By JEROME HIGGINS
We all know that a good night’s sleep is one of the key pillars to good health. So the idea that we can actually do ourselves physical harm while sleeping may come as some surprise.
Recent studies in the USA have identified that there are four key stages of sleep, with the final phase being the well-known REM (rapid eye movement) deep sleep cycle. The human body cycles through these four phases in order over a 90-100 minute period, and repeats this over the course of a sleep. It is imperative that we reach REM sleep repeatedly overnight. Without it, you may experience muscular pain and fatigue, as well as reduced emotional resilience and other behavioural syndromes.
From a musculoskeletal point of view, people with muscle tightness, disc injury or joint pain are often woken overnight due to inadequate or incorrect sleeping postures. The head’s support system of neck muscles and ligaments need to relax overnight. Unfortunately, the everyday pillow is too soft and doesn’t provide the level of support the neck needs, causing it to strain.
This lack of ‘good sleep’ then contributes further to their pain cycle, and reduces the body’s ability to heal itself. If you are woken by pain or stiffness, then one of the easiest ways to help yourself is to make sure you have a good quality and correctly fitted mattress and pillow. This enables you to maintain the best possible posture overnight and provide a platform for ‘good sleep’ patterns and less pain.
Qualified allied health professionals such as physiotherapists are best suited to advise on the correct pillow to suit your spine and body type. As we all come in different shapes and sizes, so do these specialist physiotherapy pillows so it is very important you have the pillow sized by your physiotherapist to ensure your head and neck are given the support they need overnight. Be wary of some of the larger bedding outlets who may claim products are endorsed by health professionals – a physiotherapist is really the only one to address these medical issues properly.
