Sleep Ergonomics
During the past 4 weeks, our social media theme has been sleep ergonomics. 
As we wrap up July, let’s look at sleep from a different perspective. Many of our patients attribute their back pain, neck pain, and other musculoskeletal complaints to sleep-related events. Here are the most common:
“Our mattress is old/worn out.”
“I must have ‘slept funny’.”
“I need a better pillow.”
“I’ve been travelling and sleeping in hotel beds.”
“We stayed at our in-laws’ house on a bad mattress.” (This is a very common misconception. I think there could be a good psychological study on this phenomenon).
While all of these things can initiate an episode of musculoskeletal pain, it is important to consider the underlying structure and function of the area in which there is pain. In other words, maybe it’s your back, not the mattress!
In reality, a musculoskeletal system that is functioning optimally should be able to withstand a few nights on a bad mattress, or falling asleep on the sofa, without causing pain or spasms.
Here’s how it works.
- When spinal joints are not moving properly, your central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) are quick to detect this problem, whether you are aware of it or not.
- Corrective neural impulses are sent from the central nervous system to nearby muscle groups to stabilize the dysfunctional area.
- Sleeping tends to relax some of this defensive posturing, leaving the weakened areas vulnerable to irritation.
- Upon waking, you attempt to move and “stir-up” these dysfunctional spinal joints
- Your central nervous system interprets this sudden movement as dangerous and responds by locking up all of the muscle groups around the dysfunctional area, essentially making a natural (and very painful) “splint” to stabilize the area.
This is most likely happening if you are waking up often with back and neck pain.
We can help! In our office, we evaluate the motion patterns of your spine. In most cases, we are able to identify the underlying dysfunction and correct it via spinal manipulation, muscle release techniques, and therapeutic exercise therapy.
Chiropractic Care: Then & Now
An explanation of the full history of chiropractic and manipulation would be difficult to provide in a brief blog post. However, to have some insight into the philosophy and evolution of chiropractic care is helpful, and hopefully entertaining for many people in order to expand awareness of the profession.
The first manipulations occurred well before the first known writings/recordings of its use. The reasons for manipulation, as well as many medical procedures, have been continuously founded on a balance of science and art. Ancient cultures have utilized various forms of pharmaceuticals, surgery, manipulation, and physiotherapy in whichever ways their environments allowed and influenced them. These treatments and more grew into their own specialties, not to define between right and wrong, but to allow individuals to excel in their practice and provide others with quality care.
Chiropractic is a specialty that most commonly utilizes manipulation, later defined as the “chiropractic adjustment” to treat neuromusculoskeletal concerns. D.D. Palmer is credited to have first defined the techniques and profession of chiropractic. However, even his language and philosophies have evolved with new findings in science and a changing focus on healthcare in our culture. A concept defined by D.D. Palmer that is still a cornerstone in chiropractic care today is understanding the relationship of structure and function of the body and its influence on a person’s state of health.
The education of all professions, especially in the healthcare industry, has advanced to delineated requirements of study, testing, licensing, and practice. All doctors of chiropractic in North America, regardless of philosophy, are qualified as portal-of-entry physicians. With this role, they have a responsibility to determine if chiropractic care is the best option for a patient or if a referral to another health practitioner is of more benefit.
At East End Chiropractic we look to provide our patients with quality care. Our goal is to determine an applicable diagnosis with the aid of a thorough examination, functional assessment findings, and appropriate imaging. Taking into account patient goals and realistic recovery patterns of the human body, we look to define a treatment plan utilizing chiropractic adjustments and adjunctive therapies, such as soft tissue work, passive modalities, and exercise prescription, while respecting our state defined scope of practice.
