Can Chiropractic Care Help You Sleep Better?

Many people suffering from lower back pain also have associated poor sleep. When their back is giving them pain many find it difficult to get a good night's sleep. This certainly can be disruptive to their quality of life. This article will discuss how a back complaint can affect sleep and other aspects of life. It will note recent research regarding back complaints and poor sleep. And, it will offer an alternative solution to help with this healthcare dilemma.

A scientific research study published on Spine Universe, 2019 found of 757 patients with lower back pain 27% also had sleep disorders, most commonly insomnia. It was found, in many cases, that these patients were in a vicious cycle. Because their back hurt, they got less sleep. And, because they got less sleep their back pain increased. Subsequently, they took more medication to gain relief of their pain and they were found to be taking medications to help sleep.

We all know that there are side effects from taking medications. These can lead to further problems. For instance, many times patients are given steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for their back complaint. But a side effect of oral steroids is the patient being hyperactive and agitated with difficult ability to get normal sleep.

Another pharmaceutical that patients may be given our opioids such as OxyContin and Percocet. Besides being highly addictive these medications lead to poor sleep. They especially affect the portion of sleep when people dream. When we sleep there are certain periods when we dream called rapid eye movement sleep (REM sleep). This REM sleep is necessary as it is very restorative and necessary for our brain. Without adequate REM sleep people feel sluggish, tired and have difficult cognitive functions like making decisions and remembering facts. It is certainly deleterious to a patient's health for them to be on an opioid medication or anything but a short length of time.

Fortunately, for people suffering from lower back complaints, there is a natural, alternative solution to help them with their discomfort and to help them return to normal sleep patterns. Chiropractic care is the answer, in the majority of cases, for this predicament.

Doctors of Chiropractic are trained to find the specific cause of patients back problems. Most of the time, the source of the complaint is a misalignment or improper movement of the bones of the lower spine and pelvis. Chiropractors are trained to find this problem and, with chiropractic adjustments (sometimes called spinal manipulation) to help patients get relief from their back pain. Of course, once the back pain is relieved and eliminated problems with sleep also diminished and improved.