Spinal health is critical to general physical wellbeing. Like a mast on a ship, the spinal column directs and controls movement. Its stability is vital, and its maintenance is a constant task that needs to be consciously addressed each day. One need not scan medical journals for studies and statistics on the back, the importance of a high-performing spine is known, the task now is to ensure its health. Many individuals do not have the time or energy to be working on their spine during the course of the day, this is just as well, your best chance at improving spine and back health is to learn to sleep the spine-healthy way.
Well known advice from best spine surgeon in Chennai suggests that humans should give themselves six to eight hours of sleep per night. There is a school of thought that says that one may catch up on their slumber at a later time and make up for sleep deficits incurred during a night of sleeplessness. To be clear: be it from work or play, slumber lost is not slumber that can be "made-up."
Though it is possible to account for small deficits by sleeping more on successive nights, there is not a zero-point, or equilibrium that you will return to if you lose rest one night; if you give yourself four hours of rest on one night, sleeping 12 hours the next night will not restore your sleep health. You will feel more normal and more rested, but not because you have satisfied your slumber credits or improved spinal health. That being said, it is admittedly very difficult to stay on a perfect schedule for your whole life, it is, perhaps, even undesirably inflexible to do so. The key then, is to make the most of your slumber through spine-strengthening, smart sleeping.
There are three ways to do this:
1. Stretch before going to bed:
To prevent tossing and turning, stretch your lower back and your hamstrings (which are, by way of the hip-bone, connected to your waist-bone and spine.) Two excellent and easy stretches can be performed in just half a minute each. For the first, stand straight and extend your arms straight over your head, clasp your fingers and pull through your shoulders and upper back. For the second lie face up on the ground and bring your legs towards your chest by pulling with both arms on the underside of your thighs. After completing 30 seconds of each stretch, get into bed and sleep easy knowing that you've improved the constitution of your spinal column.
2. Try a new sleep posture:
Physiologists advise that one of the best sleep postures is the underused "fetal position." Common to babies, this position calls for the sleeper to form their body as if he was an infant or fetus and hold a pillow between their knees to relieve knee-to-knee pressure. Another option is to sleep face up with a pillow or towel placed below your ankles. Both are acceptable and equally efficient.
3. Give yourself the chance to succeed:
Unfortunately, we only have so many hours in a day available for slumber and spinal health. Do not squander your hours. Smoking, drinking coffee or beer, and strenuous exercise, will all stimulate your body and hurt your chances of getting spine-healthy slumber if you partake in them less than an hour and a half before your planned sleeping time. If you must drink coffee or beer, smoke, or exercise, do so at an appropriate hour.
Those hours you have scavenged from work and play are precious, do not waste them by going to bed with a tight back and a tired spine, in a poor posture, or stimulated by poor scheduling. If you stretch, try a better sleeping position, and abstain from activities that energize, you should notice improvements in the quality of your sleep and the sturdiness of your spine.
