ISSUE 10
Welcome to the Backtohealth.com Newsletter, an assortment of articles, interviews, news and tips about back pain and sleep solutions.

The single most common reason for neck pain is poor posture, plain and simple. Sitting for prolonged periods hunched over a computer, for example, can do it, as can poor sleeping posture. Many people respond to stress by tensing up their neck muscles, which over time, can lead to neck pain as well as headaches. All of the above can cause painful conditions such as neck strain or even pinched nerves.

Neck strain is most often the result of sleeping in an awkward position. This puts tension on the muscles that run along the back of your neck. If you experience neck stiffness upon waking in the morning, this is most likely what has happened. A good way to relieve the pain and loosen muscles is to stand under a hot shower and lit the water run on the nape of your neck. Press your chin to your chest to stretch out those neck muscles for about 30 seconds. Then hold your head back, pause, and flex forward again. Now roll your neck from side to side a few times. This should help to ease the stiffness and pain.

It has been estimated that 70% of all pinched nerves are caused by poor posture. Basically, a pinched nerve means that a disc that sits between two nerves in the neck has probably been bumped out of place. In addition to the pain that you feel in your neck, you may also experience some numbness and/or a tingling sensation in your arms and hands. You'll need to seek medical attention for this one. Your care giver will likely prescribe neck-stretching exercises to alleviate pain and improve your neck's muscles to keep the disc in place. Something you can do at home? Improve your posture. Be sure that your head doesn't bend forward too much. When you are seated in proper posture, you should be able to draw a straight line from your ears to your shoulders on down to the hips.

Below are some additional ideas that you can do at home to help cut down on neck pain:

· Take a bath towel and fold it lengthwise. Wrap it around your neck before bedtime.
· Try aspirin, naproxen or ibuprofin to relieve pain and inflammation - use as directed.
· Massage your neck muscles.
· Relax.
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Once a person has injured his back, it is very easy for him to slip into a degenerative cycle. Often times the person does not feel much like getting up and about, and yet in most cases, moderate exercise/activity can be the most helpful tool in recuperation. Here's how it often goes:

1. Generally, at the onset of physical pain, activity is reduced.
2. This reduced activity results in weaker muscles and less support for the spine.
3. With less spinal support, vertebrae can become misaligned, and discs and ligaments may deteriorate.
    With that, the threshold of pain drops even further than it was with the original trauma.
4. As spinal components deteriorate from inactivity, range of motion tends to decline.
5. As range of motion declines, more muscle strength is lost and the spine loses even more support.
6. Continuing loss of muscular support can cause even more spinal degeneration, and the cycle continues.

In order to prevent this degenerative cycle from taking over your back, you likely need to remain active. Medical attention is absolutely necessary, however following a thorough examination by your doctor and after being given his blessing, returning your back to full strength is crucial to recovery. Here are some guidelines to follow for both acute and chronic back pain:

Acute Back Pain (recent onset of back pain)

· Ideally a person with acute back pain should be performing spine-specific exercises within a few days. Waiting longer can cause the injury to persist longer and has the potential to jumpstart the degenerative cycle.

Chronic Back Pain (sustained, ongoing back pain)

· Small back muscles that maintain the lower back's curvature generally go unused in cases of chronic back pain. This can lead to muscle atrophy, shrinking and weakening muscles and a loss of coordination. Gentle, spine-specific exercises can quickly restore strength to back muscles.

As always, consult with your doctor as to the specific types of exercises that you would benefit from most. CLICK HERE for comfort with the Contour Cloud Mattress Pad

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The individual amount of sleep needed each night does not change with age, but the amount of sleep that people actually get does. Starting at about the age of 40, the amount of sleep that the average person gets decreases by about half an hour per decade. People over age 60 typically sleep an average of only 5 hours per night, but it's the ability to sleep that diminishes, not the need.

Older people tend to have a more difficult time maintaining sleep, but falling asleep does not seem to be a problem. A healthy sleep cycle consists of three phases. We progress from light sleep to deep sleep to rapid eye movement, (REM), when dreaming takes place. This cycle repeats itself throughout the night every 90 minutes, but in older people, the amount of deep and REM sleep drops dramatically and the amount of light, easily disturbed sleep increases. Add to this the fact that older people are also more likely to have health problems that interfere with their ability to sleep, and it's easy to see why this can be a problem.

All of that said, listed below are some simple things that can be done to counteract this phenomenon:

· Avoid evening exercise. Try to get your work out in by 4 p.m. so that your system has time to settle down before bed.
· Stay away from caffeine at least six hours before bed.
· Avoid alcohol in the evening. The effects may help you to fall asleep faster, but you'll have a harder time staying asleep as the night goes on.
· Try to finish drinking liquids at least one hour before bed.
· Block out disturbances by closing curtains and wearing a sleep mask.
· Maintain a comfortable room temperature.
· Consider using a white noise device.
· Try to get outdoors during the midday. This will help to keep your internal clock on schedule.
· Make sure that your sleeping surface supports your body in it's proper anatomical position. You want a pillow and mattress or mattress overlay that mirrors your body's natural curves. CLICK HERE for pillows that will help you get a great night's sleep.

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