Upper-mid Back Pain Only After Sleeping

[solidether]

Update: What helped me so far
1) basic exercises on the ball to strengthen the back (I tried gym as well, but the ball works better for me, too much to catch up I guess)
2) sleeping on a soft mattress
3) voltaren gel on the back in the particular zones the night before sleep
I am sleeping well now and only wake up early because I'm used to wake up early.
Cheers

[plbfvi]

I'm not unlike others that have posted with pain usually 4-6 hours after sleeping though at the moment I only have it sleeping on my back and I do not have the problem breathing that others have mentioned.  It is also equally uncomfortable on both left and right sides of my thoracic spine.  Of course, why not sleep on my sides.  I would except my right shoulder was injured in October and my left shoulder used to give me more discomfort than my right!  I want to sleep on my back to give my shoulders a break.

I'm 51, female, 5'8" and about 145 pounds.  I had three abdom. surgeries (C-section 20 years ago and endometriomos, 8 and 2 years ago.)  I am not overweight, in decent shape and work with disabled kids in the school system.

The most relief I've gotten from this "syndrome" is last week when I had such a bad sinus infection I was sleeping with 4-5 pillows behind my back to keep me in a semi reclined position so my sinuses could stay drained.  That really was the best upper back painfree sleep I've had since August.

I only found this site three days ago and have gone through all the postings pulling aside those that seemed to make the most sense to me.  I'm an O.T. by training though haven't cracked the anatomy books in years.  I liked Mike's postings and will give his advice a try.  I do wonder if my case comes from all the years with lousy posture, weak stomach muscles,  bent over positioning working with disabled children and lugging around heavy equipment with poor ergonomics.  

I'll keep people posted if anything works well.

I plan to start swimming, doing back strengthening exercises, stomach lengthening exercises, and trigger point pressure.

We'll see what happens.  Thanks for all the suggestions and sharings.

[zfritz]

I just came across this forum and thought I'd give my experience. Hope it helps...

I am a healthy, fit 43 year old male with mid-back pain that started 12 years ago. I tried Chiropractors, Neurosurgeons, Orthos, Acupuncture,  PT, Electro-Acupuncture, Pillows, Mattresses, Exercises, everything. What I learned through it all was that back pain is very hard if not impossible to find the root cause and needs to be looked at differently.

My goal has become to manage the pain (inflammation), not solve it. My back gets inflamed triggered by one or more of several things: hunched at computer too long, lifting heavy objects, slouching on couch, anything where my back is strained by leaning forward.

This 2-step process helps me to manage the inflammation:

1. Get rid of inflammation.
I have the best luck with electro-acupuncture OR laying on my back on a roller-table with ice as a roller moves up and down my spine. Both of these may take 2-3 sessions to work.

2. Keep inflammation away.
- Have a good mattress
- Good pillow
- Good desk chair with support and set at the correct height for your desk and your legs (DO NOT slouch at computer)
- Get up from desk or seating AT LEAST every 2 hours and stretch your back the opposite direction (use a fitness ball or lay on stomach and prop self up with hands)
- Core strength train through weights and/or yoga (important)
- Do specific back stretching and exercises
- Tape 2 tennis balls together and use them under your spine in inflamed area. Lay on top of them on a hard floor.

Once I get rid of the inflammation, I can go months without pain if I do my exercises - at least until I do something stupid that inflames it again!

Hope this helps...

[agnespark]

Like most of you, I found this forum by googling back pain after sleeping.

I've read through about half of the posts and I am surprised that very few have found relief.  I do have more reading to do, but I felt compelled to write now.

My situation:  

My pain usually happens after sleeping in a strange bed (hotels, friends, etc.)  

When it happens, I usually wake up at 5 or 6 in the morning.  My pain is from mid to lower back and is concentrated in the spine area.  It is usually so painful that it takes my breath away when I move or are getting out of bed.  I have to get up and move around for the pain to stop.  

I sleep on my back.  Sleeping on my side or stomach only alleviates the pain for a few minutes and then it starts again.

