Reasons Youre Waking Up With Back Pain
Lower back pain can be difficult to manage whether you have an active job or find yourself sitting at a desk all day, it can be uncomfortable and even debilitating if you cant perform certain actions without trouble. If your lower back pain is bad in the morning but eases throughout the day, it could be your kidneys suffering not your muscles.
Many people are unaware of where their kidneys are. The kidneys sit either side of your spine, just below your ribs. Often, those suffering with kidney pain will put it down to a sore back, when really they should be taking care of their kidneys and making sure they are well hydrated.
Unhappy kidneys can cause a lot of pain. If you dont make sure to stay hydrated then your kidneys will suffer, as their main role is to filter the blood and excrete waste products through urine. Without sufficient water, waste products wont be eliminated as effectively and various healthy issues can arise, such as recurrent urinary tract infections.
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How It Feels Like To Wake Up With A Lower Back Pain
Waking up with lower back pain is obviously not a Good Morning. But do you know what causing you this back or neck pain is nothing but some of your routine habits? Like, how you sleep, what type of pillow you use, whether you do your regular exercise or not etc.
Whatever may be the reason, you just want to put up an end to this, right? So lets know the reasons and how to get rid of this back pain while sleeping.
What Can I Do For Low Back Pain At Home
If your lower back pain has just started, the best thing you can do is start a log. Record your symptoms, times, dates and which activities trigger the pain or make it worse or better. Take this information to your family physician if the pain doesnt resolve on its own. It will make diagnosing the cause much easier.
Once you know which motion or position causes your lower back pain, try to avoid it and see if you get better. Icing the painful spot can also help. And so can over-the-counter pain relievers that help reduce inflammation. Just remember that pain killers treat only the symptom pain and not its cause.
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When To See A Healthcare Provider
Everybody handles pain differently. Still, it’s a good idea to talk to your healthcare provider right away if your pain:
- Began with a specific injury
- Wakes you up at night
- Keeps you from sleeping
- Travels to other parts of the body, like your legs
- Comes with signs of infection such as redness, warmth, swelling, or fever
- Comes with weakness, numbness, or tingling in your lower body
You may want to start by checking with your primary healthcare provider. They will be able to treat or refer you to a specialist if needed.
For example, if your healthcare provider thinks your pain may be caused by an inflammatory condition, you may need to see a rheumatologist. A rheumatologist specializes in arthritis and diseases that involve the bones, muscles, and joints.
You may find it helpful to know how pain is categorized:
- Acute pain is short-term–a few days or weeks. It often happens after an injury or specific event.
- Chronic pain is longer-term. It may last for several months or more. In many cases, it isn’t from an injury.
It’s a good idea to seek immediate medical care if you have low back pain and a personal history of cancer. Your pain may need urgent treatment if you also have unexplained weight loss or sudden bladder control issues.
Why Do I Wake Up With Lower Back Pain
Waking up with low back pain/soreness/stiffness is something that many people must deal with every morning. Why when you go to bed and youre supposed to wake up refreshed and feeling good do so many of us wake up with pain or stiffness or soreness.
Sometimes this pain/stiffness/soreness goes away in a few minutes. It will go away with just a few steps in the morning or a hot shower. Sometimes it will take minutes and hours for the back to loosen up and to feel better. What most people will find is that it is only one more here and there that they feel stiffness/pain/soreness but then it becomes every morning and it takes longer and longer to go away. That is a sign of a problem thats getting much worse.
It important to understand if you are waking up with back pain it is a sign of a problem. Now, if youre traveling or if you fall asleep in a weird position or if you sleep on the couch in a different bed, then it is completely normal to wake up with a stiffer back. That is not really an indication of a problem.
Waking up with low back pain/stiffness/soreness is usually the first place that chronic back pain starts. Most people think that chronic back pain starts with a car accident or some horrible accident. But most back pain that people find wont go away did not start with a trauma, it starts to with back pain in the morning when you wake up that slowly starts showing up every day and takes longer and longer to go away until it doesnt go away.
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Poor Posture While Sleeping
If you find theres nothing wrong with the mattress, scrutinize your sleeping posture. These are the ideal positions for sleeping. Are you adopting these when you sleep?
- Sleeping on your back: Tuck a firm pillow under your knees to maintain the natural curve of your lower back and to support the spine. The natural curve of your neck and the alignment of your shoulders, neck, and head should be supported by the pillow under your head.
