Lower back pain can make it very difficult to sleep soundly. You may find yourself tossing and turning throughout the night, wondering if you’ll ever be able to get a peaceful night’s sleep until your back is healed completely.
A herniated disc or bulging disc in the lower back is one of the more common back problems. This can be caused by falling onto your back, pulling your back muscle, or twisting at the wrong angle while lifting. This kind of injury can take a long time to heal, especially if you already have a bad back or if you’re middle-aged or older. The back injury can be a setback for you, making it difficult to sleep, and it can become an obstacle as do you do even the most mundane of tasks throughout the day.
You need your sleep in order to heal, and most of your body’s healing occurs while you are in deep sleep. If you’re constantly tossing and turning because of an uncomfortable sleeping position due to the bulging disc in your back, then you’re not going to heal like you should. It’s going to take you a long time to heal, and that’s why we want to discuss the best sleeping position for bulging disc in lower back so that you can heal faster.
Finding the right sleep position will partially depend on exactly where the injury is and how severe it is. It may help to take some pain-relieving medication before you go to bed or to use an ice pack to reduce swelling before sleeping. If the pain is severe, you can talk to your doctor about a treatment that can help. Back pain that is severe can make it difficult to sleep no matter what position you’re in, and you’ll want to get it treated in order to have a good night sleep.
Fetal Position
The preferred way for most people to sleep when they have a herniated disc or bulging disc in their lower back is in the fetal position on their side. This takes the pressure off the back and ensures that the injured part of the back doesn’t come into contact with the bed.
For many people, sleeping on their side is the most comfortable way to sleep. It relieves pressure on the spine and can help to straighten your spine, depending on your posture. So, that can help them to wake up with a stronger back that’s not strained, and they will be less likely to injure their back again throughout the day.
The fetal position helps to open up space between the vertebrae, relieving pressure there and allowing the injured disc to heal properly. With more space, there’s less chance that the injured part of your back will rub against something else and become painful during the night.
The fetal position is also a good way to prevent yourself from having to move and change positions throughout the night. That’s because it encourages easy breathing as opposed to some other positions. It’s a natural position for you to be in, and of course it’s the same position you were in when you were in your mother’s womb. Your body will naturally want to go to this position and feel comfortable in it.
For best results, place a hand under your pillow under your head to prop up your head and straighten your neck and spinal cord. You should also curl up your knees in front of you. This helps your back to have a natural curve and is a very comfortable position for most people who have suffered from a lower back injury.
On Your Stomach
A good way to take pressure off your back is to sleep on your stomach instead of your back. This way, your spinal cord and back, and specifically your injury, won’t come into contact with the bed. The force of gravity will not be pulling down on your injury and making the inflammation and pain any worse than it already is.
The problem with lying on your stomach is that it can make it difficult for you to breathe. Some people have trouble lying on their stomach for very long because of how it stifles their breathing. If you want to alleviate this problem, just place a pillow under your stomach. This helps lift you off the bed a little bit and may make it easier for you to breathe as you sleep. That way, you’re less likely to need to turn over during the night and change positions, which could potentially affect your injury and wake you up more fully.
We’re recommending sleeping positions to you that will be comfortable for you and that you won’t feel like you need to change while you’re sleeping. You should be able to sleep in one of these positions all the way through the night so that you feel rested and so that your body has time to heal your injury.
Sleeping on your stomach is an excellent way to relieve pressure on your back discs, encouraging healing and helping with back problems.
Recline on Your Back
You may feel most comfortable sleeping on your back. So, what do you do when you have a back injury? You obviously don’t want to put a lot of pressure on that injured part of the back, and you want it to be able to heal and not disturb you with pain throughout the night.
You can do all of that by using a reclined back position. This would mean putting your pillow up against the headboard at an angle so that you’re leaning up against it rather than lying directly on it.
By propping yourself up using the pillows, most of the pressure of gravity on your body will come down on your buttocks. Your lower back should be free and should not need to come into contact with the bed.
You may want to bend your knees slightly as you sleep like this, as that can also help to relieve a little pressure from your back.
Lying on Your Back with Knees Bent
Some people can’t handle the reclined sleeping position, as they feel they need to be flat on the bed in order to sleep properly. If that is the case with you, then you can lay flat on your back but bend your knees somewhat. The more you bend your knees, the more pressure you’ll take off with lower back. Your injury may still come in contact with the bed in this position, but the weight on your lower back will be minimal.
This is a great position for people who feel they need to be on their back in order to sleep. Depending on where your back injury is, it may be uncomfortable to lay on your side. Lying on your back can actually be the most comfortable position, as long as you bend your knees somewhat.
Closing Thoughts
It’s really important that you find a comfortable position to sleep in when you are suffering from a back injury. You want your back to heal quickly and you want to be able to sleep without feeling a lot of pain during the night. Try one of these positions, and if it doesn’t work for you, you can go down the list until you find one that does.
You may find that with the new sleeping position, there are other difficulties that you will be facing, some people who are sleeping on their back men who are not used to doing so may end up sleeping with their mouth open as a reflex. They may get more dehydrated during the night and might want to keep the room cooler or keep some water by their bedside.
You may have to add another pillow to your bed to help prop up your head or prop up your stomach as you try these different positions. If you sleep with a fan in your bedroom, you may need to change the position of the fan to accommodate your new sleeping position.
You should be able to find a position that works well for you and that helps you to sleep soundly, even if you have to use a little pain relieving medication to assist you.
