Impact of the Wrong Sleeping Position on the Back
Half turned on the side: rotation and tension occur in the neck and back
On the stomach: very stressful for the neck and somewhat stressful for the back.
On the back: somewhat stressful for the back. If the head turns to the side: stressful for the neck.
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The best sleeping position: on the side with a Body pillow The neck, back, and shoulders are in a neutral position and can optimally recover from the strain of the day (more info: best sleeping position - fewer complaints). |
Chronic Lower Back Complaints
1. Chronic Lower Back Complaints Due to Disc Damage
The Disc
The disc consists of a core with a kind of liquid ‘gel’ inside. Around it are about twenty layers (lamellae) that together form a strong ring-shaped band, the annulus.
The liquid substance in the core of the disc remains fairly well in place in a healthy disc: namely in the core. However, due to improper use of the back, lamellae can start to leak. The core content can then enter the annulus. Sometimes fibers tear, which accelerates the leakage. Sometimes not.Top view / cross-section:
Leakage in annulus tear / Leakage is extensive between lamellae
When moving the back, only the disc deforms, not the vertebrae. Without that deformation, no movement of the back is possible. If liquid material from the core has entered between the lamellae, the disc can deform less easily. The back then becomes stiff and movement can become painful.
People with chronic back complaints who have been sitting or standing in a bent position for too long sometimes find it difficult to stand upright again: it is difficult for the disc to deform properly because the leaked liquid from the core ‘gets in the way’.
How these kinds of leakages occur and how they can lead to hernia and lumbago is clearly explained in four videos. The ipel test is also explained and how you can use it to push leakages back toward the core. And back pain can improve!
The sleeping position often influences the development or persistence of chronic back complaints (more info: back complaints and sleeping).
2. Other Causes of Chronic Lower Back Complaints
Vertebral Joints
Besides a damaged disc as a cause of chronic back complaints, the joints in the spine can also cause chronic complaints.
The location of a joint between two vertebrae.
For joint complaints, the sleeping position is also important. Whatever the condition, if joints lie in a relaxed neutral position, tensions are minimal and fewer complaints arise than if that is not the case. For more info: back complaints and sleeping.
Muscles
Muscles can also cause chronic back complaints, such as in fibromyalgia. Local pea-sized hardenings in muscles – trigger points – can also be responsible.
Trigger point in a muscle
These kinds of muscle conditions are often treatable by therapists.
Pelvic Joints
Problems in the pelvic joints can also lead to lower back complaints. The ligaments of these joints are a notorious source of complaints.
Friction between the legs can cause tension in the pelvic joints, which can cause or worsen complaints.
Chronic Upper Back Complaints
The area between the shoulder blades can cause pain behind the shoulder blade and sometimes also a ‘strange feeling’ in the arm and a painful sensation in the chest. Usually, the joints between the ribs and the spine are the cause. This is often not recognized. If it concerns the left side, it sometimes resembles a (impending) heart attack.
These kinds of complaints from often stuck rib-vertebra connections can be the result of sitting postures where the shoulders are pushed forward for a long time (slouching in a corner of the couch) as well as from a wrong sleeping position where the shoulders hang forward for a long time.
©2025, Author: Jan Willem Elkhuizen, physiotherapist and movement scientist