- Sleeping on your stomach: Keep the spine better aligned by placing a flat pillow under the stomach and the pelvic area. Use a flat pillow to support your head or do not use one at all.
- Sleep on your sides: Tuck a firm pillow between the knees so that your upper leg doesnt move your spine out of alignment. This way, the stress on the spine is reduced, too. Also, pull your bent knees slightly toward the chest.
If you are already suffering from back pain, fill the gaps between your body and the bed while lying down by inserting small pillows in the gaps. When you turn to a different position in bed, move the entire body as one unit and do not turn or twist from the hips.2
Treating Lower Back Spasms
If your spasms do begin after an injury or an activity that stressed the muscles, try alternating ice and heat on your back. Ice will help reduce inflammation and heat may help improve blood flow.
Medications such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and muscle relaxants may help relieve symptoms while the muscles heal. Research supports that muscle relaxants provide significant pain relief in short-term muscle spasms.
Injections of an anti-inflammatory medication may also help. But there are potential side effects with every medication. Ask your doctor about the risks and benefits of these injections.
Chiropractic care may help, but be sure to see a doctor to have your condition properly diagnosed first. Physical therapy to help strengthen your back and abdominal muscles is often recommended, as long as the muscles are healthy enough for exercise.
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Types Of Lower Back Pain
There are two primary types of lower back pain: acute and chronic.
- Acute lower back pain is short-term, lasting for just a few days up to a few weeks. It is often connected to an identifiable event or injury. When acute back pain fades, there is no ongoing effect on mobility.
- Chronic lower back pain goes on for three months or longer. In many cases, it occurs without a clear link to an initial injury.
Lower back pain that starts as acute may become chronic. It is estimated that around 20% of cases of acute low back pain persist and become chronic.
Lower Back Pain Causes: 8 Reasons For Sudden & Chronic Pain
Sometimes, you know exactly why your back is hurting. Maybe you lifted something awkwardly and felt the pain right away. Or maybe your doctor has been warning you for years that your bad posture would lead to lower back pain.
But other times, the source of back pain can feel like a mystery.
Your lumbar spine, located in your lower back, plays a crucial role in supporting the weight of your upper body. Its also responsible for everyday movements, such as bending, twisting and coordinating the muscles in your hips, pelvis legs and feet, says Dr. Kenneth Palmer, orthopedic surgeon specializing in spine surgery at Houston Methodist. Due to heavy use, the bones, muscles, ligaments, disks and nerves found in your lumbar spine are quite susceptible to both injury and wear and tear over time causing pain in the lower back.
Lower back pain symptoms include:
- Dull ache in your hips and/or pelvis
- Muscle spasms or tightness
- Sharp, tingling pain that starts in your lower back and travels down one leg
- Pain that worsens with sitting and quickly improves while walking
- Pain that is noticeably worse in the morning
Typically, a person experiences some combination of these symptoms, which can develop suddenly or over time. In some cases, lower back pain can feel like it comes and goes flaring up now and then, but generally getting progressively worse over time, explains Dr. Palmer.
Speaking of the various causes of lower back pain
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Symptoms That Require Immediate Attention
Sometimes low back pain can signal a serious underlying medical condition. People who experience any of the following symptoms are advised to seek immediate care.
- Loss of bladder and bowel control
- Recent weight loss not due to lifestyle changes, such as diet and exercise
- Fever and chills
See When Back Pain May Be a Medical Emergency
Additionally, people who experience pain symptoms after a major trauma are advised to see a doctor. If low back pain interferes with daily activities, mobility, sleep, or if there are other troubling symptoms, medical attention should be sought.
Chronic low back pain is usually correlated with other symptoms. Most people with ongoing low back pain and/or leg pain report difficulty with sleeping , depression and anxiety.
Improper Motion In The Spinal Joints
Very similar to the first cause , the spinal joints can undergo areas of tightness hypomobility, and laxity hypermobility. When we move, each of the joints in our spine move a little bit to create a larger global movement. I like to use the analogy of an assembly line- when all of the people on the assembly line are present, everyone is working the same. Everyone is happy and not stressed , and all of the work gets done. If you take away a few people and sit them in chairs to watch, there are less people remaining on the assembly line. The work still needs to get done, but there are less people to do the job at hand. This causes the remaining workers to become stressed and overworked, all while the people in chairs are sedentary and lazy. The spine works in a similar way. When all of the workers are doing their jobs , everyone is happy and healthy. If a few joints stop moving appropriately , then the rest of the joints have to move excessively to compensate for the lazy joints . This phenomena predisposes the joints that move too much to premature degeneration due to over working, while the joints that dont move enough are at risk for degeneration too! Since the spine and joints receive nutrients from movement, the hypomobile joints dont get the appropriate nutrition and will eventually start to break down as well.