For me, it first happened when I purchased a memory foam mattress from the original company that brought it to the market.  It was very comfortable to sleep on, but the pain in the morning started almost from the first day.  After about a week, I was almost in tears each morning when I rolled off the bed and could barely stand for the pain.  I called the company and they told me to try it for a week more and if not, they would take the mattress back.  Well, I did try it, but it was another week of pain I couldn't deal with.  The mattress went back and I bought a pillowtop mattress and slept fine.

I am a 43 year old male with about 30 extra pounds on me and not in the best shape.

I have come to believe that the pain is caused by the muscles around my spine weakening or becoming atrophied.  Why else would the pain happen?  Staying in one position for a long period of time allows the spine to adjust to the sleeping position.  If that sleeping position is different enough than what the spine is used to, then the muscles are either stretched or put in a position where they don't do their job right.

Like a previous poster, I think that the ball exercises and maybe yoga would help the most.

I'm not going to bother with a doctor, mainly due to the numerous posts here about them not being of much help.  I have mentioned this to my primary care physician and chiropractor before, but have never gotten any relief from them, nor any ideas.

It's starting to happen more with my bed now, which is a high dollar Stearns and Foster pillow top that has never given me any issues before.  It could be that my mattress is finally giving in to my body more than before.  It is about 8 years old now.

All of that being said, I do truly believe that strengthening the back is the way to go.  Now I just have to figure out the best ways to do that.

Thanks to all that have posted in the past.  I hope that everyone has found some relief one way or another.

[oldelpaso]

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[oldelpaso]

I have had the same exact pain as everyone has mentioned in this forum. Mid-back pain after 4-5 hours of sleeping. I believe my pain is a result of sleeping on a bad mattress. The mattress was too soft for me and was uncomfortable to sleep on, but due to my own stupidity, I slept on it for about a year and a half. Then finally when I bought a firm mattress, the pain got worse to the point that I could not lie down for more than 4-5 hours.

After a few years of these pains, I think I have finally found the solution. I am sleeping 8 hour without much pain right now, and it is getting better by the day. I am not 100% healed but with more time I should get better and better.

The solution for me was to DO NOTHING. Currently, I do not stretch, do not play sports, do not do physical labor, do not weight lift. NOTHING. For the past few years, trying to rid myself of my pains, I always did rehabilitative exercises and did general exercises for health and well being. NOW ALL I DO IS WALK and also make sure to have perfect posture ALL DAY, no matter what. These two things taken together basically means, I don't put any stress on my back whatsoever. Its been 2 months and I feel so much better. During the past few years, there have been times when I took a break from exercising (about 2 weeks), but it turns out that I needed to do NOTHING for about 6 weeks to feel the effects. I did not feel the effect immediately. My temptation was to go back to exercising and doing normal daily activities since I didn't feel a difference after a few weeks, but thank god i didn't, because waiting it out has made me better.

The one common thing that we all have in common on this forum is that everyone on this forum has tried something. Some sort of exercising that requires bending or twisting or using our bad back muscles. I know when I went to the doctor, he made me do movements to assess me, and when I tried physical therapy, I was doing all sorts of movements. Turns out that these things are preventing our backs from healing itself.

Just to note, I have tried, chiro, muscles relaxants and pain killers, physical therapy, and none of that helped. X-rays and MRI's and blood test came back negative. And my normal lifestyle consisted of going to work (accountant), playing basketball once a week, weight lifting 3 times a week. Finally when I cut OUT EVERYTHING physical, I got better. I plan on not doing anything for the next year or so. Keep in mind that I do get exercise, I walk 3 miles a day. (the temptation for many of you might be to turn walking into running, but DON'T do it. running can be too strenous)

I hope many of you try this remedy. Try only walking and having perfect posture all day for about 2 months. keep in mind the perfect posture is really really tough at first. You become tired, and its hard to remember. But put in the effort and you'll reap the rewards.

  

[oldelpaso]

I just wanted to add to my post above. I realize you can't delete or edit posts on this site.
I want to retract saying people should try my remedy. I think that everyone with health issues should consult their doctors first, in order to find a diagnosis and treatment. I am not a doctor or have any credential to recommend anything to anyone. I don't want to recommend resting for someone, when they could have a serious underlying ailment that requires attention.

