heat energy to your body all at once,” Kimball says. “It can be focused on sore muscles, such as directing the flow of water to a particularly sore muscle group. It can reduce spasm and thus reduce pain by not only the therapeutic effect of heat but also the massage effect of the water pressure.”7. Make your mornings easy. When it comes to osteoarthritis-related joint pain in the morning, good posture applies not only to sleeping but also to getting up and moving around.“The human body was designed for upright functioning,” says Kimball. Working or standing in an upright posture with shoulders back and belly in is the right structural base to move from. “You can’t use your arms well unless they are attached to a stable foundation, including the shoulder and spine,” Kimball explains.
“This applies to the lower extremities as well. We weren’t designed to function at our best bent over or stooped over.”8. Try a new mattress. In some cases, a new mattress can improve your morning joint pain, but make sure to test carefully before you buy.RELATED: 7 Factors That Raise a Man's Risk for Osteoporosis“I advise my patients to get a firm but not an extra-firm mattress,” says Dore. “Some patients prefer a pillow-top to place on top of their mattress." She adds that some patients also like the flexibility of a mattress with memory foam, like the Tempur-Pedic brand, but others find these uncomfortably warm.9. Adjust your medication schedule. If your morning pain is severe, your doctor may advise you to take your arthritis medication at the end of the day.“While most patients take their arthritis medicines in the morning with breakfast, some people might find that taking it in the evening — with food, of course — can lessen the amount of stiffness they have in the morning,” says Dr. Wei.If morning pain gets in the way of starting your day, do as much as you can the night before — your mornings will be less frantic