Why is my back so stiff in the mornings?
We go to sleep at night and even after what felt like an amazing night sleep we wake up and feel stiff and rigid and our back hurts. What causes this and should we be worried?
During the day our spine is loaded and stressed. Even without doing anything but standing. Why? Gravity, gotta love it right. All day long gravity is applying pressure and load to our spine compressing the spinal disks. (Spinal disks are gel like substance intelligently placed between each vertebra to supply cushion and strength to the surrounding bones.)
When we lay down at night and remove gravity’s load our spinal disks re-hydrate and actually swell or become larger taking up more space.
When we wake up in the mornings we have decreased ROM (range of motion) because of the hydrated disks and therein feel more stiff.
This is true of a healthy spine if you feel as if you have an injury or suffer from chronic pain please see a medical professional.
This is not bad thing and it why after some gentle twists or side bends your back starts to feel better and increases throughout the day.
Our posture and sleep setup play a huge roll in this and if you would like to discuss how to improve you spine health click here
We lose hydration in the disks as we age but this does not mean there are not therapeutic practices we can use to help our spine stay healthy into our later years. For more information on how to rehydrate your spinal disks click here