But speaking just for my own problem, after visits to doctors and therapist, with no signs of anything being internally wrong with me, and all tests coming back negative, i knew that my issue was phsyical/ mechanical in nature.

[plbfvi]

I last posted in mid April.  I have spent some of the last month taking yoga classes and swimming and changing my sleep positions.  I feel about 50% better than I did before these changes.  I took yoga classes for about 2 weeks with group instruction, have started gentle swimming 2-3 times per week and have been rearranging the way I sleep - which is not something that anyone tends to mention much. I am also reading Mary Bond's book on "The Rules of Posture" which has been great and enlightening.  She stresses the importance of good posture and good breathing...but don't just take my word for it...try reading it.  There are lots of good exercises to get you in touch with your anatomy and why good posture is so important to our well being.   I highly recommend this book for anyone with back issues.   As far as the sleeping position that is helping me is sleeping on my back (I have shoulder issues) with a pillow on either side of my legs, one or the other of my legs hiked up almost the mid-thigh of the other leg which is out straight.  I put a soft pillow under the bent knee and a soft pillow under my head and shoulder of the same side.  My head turns away from that side.  I have a pillow on either side of my legs so I can wake up and shift from side to side without having to wake up enough to actually move the pillow about.  So far so much better.

1) I have another question regarding pain and stiffness.  I have often heard about people waking up feeling stiff.  Is this what we are experiencing also.  What is the difference between waking up feeling stiff and waking up feeling in pain?  Just wondering if others have thought about this.  

2) I'm also wondering how many of the people out there posting to this column have had abdominal surgeries - C-sxn, laparoscopies, etc.  I wondering if these have contributed greatly to weakened back and abdominal muscles and/or whether resulting scar tissue may be tightening areas that ordinarily would not have been affected.  I was told my psoas muscles were extremely tight on the side I had half an ovary removed.  

[plbfvi]

Further to my post, I've stopped taking a group yoga lesson and have been doing a yoga DVD - Karen Voigt's Yoga Strength at home.  One day I do the strength portion 30 mins (pretty intense) and the next day I do the stretch portion 20 mins (a good deep stretch).  My back feels so much stronger and generally hips, thighs, legs, lower and upper back and abs are in much, much better shape contributing to much better posture in general.I've probably been doing the yoga overall about 3 weeks now.    I can't emphasize reading Mary Bond's book 'The New Rules of Posture" enough and... consider changing your sleep position:-)  To me, it is not a mattress issue.

  I am thinking a lot of this discomfort is overstretched and weakened muscles caused by unsupportive abdominal muscles with no spine support, tight hamstrings, possibly tight psoas muscles, etc.  Mary Bond talks about the importance of strengthening the "inner core" of the abdomin (abdomen), not only the "outer core" that people see with 6 pack abs.  Nor is not just a matter of keeping your stomach sucked in .  In fact that can make back alignment worse.  It does take work to get in touch with it.  Some of the posters are overweight 20-30 pounds, some probably with big guts pulling on the back muscles, poor positioning when seated with bellies protruding.  It takes a bit of work but definitely worth not dreading going to bed to wake up really sore 3-4 hours later.  I was beginning to feel like an old woman. Every day I'm feeling better.  Almost slept through the night last night and woke up feeling 75% improved!!!

Pam

[drboz]

I'm not sure if I posted on here at one point, but like many others I found this forum searching for back pain after sleeping.  When I first searched I was having separate pains.  One set occurred in my right lower back, most likely from herniated discs (L4 and L5).  The other set was the upper left back pain (almost on the shoulder blade) after sleeping maybe 4-5 hours.  Pain would almost shoot through the left side of my chest while also radiating around.  It would generally subside after getting up and sitting for a bit (or in my case, taking a pain pill).  I also get the same pain when standing too long, as well as when I walk and/or run too long.  Generally speaking though, the pain during sleep was the most intense.  It also varied greatly depending on the bed.  With my bed at home (which is supposed to help bad backs), I can get the 4-5 hours nightly.  When I go home to visit or stay in a hotel, I make it 2-3 hours tops usually.

