Why Is My Back Pain Worse At Night?
Why Is My Back Pain Worse At Night? This questions is asked A LOT on a weekly basis at our Physio clinic in Stewarton.
It is so common for people to get to the end of their day and notice their back pain thats been grumbling all day, getting much worse. This often makes people worry and make their time for relaxing at the end of the evening pretty distressing.
To help understand this a bit better, picture the following scenario for our imaginary person, John.
John wakes up and as he turns to get out of bed, he notices his back is stiff and a little painful. He gets out of bed, showers and gets dressed. By the time he’s done this and goes downstairs for breakfast, his back is feeling a little looser and he is more positive that his back pain, might be getting better. Result! John heads to work where he commutes for 30 minutes to then sit at his desk until break time at 11am, he then goes a short walk and back to his desk until lunch. At lunchtime he walks to the local shop for some lunch and then back to his desk where he eats lunch and then works through till 5pm, where he commutes back for 30 minutes to get home. His back has been fine all day but he starts to notice it grumbling after eating dinner as he relaxes on the sofa watching TV. The longer he sits, the worse the pain gets until eventually he can’t sit at piece and all he can think about is his back pain. He struggles through until bed time, takes some painkillers, heads off to bed tossing and turning until he falls asleep, dreaming that tomorrow he wakes up and his back pain has eventually disappeared…
This is an all to familiar story for us. Why do you think John’s back is worse at night? In his story there is a common theme of a lot of sustained postures throughout the day. Although this is sitting for John, it could well be standing for someone else. What we see here is a an accumulation of the same position throughout the course of the day, with very little physical activity and blood flow. By the time the evening comes around, this accumulation of sustained postures is enough to set alarm bells ringing from John’s nervous system - cue his back pain! His brain is trying to tell him it’s had enough. Of course there are multiple other factors that could be contributing to his back pain. However hopefully illustrating it in this way is useful to see if you can identify what might be contributing your back pain in the evening.
What advice would we give John to see if he came limit his back pain in the evening? Introducing a longer walk at lunchtime? One in the evening when he gets home? A visit to the gym in the evening? Some exercises to do at home? There are loads of options! Does this sound like you? Don’t just accept this is how it has to be, reach out for help!
Our team can help you with your back pain - call 01563262123 or email info@aristosphysiotherapy.co.uk to find out how.
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