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Reasons Why You Might Be Waking Up With Lower Back Pain
Waking up in the morning with pain in your lower back doesnt set you up well for the day ahead. You might assume that your mattress is to blame, or you simply slept funny thanks to your partners elbow in your side. But did you know that lower back pain when you wake up might actually be down to your kidneys?
Louise Baillie
What Do You Do About Trigger Points And Fibromyalgia
Those are both big, separate topics, but there are many resources on PainScience.com where you can get started. Self-massage and heating are by far the best ways to start working on muscle knots. Fibromyalgia is much more complicated, but the basics are sleep improvements, lots of light but thorough exercise, and learning about sensitization and the weirdness of pain.
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Lower Back Pain: What Could It Be
Do you have lower back pain? You are not alone. Anyone can experience lower back pain at any time, even if you dont have a prior injury or any of the risk factors. It is not always serious and can often get better on its own. But in some cases pain is your bodys way of telling you that something isnt right.
Learn more about lower back pain and what causes it from rehabilitation physician Akhil Chhatre, M.D., who specializes in back pain in the Johns Hopkins Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
I Didnt Need Exercise Before And I Dont Now
The problems with your symptoms are not obvious until long after some injury has occurred to you. There is a good chance that earlier warning signs such as sudden spasm, stiffness, soreness, tightness and aches are sometimes seen as unrelated or to be treated simply with rest or medication.
But when you are not able to care for yourself because of these warning signs, they may progress into the morning. Sudden and gradual changes to your level of activity or lifestyle do have an impact on any changes to the overall health of your back.
Dont regard exercise as something new to add to your recovery. Rather, it should be seen as what your body naturally requires to maintain optimal health and protection of your spine. The type of exercises for your relief that are beneficial are actually composed of movements and stretches to improve your mobility and eliminate weaknesses.
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Poor Quality Sleep And Insomnia Are Probably Major Causes Of Morning Back Pain
Dont get me wrong: some people sleep just fine and still have morning back pain. But poor quality sleep and pain tend definitely to go together,15 and mornings can be the roughest part of that link.
The more interesting question is the chicken/egg thing: which comes first? Pain or sleeplessness? Once you have both insomnia and pain, they surely cause each other, but one side of that equation is probably more important than the other, like a cyclist pushing much harder on one pedal than the other.
In 2017, Gerhart et al studied the which-came-first question of pain and insomnia in 105 chronic low back pain patients.16 Their subjects bravely filled out five detailed questionnaires per day for two weeks thats quite a lot of paperwork tracking and rating many aspects of their pain and sleep quality. The goal was to study lagged temporal associations: what tends to happen after what? Are bad sleeps often followed by bad days with back pain? Are rough days with back pain followed by lousy sleeps?
Yes and no to those two questions.
Poorer sleep was strongly linked to everything being worse which is about as surprising as a dog barking at a squirrel. Its the timing of that relationship that this study zoomed in on, and not only did a bad night clearly herald trouble across the board the next day more pain, more disability, more doom and gloom but especially during the early part of the day.
Exercise May Worsen It
Incorrectly performed exercise or exercises that are not designed specifically to target and treat your lower back increase your chances of you hurting again. Following a specific program of exercise is important. It should be performed at a careful and controlled pace. One that you can control yourself.
Since you are the best judge at monitoring your own level of comfort, it is recommended that you follow a plan which accommodates for this.
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Causes Of Lower Back Spasms
Back spasms can be the result of injuries to the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in the back, or they can be related to more serious medical conditions. Heavy lifting is a common cause of back spasms.
In addition to heavy lifting, any activity that puts excessive strain on the muscles and ligaments in the lower back can cause an injury. Sports such as football and golf can lead to back spasms because they demand that the back turn suddenly and repeatedly.
Your back muscles may be more vulnerable if you have weak abdominal muscles, which help support the back. Weak or stiff muscles in the back itself can be injured more easily than muscles that are stronger and more limber.
Back spasms may occur if you have arthritis or a ruptured disc in your spine. Arthritis in the lower back can put pressure on the spinal cord, which may cause pain in the back and the legs. A ruptured or bulging disc in the vertebrae may also pressure a nerve and result in back pain.