Since my initial search here a few months ago, I have had MRI's, bloodwork, a bone scan, X-ray, and CT scan.  The bone scan (with contrast) showed a pooling of the contrast around the 5th rib on the left side, leading to the CT scan.  CT scan shows a fairly large mass (forgot to get a specific size on this...just found out yesterday) that the doctor says is "almost definitely benign."  Regardless, I next get to go to a thoracic surgeon to see about this mass.  As an aside, I also saw a sleep doctor and had both a nighttime and daytime sleep study done.  Night was fine (no sleep apnea), but daytime showed issues leading to a diagnosis of narcolepsy.  It is all pretty convoluted, because I don't know if I have narcolepsy or if the excessive daytime sleepiness relates to the fact that I haven't slept through the night (eight hours) in years.  

Just thought I would throw out the idea of a bone scan after several other tests show nothing.  That was pretty much my case until the bone scan.  Nothing really worked.  Pain meds are a temporary relief.  Muscle relaxers were pointless.  Physical Therapy did not do much.  Injections didn't help.  My hope is that a) this mass, whatever it is, is actually benign, b) it can be removed quickly and fully, and c) removing it allows me to sleep through the night pain free (at least upper back pain free).  I'm not at all suggesting everyone with night back pain has a mass, but perhaps there might be others out there in a similar boat who might want some more testing (like the bone scan) to see if there is something similar going on for them as well.  

I will try to post again after my next doctor's visit with updates regarding the mass and treatment options (9/2).  It's weird.  You go months (or years) and can't find an answer, so you worry that you are building a reputation for yourself within the medical community as being one of "those" people with mysterious pains that have no known origins.  Then all of a sudden they find something, and in one sense you're happy because now you can say "SEE!?!?!  I TOLD you there was something going on!!!"  But then you are also thinking to yourself "Well I didn't want THAT to be what was wrong!"  For now, I'd rather have the mass than have nothing to show for all these tests.  I might change my mind if that "almost definitely benign" mass turns out to not be so benign after all.  Regardless, it is what it is.

Good luck to those of you still seeking answers.  Hopefully I will have some soon.  It was at least nice to hear a doctor say "Well no wonder you get so much pain there!"

[ChrisBern]

I will try to be brief because there is already an incredible amount of text on this great, great forum.  I felt such mental relief when I found this forum last year, as it was full of people feeling the exact same pain and frustration as I was (waking up after 3-4 hours every night, lightning-flash pain in my mid-back, afraid to do ANY type of exercise or activity, all-around discomfort, etc.)  2008 was a nightmare for me in this respect...I spent almost the entire year doing zero exercise, which if you knew me, would surprise you, as I'm a very healthy 36-yo marathon runner who likes to stay in shape.  

I tried a lot of things, including the Clair Davies trigger point book (I never felt like I was doing it right...I found it very challenging to find the trigger point and effectively rub it out with a rubber ball).  I also tried a back-rehab yoga class.  I tried tons of rest.  I tried posture techniques (though only lightly). I had a really good chiropractor whom I visited once or twice a week.  I tried acupuncture for a little while.  I tried myofascial release.  I tried straight massage.  I tried the Bowen Technique.  As you can see, I tried a lot of things, and I think each some helped to some degree, though I still probably had 75% the severity of pain in Feb/March of 2009 as I did all throughout 2008, so I was only improving very, very slightly and slowly, if at all.

The absolute breakthrough for me came in about 1 day's time, and cost me $13.99 and maybe 6 hours of time.  If someone else on here had posted (as I'm sure they did) about this same technique, I probably would've tried it last because it sounds like such a pie in the sky technique.  And, now that I think about it, I guess I did kind of try it last.  To my own detriment, as I should have tried it first.  Hindsight is 20/20 for me but doesn't have to be for you.

The "technique" that became my breakthrough was simply to read one short book:  "Healing Back Pain" by John E. Sarno M.D.  I am still fascinated to this day that JUST reading this book "healed" me, but I can assure you that this is exactly what happened.  

For the 14 months prior to reading the book, I would estimate that 99% of my days involved back pain as described earlier in this post (again with the worst of it being I couldn't sleep horizontally for more than ~4 hours a night).  1% of my days (meaning maybe 4-5 days during those 14 months) I was able to sleep 7-8 hours without having the horrible back spasms wake me up.  I would characterize the average severity of my back pain and discomfort on an average day as 7.5 out of 10, where 10 is the worst.

