One third of my life is spent in bed. During the day, my lumbar spine is subject to various pressures. At night, it is a good time to give my waist a good rest. But many people find that the longer they sleep, the more painful their lower backs are. Why is this? It may be a problem with the mattress! Today, let’s take a look at the things about mattresses and lumbar spine! Many people have heard of a “common sense”: if the waist is not good, sleep on a hard bed. Outpatients often encounter patients who say that their waist is not good, so they take off the mattress and sleep directly on the floor or wooden bed at home.
The three deadly sins of “hard bed”
1. Lack of support for the waist
Sleeping on a bed that is too rigid, such as a wooden bed or a bare bed, cannot be maintained by the human body The normal “S”-shaped physiological curve of the spine, lack of support for the waist, will cause strain and aggravate back pain and other discomfort in the long run.
2. The psoas cannot be relaxed
A too hard bed will keep the spine stiff , tension, need back muscles to support. Therefore, even during sleep, the psoas muscles are still not relaxed.
3. The waist is prone to hanging
The bare bed will reduce the area to support the body, so that the support force cannot be evenly distributed, especially for thin people, the waist may hang in the air.
The support of the mattress to the human body can be decomposed into 5 parts when people sleep, head support, shoulder and back support, lumbar support, hip support and leg support. The most suitable weight distribution is 10%, 30%, 10%, 35% and 15%, which also maintains the physiological curve of the human body.
However, if the mattress is too soft, it will increase the stress on the lumbar support of the human body when lying flat and on the side, and disperse the stress on the shoulders and hips; It increases the stress on the shoulder and back support and the buttocks support, which causes discomfort in these two parts. At the same time, due to the insufficient support of the waist, the physiological lordosis of the lumbar spine will be reduced when the human body is lying flat, and the lumbar spine will be curved laterally when lying on the side. Therefore, mattresses that are too soft and too hard are not good for the lumbar spine, and mattresses with moderate hardness are more suitable.
So the meaning of a hard bed is not to let people sleep on a board, but to sleep on a bed with moderate hardness. When talking about a hard bed, it is mainly compared to the previous spring bed, the kind of sitting down on the buttocks. will sink in.
A bed that is too soft has a more complete and intimate contact with the skin, and a stronger sense of security for sleep. But when the bed is too soft, no matter which position you take, the middle of the body will sag, the torso will form an arc, increase the physiological curvature of the lumbar spine, and cause low back pain.
Especially in patients with lumbar disc herniation, prolonged sleep on a soft bed will make the symptoms worse. In addition, sleeping on a soft bed will compress the internal organs of the chest and abdomen, affecting the quality of sleep.
Sleeping on a bed with a certain hardness can eliminate the pressure on the intervertebral disc caused by weight-bearing and weight, which is beneficial to the relief of low back pain symptoms. Standard rest.
How do I know if the bed is right for me?
Different genders and different ages have different mattress firmness.
[Gender] The curve of women is more obvious than that of men, so they should choose a relatively soft mattress, while men can choose a relatively firm mattress. [Weight] Thin people should choose a softer mattress, while fat people should choose a relatively firm mattress, and the pressure can be evenly distributed on the mattress.
[Age] Different age groups have different requirements for mattresses. Don’t think that a mattress can sleep for a lifetime.
Infants and young children should choose a moderately soft mattress, while children and adolescents should not sleep on a mattress that is too soft, so as not to affect their growth and development. Elderly people with loose ligaments, especially those with osteoporosis, are advised to choose a slightly firmer mattress.
Sleeping on a hard bed can actually be divided into two contents: “sleeping” and “hard bed”. The main function of “sleep” is to reduce the force on the lumbar spine, and the meaning of “hard bed” is to relieve the tension of the human waist muscles, maintain the original balance of the ligaments, and restore the elasticity of the waist muscles.
❶ What kind of hard bed is good for health?
Whether it is low back pain or lumbar disc herniation, sleeping on a hard bed has certain benefits, but you need to pay attention to the choice of “hardness”.
When purchasing a hard bed, the mattress may wish to follow the principle of 3:1, “a mattress with a thickness of three centimeters, one centimeter depression by hand”, and so on.
Experts suggest that there are two standards for a hard bed: first, when lying on the back, the human body can maintain the normal physiological lordosis of the lumbar spine; second, when lying on the side, the lumbar spine will not have scoliosis. Meet these two standards, in order to sleep comfortably and healthily.
❷ What sleeping position is best for health?
In order to get a more comfortable position during sleep, people always have to turn over constantly, about 20-45 times a night. Ordinary people do not need to pay too much attention to the sleeping position, but for patients with low back pain, there are special position requirements. Specifically:
When lying on the back, a soft pillow can be placed under the lower limbs, the hips and knees can be slightly bent, the muscles of the whole body can be relaxed, the pressure of the intervertebral disc can be reduced, the tendency of kyphosis of the intervertebral disc can be reduced, and the iliac The tension of the psoas muscle and sciatic nerve is the best position for patients with lumbar disc herniation.
When lying on the side, the spine is arched, the muscles are relaxed, and the pressure on the spine is relatively reduced. When sleeping on your side, place a pillow between your legs for extra comfort.
Source: Rehabilitation Xiao Nanning
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