Toronto Back Pain Benefits from Good Sleep
The exercise topic of the month is…sleep?! Odd? Not at all! Sleep is just as important as exercise for pain management as well as back pain management. Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre helps many Toronto pain sufferers manage their spine, neck, and back pain with chiropractic spinal manipulation, nutrition advice, and exercise direction. Sleep – good sleep – is added to that list for a good purpose!
CONTROLLING BACK PAIN
Since low back pain many times is a condition for life that is intermittent, a condition that is managed rather than cured, it is a positive thing that researchers are looking into just how a back pain sufferer can control the Toronto back pain and how often it ‘rears its head.' Question any back pain sufferer and you will know that warding off a pain episode is a goal. But how? Researchers are looking at sleep, fatigue, emotion, and more to find out. Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre shares the term “flare” as it relates to a back pain episode.
BACK PAIN FLARE
A Toronto low back pain flare is one that incorporates intensified pain, paresthesia, or muscle tension, increased duration of symptoms, reduced functional (social, cognitive, physical), and negative emotions. Researchers found that back pain sufferers don’t describe their back pain to be a flare just because of increased pain, so healthcare professionals need to look past the pain to visualize what else is going on around the pain event, what psychosocial factors are at play. (1,2) The mind-body connection cannot always be ignored! Nor can the time of day that pain is experienced.
PAIN: MORNING NOON AND NIGHT
Patients dealing with low back pain for more than 3 months were studied to see what might bring on a new episode of their pain. Researchers discovered that poor sleep quality and morning pain were risks for such flare-ups. Increased pain risk rose with days of more afternoon and evening pain, fatigue, and fear of activity. Sleep is suggested to reduce the intensity, frequency, and risk of back pain flares. (3) Sleep quality also plays a role in how Toronto back pain is experienced.
SLEEP QUALITY
An analysis of sleep quality in older adults in six middle-income countries found that women experienced more sleep problems. Further, age, depression, low back pain, and poor self-rated health were also significantly linked to sleep problems. (4) Sleep, perceived stress, and anxiety contribute to chronic low back pain. Luckily, sleep quality is able to mediate anxiety, making sleep a reasonable recommendation in the treatment plan. (5)
CONTACT Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Ted Siciliano on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he discusses his use of Cox® Technic Flexion Distraction to ease arm pain and numbness that was keeping him from getting sleep.
Schedule your Toronto chiropractic appointment soon. Let’s talk sleep next time you are in for a visit!