AS OF THE DAY AFTER reading this small book, with NO other changes to my routines other than that of what the book recommends (e.g. the resumption of normal activity and exercise), I would estimate that in the last 5 months since reading the book, I have been woken by back spasms maybe 4-5 times.  In other words, about 1 day a month I am woken by back spasms (and it's usually after sleeping 6-7 hours).  ~29 days a month I can sleep 8 or even 9 hours and, while I wake up stiff (I am getting old after all lol), I do not wake up with back pain. I would characterize my average daily back pain/discomfort over the last 4-5 months around a 2.5 on a 10 scale...compared to 7.5 before.  The 2.5 is just general stiffness and inflexibility.  I plan to do yoga starting next month to help with my general flexibility, and think that this may get my 2.5 down to a 1.0 or less.

This is an *unbelievable* turnaround in my mind, and so I came back on here after making sure that the changes are "permanent" to be sure to report my success to anyone who is still suffering with this issue.  I am no back expert...maybe this book will help certain people and not others, I don't know.  But I will say I immediately resumed exercise and weightlifting in March/April upon reading the book, and I am now jogging 3 miles roughly 4 times a week again, and I have been lifting weights every 5 days or so, and I've golfed maybe two dozen times this year.  In 2008, I did not jog, golf, or lift weights more than a few times because of my back.  So in 2008 I did nothing and had 7.5 severity pain, and in the last 5 months I am VERY physically active but with a 2.5 severity pain.  Paradoxical, I think.

So, if you haven't read it yet, I would *highly highly highly* recommend spending $10 and 5-10 hours to READ THE BOOK.  I realize how unrealistic all this sounds, and even my friends don't quite believe me that the book healed me, but I can assure you there were no other variables at play besides reading the book.  I can also assure you that I was feeling awfully hopeless after 14 months of dealing with this issue.  I wasn't yet resigned to it being a lifelong issue, but with each approach that didn't work, I will admit my hope was starting to fade a little bit.  The book was a well-timed miracle for me, no doubt!

I wish you good luck and great health!!

[avalon21]

Hi All - this is all really great information!

I have the same kind of pain as described here - and I can only sleep 4-5 hours during the night before it starts (but then it subsides during the daytime, only to re-start again during the night) ~

Does anyone else sit on a sofa at night and watch tv before going to sleep? My back seems to be a bit better if I don't do this (I also work on a computer all day)... so i've been trying to figure this out for a couple of months now, as it's definately gettng worse and not better.

Thanks for replying...

[speedyfingers]

As I was reading this forum, before I read ChrisBern's post, a book a I read 7-8 years ago came to my mind.  It was by John Sarno, called "The Mind Body Prescription".  It was an incredibly important book for me as it helped me fight tendonitis as a pianist.

Well, I came upon this forum to find some solution to my back problem.  For about 2.5 years, since my pregnancy, I've woken up to a stiff and painful back that goes away throughout the day.  I have practiced pretty hard core yoga  (ashtanga) before being pregnant (did not have any back problems then), but since then, am able to do only a 5 minute yoga routine (sun salutes A and a couple of B's, if you know these moves) a day.  It does not help with my night pains.  My husband jokes that I sleep in a fortress of pillows, but none of that seems to help. I think my problem comes from lifting my 25+ lb baby throughout the day, but even on days when I don't carry him that much, the back problem seems to be there.  

I will pull out my Sarno book again, and will get the one specific for the back that ChrisBern mentioned.  My tendonitis healed after just reading the PREFACE to the other Sarno book, and since then helped many others I've recommended it to.  I hope to follow up with a pain free back.  

[Chalkbot]

I'd been following this thread as a lurker as I've suffered many of the same symptoms described on here myself and desperately wanted relief.

I would wake up after 4-5 hours of sleep with intense upper back pain eminating from the spinal region. The pain would go away after 30 minutes to an hour of sitting in my computer chair.

