Still in the same posture😭
What’s wrong with that sleep position?
I don’t know. When my back hurts, that’s how I lie down to make it feel better.
Usually people with back pain have back pain due to muscle spasms/tightness/knots which are the back trying to protect itself from a percieved threat. The solition is to make the back stronger so it can handle more load, and train the mind to not percieve regular stressors as threats.
Hence, poor posture is not the cause of back pain, but an effect of the same source - lack of strength in the back musculature.
A heavy backpack should train you over time to be stronger to handle the load, so it is actually good for you.
And your sleeping posture exerts almost no load or pressure on the back at all, and should literally be irrelivant.
Actual solutions to back pain:
- As another poster commented, get some magnesium. Magnesium is an electrolyte that allows your muscles to relax, and a magnesium deficiency can cause chronic muscle tightness and knots - which may manifest as back pain. Magnesium supplements are an option, or you could try just eating some spinach.
- After decades of research, the science is clear - almost all chronic back pain is psychosomatic, or at least, can be resolved via psychosomatic therapies. Get a copy of the book The Way Out, and use the techniques described. It is available for free from the usual sources.
- Get stronger. If you have significant, debilitating back pain, you should start under the supervision of a physio. However, if you just have occasional annoying tweaks, then you can start by just looking up some exercises online, going to a yoga class, starting lifting (with reasonable weights), or simply going for a daily walk. The stronger you get, the more resistant you will be to back pain in the future, all other things being equal.
Chronic back pain is sometimes skeletal in nature. Yoga may make it worse.
You should always consult with a doctor before following unsolicited advice from a random Internet stranger.
The way out : a revolutionary, scientifically proven approach to healing chronic pain
LPT: if you’re going to recommend a book, don’t recommend one that right off the bat (3rd sentence actually) starts bragging about being contacted by a tv show produced by con man “dr.” phil mcgraw LOL
i might keep reading just for the laugh factor, but from this point on i’m considering it most likely woowoobullshit
There’s actually an interesting medical-history backstory to it.
The Way Out is basically a cribbed version of Dr. John Sarno’s Healing Back Pain, written in the early 90s IIRC. John Sarno was a bonafide practicing MD, but at the time he was writing, the basic notion of a mind body connection was still highly controversial. I.e., the premise that psychological stress could manifest in physical ways (like tight shoulders) wasn’t taken as a given.
Anyway, Sarno was well ahead of the curve, and while he had some good epidemiological and histological arguments, he was labeled a quack by the mainstream establishment. He had a chip on his shoulder over this, and as a result, his book has a notable new-age/anti-establishment/counterculture bend to it. Didn’t help that he overstated his case in some egregious ways (like speculatively tying TMS-related ischemia to neoplasm), even if most of it was well-argued and backed by solid clinical assertions.
Despite criticism from the old-school, the book was a marketing success, and in the ~35 years since publishing, the medical establishment has pulled a major about-face, and a big majority of PTs/orthos/related specialists now endorse the core ideas of his work.
Because Sarno actually cared about publicizing his ideas to a mass audience, the best option he had was the traditional PR route on talk shows like Oprah/Dr. Phil. NEEDLESS TO SAY: Oprah and Dr. Phil are not reliable sources of medical information, and have platformed absolute cranks, but this is a case where the a broken clock happened to be right and give an audience to someone wrongly spurned for being ahead of their time.
Same trend has carried down to the present day, but in a nutshell, that’s the reason why that book has that particular endorsement, even though it probably shouldn’t.
interesting, thanks for the write up. i’ve been interested in how mental processes affect the body either directly or not, specifically with meditation, mindfulness, breathwork, etc
I read it. It immediately fixed all sorts of chronic pain I had. I literally don’t give a shit about anything else, and if you have chronic pain, neither should you. You can find the book for free on the internet, and the solutions listed cost zero dollars. There is no reason not to do this, Dr Phil or no.
relax, i’ll read it lol
I’m not a doctor but just with a quick search I could find many studies and medical articles recommending to not sleep on your stomach because it strains your lower back.
Romanian deadlifts fixed my back problems. Sedentary people have weak hamstrings and glutes and tend to bend at the lower back instead of hinging at the hips. Romanian deadlifts will strengthen these muscles and teach you better body mechanics.
Magnesium glycinate helps with those issues and also helps me sleep better, i take it 2-3 times a week and haven’t had back issues since.
sleeping on anything other than the stomach is literally impossible and everyone who says otherwise is lying
Used to be big on sleeping on my back but recently I can only fall asleep when in my back
A heavy back pack can be good for your posture if it is worn correctly. Hence why people in the military tend to have good posture. Too many people wear their back pack too low so its just hanging on their shoulders or they fling it over a single shoulder.
Wait are you not supposed to sleep that way?
