I woke up the other day in the dark of dawn and my heart paused – A tall ghost appeared to be standing next to me! I froze but was able to scream “Alexa – all lights on”! – it was a vertical series of white photo-frames I had hung up the previous day but my morning brain hadn’t registered it yet!🙄
Speaking of nasty surprises in the morning, the majority of patients that I admit with acute worsening of their chronic low back pain seem to wake up from sleep with it or first notice it in the morning before worsening. Not sure if national statistics exist, but this ain’t surprising, considering that a third of our lives are spent sleeping and we don’t control how we twist & turn our backs in bed…
As someone who has had issues with low back pain myself, here is a simple formula to help reduce or eliminate chronic Low BACK Pain naturally. I literally write the mnemonic “L BACK P” on their whiteboard to help my patients remember:
Mnemonic to treat Chronic Low BACK Pain: “L BACK P“
L – Lose weight (aim for BMI < 26) – an easy way to start is Intermittent Fasting.
B – Bed (mattress) changes: Get rid of Box-springs & change mattress to a medium-firm – soft ones curve & strain lower spine more)
A – Activity & Ambulation: Prolonged sitting increases back pain risk, daily walking improves it!
C – Core-strengthening & Core-stretching ( This is now my daily 10-minute habit! )
K – Knee-bending when picking things off the floor (“Bend yo knee if U drop yo Key“)
P – Pillow between legs if a side-sleeper, Pillow under knees if back-sleeper ( Knee-Pillow was a game changer for me !)
P – Posture in general and Posture while sleeping: Sleeping on your back is best. Sleeping on your belly is the worst! Never sleep on your stomach.
P.S: Here’s a viral video of a burnt-out Neurosurgeon (Goobie & Doobie fame) who quit his job and escaped to the mountains realizing how pushing surgeries on patients with back pain is not the answer – it’s lifestyle changes!
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