I realize that there are probably many scenarios that can produce these same symptoms, but I found the cause of mine and wanted to share it here because it might help someone else and I know how horrible this is.

Like others, I bought a new mattress and started doing back excercises and such with only mild positive results. Once I realized the problem, it made a lot more sense.


After I woke up one night with the pain, I noticed I was sort of curled up and my muscles in my back were tight. It was because I was too cold while I was asleep and instead of sleeping through it like most people would, I would actively try to curl up to get warmer while I was asleep. Those muscles would get tired of the constant "curling" all night and begin to ache. Then it all hit me. I had moved the window AC unit into the master bathroom a couple of months prior (essentially inside the bedroom now) and combined with the ceiling fan above our bed, there was a chill draft constantly on me during the night. It wasn't so cold that I would be uncomfortable while I was awake. Probably just a couple of degrees colder than my comfortable sleeping temperature. But I'm somewhat of a light sleeper and I guess my conciousness while asleep decided that I should try to get a little warmer in the middle of the night by curling my back constantly to compensate.

I suggest that everyone try adjusting the temperature of where they sleep for a week to see if they experience any relief. Also if you have any fans blowing directly on you, maybe divert those or go down a speed.

[Rainypm]

Hi all,

I've been suffering from this type of morning back pain for close to 20 years.  Sometimes it's worse than other times (right now it's really bad), but I can't remember not having it.  I decided to start a message board on Yahoo groups so maybe we can have more of a discussion between people and come up with our own solution.  Please stop by if you want to help solve this!

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/morningpain/

Thanks!
Ellisa

[nd_sandhu]

Hi everyone,
i have same problem as u all discussed above.....i m sure that is not a matress related problem.....bcoz i have tried many of them ....tried to sleep without every position, mattress or diet which hurt me in previous night. it helps u to feel better for some time 1-2 days but again starts.

situation:
"pain starts on left & right sides of back, due to this, i can only enjoy the 4-5 hrs sleep, after that, as i wake up, i cant even sit properly, feels like something will BREAK if i do it fast, cant lower my neack to pic somthing....cant stretch my body fast, as i start walking & got busy in my wrk, pain reduces "

i wanna ask the doctors related to this site that :

1. is there any weekness in my body due to which it happens?
2. Is it a diet problem?
3. Is there any kind of medicne that u can suggest for complete solution?
4. Is there any kind of body acid problem?


pls help me out.....i m not able to feel like a normal person.

[shawnj005]

Hi All,

My case was extreme and I don't want to panic anyone but here's what I went through.

I've had some abdominal pain over the years and it was attributed to my acid reflux.

A few months ago, I started having some increased (in length) pain in my abdomen.  Other symptoms were dark stool and I would wake up after 2-3 hours with back and side pain.  I would have to get out of bed and sit up for an hour or two until I could go back to sleep.  It seems that this would alleviate the pain and I could sleep the rest of the night.

Being concerned about the overall symptoms, my GI doctor ran a series of tests (endoscopy, colinoscopy, barium swallow, and finally one more endoscopy).  From the last endoscopy (which my doctor went into the small intestine), he took a biopsy of a problem area.  It turns out that I have lymphoma and that a tumor is attached to my small intestine.

Obviously this is not the news I was hoping for, but my prognosis is good.

The good news is that immediately after my first chemotherapy, I have been sleeping through the night without being woken up by back pain.  I believe this is because the tumor is being shrunk and therefore there is no longer the solid pressure from the tumor on my back and sides.

I'm not in the medical field, but it seems that if there is an every night problem with back pain and sleeping, it could be because there is something permanent in the small intestine area that shouldn't be there (it doesn't have to be a cancerous tumor!).  If the problem was gas (which I've seen on some other forums), it doesn't seem like it would happen consistently night after night.

Anyways, my story is not meant to alarm anyone and it may be unique to me.  But I found this forum the most helpful to problem solving my situation and thought I would forward it to anyone that thinks they need to get their situation more thoroughly checked out.

God Bless.

  

[brandy681]

HI,

I CAN PROVIDE SOME HELP....

IF YOU HAVE A PILLOW TOP MATTRESS ALLTHOUGH NAME BRAND.. TRASH IT!

