How Can You Alleviate Morning Stiffness and Achieve Restorative Sleep Without Back Pain?

Often, feeling stiff and a little achy when you wake up or during the day is related to periods of inactivity, perhaps while sleeping or parked in front of a computer. To counteract this, plan frequent movement breaks and try stretches focusing on stiff or achy areas. Learn more about morning stiffness and ways to fix it.

But just because back pain is getting in the way of your slumber doesn’t mean you need to take it lying down. Dr. Griffin offers up five things to know that could help you get a more restorative night’s sleep, free from low back pain:

There is no one sleep position that works for everyone.

There are a variety of ways to ease lower back pain discomfort and reduce disability, often without drugs. Spinal problems are the price we pay for walking upright. Wear and tear on our backbones and the constant pull of gravity on our vertebrae take their toll over time. Discover when to get help for low back pain.

The ideal sleep position: On your back. The best position to avoid back pain is lying flat on your back. Even so, many people find it the hardest way to enjoy deep sleep. For optimal spine alignment, place one pillow underneath your head or neck and another underneath your knees. Learn about the best and worst sleep positions for back pain.

Are you experiencing lower back pain? Learn about the potential causes, different types, diagnostic tests, and the most effective treatment options.

Inflammatory arthritis, including ankylosing spondylitis and related conditions – In these disorders, there is pain in the lower back, together with morning stiffness in the back, hips, or both. Back pain in these conditions tends to improve with exercise. Discover more about back pain and its related conditions.