Waking up with back pain is not uncommon, although it is rarely caused by anything serious.
There are many causes of back pain that can be treated by yourself if you take some measures on your own.
Sometimes, simple things like changing your sleeping patterns can even help treat the cause of pain.
Causes of Morning Stiffness/ Back Pain
A few basic reasons for morning stiffness and pain are:
- Awkward sleeping position
- Being overweight or physically inactive
- Degenerative changes to the spine due to aging
- Inflammatory back pain
- Fibromyalgia or myofascial pain syndrome
- Osteomalacia/ Vitamin D Deficiency
1) Sleeping Position
The main culprit and the most obvious reason of your morning back pain is most likely an improper sleep position.
Poor position during sleep can put a pressure on your spine, causing it to flatten. This can cause a strain in the back and put pressure on the joints of the back.
The most likely position to cause trouble is sleeping on your stomach.
In a lot of cases, a poor quality mattress or pillow may also play an important role in messing with the natural curve of our spine, which may happen especially to side sleepers, as sleeping on the side places additional pressure on our spine which now rests in an unnatural position.
Morning stiffness and lower back pain may occur when we wake up as a result of lower back muscles being strained due to a bad sleeping positions.
2) Being Over-Weight or Physically Inactive
Having extra weight doesn’t only result in back pain in the morning, it can cause a lot of other health problems including pain in the rest of the joints, especially the knees and ankles, as well as pain in legs and the back during the rest of the day.
If you top that with a sedentary lifestyle and lack of physical exercise, the pain is bound to get worse.
3) Degenerative Changes in the Spine
Degenerative disc disease occurs naturally as we age. This means that the spinal discs between vertebrae (bones of the spine) begin to wear out as the normal process of aging occurs.
This can result in pain and discomfort which might get worse in the mornings as the pressure inside the disc is higher at that time.
4) Inflammatory Back Pain (IBP)
Inflammatory back pain or spondyloarthritis can also be a cause of back pain in the morning. It results in severe pain, but will also have a number of other symptoms. There will be signs of inflammation in other parts of the body, especially tendons (which attach muscles to the bones).
5) Fibromyalgia
This neurological dysfunction causes widespread musculoskeletal pain. Professionals believe that fibromyalgia increases sensitivity and decreases the pain threshold. These patients tend to sleep less and as a result are fatigued, which triggers more pain.
6) Osteomalacia or Vitamin D Deficiency
Vitamin-D deficiency is very common these days. It causes decreased density or softening of bones which results in a condition called Osteomalacia. Symptoms of this condition include bone and muscle aches throughout the body, fatigue, weakness, more soreness after physical activity and back pain in the morning.
Treatment Options
You can use some home remedies like pain medication (pain relievers) or applying ice or warmth to the area of the pain. Warmth helps relax the muscles, while ice helps in numbing and reducing pain.
Do not apply both of these together. And if you want to try both, use them at different times of the day.
Physical therapy may also help reduce the incidence of morning back pain in some people.
If your back pain persists and is severe, you may want to talk to your doctor for medical advice.
Alternatively, you may want to consider using a spinal decompression device to treat and prevent morning back pain.