I LEARNED THIS FROM THE CHIROPRACTER!!!!

ALSO WORK ON YOUR STOMACH MUSCLES.. IT PROTECTS YOUR BACK. PLEAZZZE DO SIT UPS AND PILATES... FOR YOUR STOMACH.

THIS IS WHY.... IF YOU TOSS IN BED YOUR BACK WILL HURT BAD... I KNOW THIS FROM EXPERIENCE... YOU WILL WAKE UP IN PAIN... WHEN YOU GET OUT OF BED YOUR STOMACH IS WHAT HELPS YOU.

IF YOU TOSS AND TURN IN BED, YOUR STOMACH MUSCLES ARE WEAK THEY ARE DOING ALL THE WORK FOR YOU.......SO YOU NEED STRONG STOMACH MUSCLES.. TRY IT, I PROMICE YOU WILL NEVER EXPERIENCE THIS AGAIN!

I WENT TO A CHIROPRACTER AND ASKED THEM WHY... THEY MADE ME DO SIT UPS AND STOMACH EXPERCISES... THEY POPPED MY BACK ALSO... I HAD TO DO PILATES EVERY DAY... MY GOD IT SAVED MY BACK..... WORK ON STOMACH MUSCLES....

ALSO I SLEEP ON THE SOFA 90% OF THE TIME, BECAUSE YOU CANNOT TOSS AND TURN.... ALSO I WAKE UP IN NO PAIN...

THE PAIN IS CAUSED BY TOSSING SIDE TO SIDE... SIDE TO SIDE OVER AND OVER AGAIN.... THIS WORKS YOUR BACK OVER TIME,,,,  WHEN YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH.....

SOMETIMES A WEAK STOMACH CAN BE CAUSED BY OBESITY ALSO... USUALLY PEOPLE WHO ARE OVER WEIGHT HAVE WEAK STOMACH MUSCLES....

THE CHIRPRACTER MADE ME HOLD MY STOMACH IN AS DEEP AS I COULD AND THEN TOUCH IT TO SEE IF THE STOMACH IS HARD OR SOFT...

TRY THIS AND SEE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IF YOU CAN'T FEEL A HARD STOMACH THEN YOUR TUMMY IS WEAK.....!!!!!!!!

JUST HOLD YOUR STOMACH IN AS BEST AS YOU CAN... YOU SHOULD FEEL A HARD TUMMY NOT SOFT.....

I AM TRYING TO HELP YOU GUYS SO PLEASE DON'T GET OFFENDED... I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AND BEEN TO MANY DRS SO CAN GIVE YOU EXPERIENCE...

ALSO WATCH YOUR MATTRESS.. TRY THE SOFA FOR 2 DAYS AND YOU WILL BE IN MUCH BETTER SHAPE WHEN YOU WAKE UP...

AGAIN DON'T GET A PILLOW TOP.. I HAVE AN EXPENSIVE SERTA PILLOW TOP... I HATE IT!!!!!!!!!!

THEREFORE NOW I SLEEP ON THE SOFA MOST OF THE TIME.... ONCE IN AWHILE I WILL SLEEP ON THE BED...

I NEED A MEMORY PHOAM TO TRY AS IT REDUCES PRESSURE POINTS.. I CAN'T RECOMMEND IT YET,,, BECAUSE I HAVE NEVER TRIED ONE....

ALSO DO NOT OVER SLEEP... IF YOU OVER SLEEP OR TAKE NAPS DO NOT DO IT BECAUSE IT WILL ALSO MAKE YOUR BACK SORE BY SLEEPING WAY TOO MUCH OR TOO OFTEN...

SO REMEMBER THOSE ABOVE STEPS...

1. WORK ON STOMACH MUSCLES/SIT UPS, PILATES. (IT TAKES A FEW MONTHS)
2. NEW MATTRESS/SLEEP ON SOFA (JUST TRY IT) WORKS GREAT!
3. DON'T OVER - SLEEP OR SLEEP TOO OFTEN (DON'T NAP)



IF YOU TRY THIS I PROMICE YOU WILL HAVE LITTLE TO NO PAIN WHEN YOU WAKE UP...

GOOD LUCK!