How Should You sleep with a Pinched Nerve in Your Back?
As working mums our daily routine can involve activities that stress our spine, such as static sitting in long meetings or constant work travels or just carrying your baby or toddler or driving to and from classes with the kids. All this takes a toll on our neck and back if we are not mindful of our posture during these everyday tasks. To add to it all we are sometimes so exhausted at the end of the day that a good sleeping posture is probably the last thing on our mind. 

If you have woken up to pain and/or numbness in the back and legs, maybe even going up to your toes you may have slept in a poor posture and a pinched nerve could be the reason for this discomfort. In this blog we will discuss how to sleep if you suffer from or want to avoid nerve pain in your back.

If you have back pain and it goes down into your pelvis, your hip or your leg, right up to the toes it is possible that you suffer from nerve pain. This could be caused by a nerve that has been irritated or compressed in your back.  Watch this video for more details:


Now lets discuss three tips that you can implement today into your sleeping posture, to avoid this back and nerve pain

The first tip is to not sleep on your stomach. Tummy sleeping will exaggerate the curve in your lower back. This can create a lot of stress on your lumbar spine as you maintain this position for the 6, 7 or 8 hours that you sleep. Tummy sleeping can also be the cause of neck and arm nerve pains. You can find the details in the blog HERE
 
The second tip is for those who sleep on their back. In this position the muscles in the curve of the lumbar spine do not touch the bed and are left unsupported. It is a good idea to bend your knees when lying on the back to flatten the lumbar spine and thus support these muscles of the lumbar spine. You can either put some pillows or a bolster under your knees. Be mindful that this is a position that puts your hamstrings in a shortened position, so it is vital to stretch the hamstringif you adopt this sleeping posture. 

The third tip is for you if you sleep on your side. There are two variations here. If you sleep with your knees stacked on top of each other keep a pillow between your legs. If you sleep with the top leg crossing over the rest of the body, then use a pillow between the bed and the top leg. To measure the height of the pillow lie on your back so that your knees are facing the roof and put a pillow between your legs such that the thigh bones are parallel to each other. Using a pillow between your legs when side sleeping puts your pelvis in a neutral position, thus keeping your lower back muscles relaxed. 
 
HERE is a free guide on "How can you maintain a Good Posture While Sleeping". It gives you the details of sleeping posture in side lying, back sleeping, 3 postures to avoid when sleeping and how to change to a better sleeping posture and much more. 

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