Metairie Physical Therapy Archives - Page 42 of 55 - Baudry Therapy Center

Ask Rich Series – Sleeping Postures

I received this question in response to my post on Neck Pain- Physical Therapy Can Help:

Rich,

I have some issues with my neck/back that usually only disturbs me in the morning. I’m guessing the reason is how I sleep at night.

Blake,

Thanks for the comment. Sleeping postures can certainly affect and even cause painful pathologies. When you think about it you can certainly understand how sleeping in any one position for 6-8 hours could present a problem. Try holding your arm behind your back or completely extended overhead for even 10 minutes and see how it feels. The most common problem areas that I see with sleeping are in the shoulder, neck, and back. Generally, I advise people to avoid end range stress on their joints by maintaining a relatively neutral spine. This can be achieved by taking a number of measures including the following:

1) Avoid sleeping on your stomach, or with your arms overhead.

2) Use a pillow that supports your head by keeping it from a twisted or bent position.

3) Get a new mattress. If your mattress sags or is lumpy it’s probably the time for a new one.

4) Avoid sleeping in the same position all of the time.Vary your sleeping positions, preferably on either side or on your back.

5) Use extra pillows to support your body in neutral positions, to avoid extremes of motion in the neck and shoulder.

6) If you must sleep on your stomach use a pillow under your hips.

Here are a few pictures for good sleeping postures.

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Keep Your Shoulders Strong With These 3 Exercises

Shoulders are incredibly mobile joints. And as such they are capable of amazing things like throwing a baseball, rowing a boat, and even lifting a child in the air. But with the mobility comes the vulnerability to pain and injury.

To work properly shoulders must stay strong. To keep them strong and healthy try these 3 great shoulder exercises:

Attach your tubing to a secure structure between waist and shoulder height. Start by standing tall in a staggered stance position. Hold both handles of the sportscord. Make sure to pinch your shoulder blades together and hold your stomach in for better form.

1) While keeping your arms straight, pull both of your arms out to your sides, to form the letter “T” with your body.

2) The next exercise is a “Y”. With the arms straight, pull the cords up and out to form the letter “Y” with your body.

3) The third exercise is a “I”. With the same stance pull both arms back and down by your sides to form the letter “I” with your body.

Repeat each exercise for 10-15 repetitions focusing on your posture, and slow controlled motion. You might start with 1-2 sets and 2-3 times per week.

There should be no pain with any of these exercises. If there is pain, you should stop the exercise. This is an indication that the resistance is too strong, your technique is bad or you have a shoulder problem and you should come in for a physical therapy consultation to find out more specifically what would help your shoulders.

For more information on shoulder exercises, please contact our office.

Category: Metairie Physical Therapy

Ask Rich Series – Sleeping Postures

Keep Your Shoulders Strong With These 3 Exercises

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