Low back pain (LBP) can arise from a lot of causes, most commonly from bending, lifting, pulling, pushing, and twisting. However, there are other possible causes, including sleep. This doesn’t include sleeping in a crooked position, such as on a couch, in a chair, or riding in a car. How much sleep do you need to feel restored and avoid low back pain?

Lack of sleep disasters and diseases

Lack of sleep can lead to serious diseases including heart disease, heart attack, heart failure, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, stroke, and diabetes. Sleepiness can also result in a disaster. In 1979, a nuclear accident at Three Mile Island occurred as well as the oil spill from the Exxon Valdez. In 1986, a nuclear disaster at Chernobyl occurred from sleepiness. With sleep deprivation, our reaction time can slow down, and driving safety becomes a major issue. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that fatigue causes more than 100,000 crashes per year. About 1,500 annual crash-related deaths occur in the United States alone. This problem is greatest in people under 25 years old. Job-related injuries are also reportedly more frequently, especially repeat injuries, in workers complaining of daytime sleepiness. Sleep plays a crucial role in thinking and learning.

Sleep deprivation

Lack of sleep impairs concentration, attention, alertness, reasoning, and general cognitive function. In essence, it makes it more difficult to learn efficiently. Getting into a deep sleep cycle plays a critical role in “consolidating memories” in the brain. If you don’t get about 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep, it’s more difficult to remember what you’ve learned. An interesting study (U. of Pennsylvania) reported that people who slept less than 5 hours/night for 7 nights felt stressed, angry, sad, and mentally exhausted. As shown in another study of 10,000 people, the lack of sleep increases the chances of developing clinical depression by 5-fold. Other clinical studies have published many other negative effects of sleep deprivation, some of which include aging of the skin, forgetfulness, weight gain, and more.

Low back pain with sleep

Regarding low back pain, what comes first? Does LBP cause sleep interference or does sleep deprivation cause the LBP (or both)? It’s been shown that sleep loss can lower your pain threshold and pain tolerance, making any existing pain feel worse, so it works both ways. Specific to LBP, in a 28-year, 902 metal industry worker study, sleep disturbances (insomnia and/or nightmares) predicted a 2.1-fold increase in back pain hospitalizations with one and a 2.4-fold increase with both sleep disturbance causes (insomnia and nightmares). Other studies have shown patients with chronic LBP had less restful sleep and more “alpha EEG” sleep than controls. Similar sleep pattern differences using EEG (electroencephalogram – measures brain waves) have been shown when comparing chronic LBP patients with vs. without depression compared to controls (non-LBP, non-depressed subjects).

Conclusion

So the BOTTOM LINE is: talk to your chiropractor about how chiropractic helps reduce LBP, stress, and facilitates sleep. There are also nutritional benefits from Melatonin, valarian root, and others that he or she can discuss. When looking for a chiropractor near you, consider us here in North Texas to receive your care.