Baton Rouge Back Pain Benefits from Good Sleep
The exercise topic of the month is…sleep?! Odd? Not at all! Sleep is just as vital as exercise for pain management including management for back pain. Medical Spine and Sports Injury and Rehab Centers helps many Baton Rouge pain sufferers manage their spine, neck, and back pain with chiropractic spinal manipulation, nutrition advice, and exercise direction. Sleep – adequate sleep – is included in that list for a good reason!
CONTROLLING BACK PAIN
Since low back pain many times is a condition for life that comes and goes, a condition that is managed rather than cured, it is a good thing that researchers are looking into just how a back pain sufferer can control the Baton Rouge back pain and the frequency that it ‘rears its head.' Ask any back pain sufferer and you will know that keeping the pain away is a goal. But how? Researchers are looking at sleep, fatigue, emotion, and more to find out. Medical Spine and Sports Injury and Rehab Centers introduces the term “flare” as it relates to a back pain episode.
BACK PAIN FLARE
A Baton Rouge low back pain flare is one that consists of heightened 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 consider their back pain to be a flare just because of heightened pain, so healthcare professionals need to look past the pain to visualize what else is influencing the pain episode, what psychosocial factors are involved. (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 precipitate a flare up of their pain. Researchers found 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) The quality of sleep also plays a role in how Baton Rouge back pain is experienced.
SLEEP QUALITY
A study of sleep quality in older adults in six middle-income countries uncovered that women had more sleep problems. Additionally, age, depression, low back pain, and poor self-rated health were also significantly associated with sleep problems. (4) Sleep, perceived stress, and anxiety contribute to chronic low back pain. Fortunately, sleep quality is able to mediate anxiety, making sleep a reasonable recommendation in the treatment plan. (5)
CONTACT Medical Spine and Sports Injury and Rehab Centers
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 sleeping.
Set up your Baton Rouge chiropractic appointment soon. Let us talk sleep next time you are in for a visit!
