What Can You Do About Sleep Disorders Due To Back Pain?

Posted by Dr. Richard E. Busch III

November 8, 2009

Have you been up most of the night because of your back pain? Are you desperate for a decent night of sleep? Back pain can cause you to have insomnia. Many patients I have were suffering from this problem. Many patients I personally have treated used to try everything and had bought many products, in the hope they could be comfortable enough to sleep. They were actually praying to be able to sleep, but they could not because their sleep was interrupted because of their back. Some told me they felt like “Goldilocks” because they slept in all the beds in their house. Patients have also told me they had been sleeping on their couches or in their recliners for years, instead of sleeping in their beds. Sadly, they had not been able sleep with their spouses, for years, because of their back pain.

It is not unusual for people to sleep on the floor or put a board under mattress. They will buy body-pillows to prop up their legs or place between their knees. They try all types of pillows: memory pillows, contour pillows or even expensive down pillows. It could drive a spouse crazy because back pain sufferers often lay awake at night channel-surfing and ordering products from infomercials. They might buy sleeping aids, inversion tables, Ginsu knives, diet programs, and exercise programs, just to list a few. And it is understandable, as they are really ordering the promise of the hope to get better. It is a never-ending cycle with back pain and not sleeping. Many try heating pads, electric blankets, and soothing music.

Many people have tried heating pads, electric blankets, playing soothing music, and leaving the television on - which can drive a spouse insane. They want to have some company while they are awake suffering. This is when back pain sufferers are tempted to order products from the late-night infomercials: diet programs, sleep aids, exercise equipment, inversion tables, vitamins and maybe even Ginsu knives. Anything that will promise a better life might be ordered. It is a viscous cycle that just does not seem to end because their pain is only the symptom of what could be a serious, underlying back problem.

If you are suffering with back pain to point you are not able sleep, then you should see a doctor. Sleep loss and back pain affect your whole life, and you need to find out the cause. It is normal to be given pain pills, anti-inflammatory medications, and muscle relaxants when you first go to see a doctor for back pain. In the beginning, many doctors do not want to take too much time examining you, and they may give you a diagnosis of “nonspecific” back pain.

If you have suffered through long and agonizing, sleepless nights due your back pain, you know just how miserable this can be. If back pain is affecting your life and keeping you awake at night, you should see a doctor and find out what exactly is causing your pain. If you see your medical doctor, he or she will most likely prescribe pain medications and muscle relaxants. If your pain continues and you return to a medial doctor, then you most likely will be sent out for physical therapy. Then if your pain continues, you will be directed to finally have X-rays or an MRI to look into an actual diagnosis, or cause, of your pain.

If your pain continues, surgery may be recommended. After surgery, some patients are very disappointed because they still have pain and some of the previous symptoms. I call this process a “medical pipeline”.

If there is post-surgery pain, they may have to go under the care of a pain specialist. Some surgeries are successful and the symptoms are gone, others might last for two to five years or less, and some are not successful - failed surgery syndrome - at all.

Want to find out more about sleep disorders and back pain#1, then visit Dr. Richard E. Busch III’s site on why you have back pain keyword #2 and what you can do.

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