Scoliosis

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Scoliosis

What is Scoliosis?

Scoliosis is a medical condition where your spine is curved from side to side. The spine of an individual with typical scoliosis may look more like an “S” than a straight line.  Approximately 2% of the population will have a scoliotic curvature in their spine and approximately 10% of these are severe.

A scoliosis is named according to where the apex of the curvature of the spine occurs. Most commonly these curves occur in the thoracic (mid-back) and thoracolumbar (junction between the thoracic and lumbar) areas of the spine. Scoliosis does not commonly occur in the neck.

Early adolescence, specifically between 11 and 14 years of age is the ideal time to screen your spine for scoliosis. Scoliosis can progress during adulthood if not treated during youth. Therefore, being checked and treated at any stage can greatly improve your comfort, muscular strength and mobility.

What Causes Scoliosis?

Several types of scoliosis exist:

Structural (Idiopathic) scoliosis has genetic roots. A family history of scoliosis, particularly along the female side can increase your likelihood of having it by up to 20%. Idiopathic scoliosis usually develops in early adolescence between the ages of 11-14, with a higher incidence occurring in females than males (10:1). Progression of scoliosis is also more common in females than males. If left undiagnosed and untreated in adolescence, the curvature of the spine can progress.

Functional scoliosis can develop in adulthood, often in response to an injury or repetitive practice of asymmetrical activities (i.e. tennis, golf swing etc). It is a curvature of the spine that has formed from overuse of muscles on one side and underuse of muscles on the reciprocal side. Since it is muscular based, it can reverse with appropriate treatment and exercise.

Pathology-related scoliosis can arise in people with a neuromuscular disease such as muscular dystrophy or in response to a severe injury to the spinal cord such as quadriplegia.

What are the Symptoms of Scoliosis?

Physical signs in children after the age of 8 that parents should suspect is scoliosis:

  • Uneven hips
  • Uneven shoulders
  • One shoulder blade being more prominent than the other
  • Listing (bending) to one side
  • Pain around the areas above imbalanced areas.

Contrary to common belief, scoliosis does not result from poor posture. However, it can progress to a more severe curve as a result of a poor posture of weak spinal muscles.

How is Scoliosis Diagnosed?

Checking for scoliosis is normally undertaken during a routine clinical examination by your physiotherapist or doctor.

Your physiotherapist will examine your spine, shoulders, rib cage, pelvis, legs and feet for abnormalities and asymmetry. If they suspect significant scoliosis, they will arrange for X-rays to confirm your cobb angle – or severity of scoliosis.

A significant curvature in the spine detected in adolescence will require a review from an orthopaedic spine specialist.

What are the Treatment Options for Scoliosis?

PHASE I – Pain Alleviation

While not all scoliosis sufferers experience pain or discomfort a percentage do. In these patients the provision of pain relief does assist with patient compliance with corrective or prevention exercises.

Pain relief can be achieved through a variety of techniques:

  • electrotherapy modalities (ultrasound, TENs),
  • acupuncture,
  • release of tight muscles, and
  • supportive postural taping.

In this phase your physiotherapist may also introduce gentle exercises to maintain mobility in your spine as well as enhance your posture while your pain settles.

PHASE II – Rectifying Imbalances (Strengthening and Stretching!)

As your pain and inflammation settles, your physiotherapist will turn their attention to optimising the strength and flexibility of your muscles on either side of the scoliosis. They will also include adjacent areas such as the hip and shoulder region that may impact upon your spinal alignment.

The main treatment aims will include restoring normal spine range of motion, muscle length and resting tension, muscle strength, endurance and core stability.

Taping techniques may be applied until adequate strength and flexibility in the targeted muscles has been achieved.

PHASE III – Restoring Full Function

This scoliosis treatment phase is geared towards ensuring that you resume most of your normal daily activities, including sports and recreational activities without re-aggravation of your symptoms.

Depending on your chosen work, sport or activities of daily living, your physiotherapist will aim to restore your function to safely allow you to return to your desired activities.

Everyone has different demands for their body that will determine what specific treatment goals you need to achieve. For some it may be simply to walk around the block. Others may wish to run a marathon. Your physiotherapist will tailor your back rehabilitation to help you achieve your own functional goals.

PHASE IV – Preventing a Recurrence

Since scoliosis in many cases is a permanent structural change in the skeleton, ongoing self-management is paramount to preventing re-exacerbation of your symptoms. This will entail a routine of a few key exercises to maintain optimal strength, flexibility, core stability and postural support. Your physiotherapist will assist you in identifying which are the best exercises to continue in the long-term.

In addition to your muscle control, your physiotherapist will assess your hip biomechanics and determine if you would benefit from any exercises for adjacent muscles or some foot orthotics to address to correct for biomechanical faults. Some scoliosis results from an unequal leg length, which your therapist may address with a heel rise, shoe rise or a built-up foot orthotic.

Rectifying these deficits and learning self-management techniques is key to maintaining function and ongoing participation in your daily and sporting activities. Your physiotherapist will guide you.

What Results Can You Expect?

If you have mild to moderate scoliosis, you can expect a full return to normal daily, sporting and recreational activities. Your return to function is more promising when you are diagnosed and treated early.

Individuals with more moderate to severe spinal curvatures may need to be fitted for orthopaedic braces in order to halt curve progression. In some severe cases during adolescence, surgery is indicated. Both of these latter two pathways are overseen by an orthopaedic specialist who may require monitoring the progress of the curve with routine X-rays.

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Joint Injuries

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Scoliosis FAQ’s

What is Physiotherapy Treatment?

Physiotherapists help people affected by illness, injury or disability through exercise, manual joint therapy, soft tissue techniques education and advice.  Physiotherapists maintain physical health, help patients to manage pain and prevent disease for people of all ages. Physiotherapists help to encourage pain-relief, injury recovery, enabling people to stay playing a sport, working or performing activities of daily living while assisting them to remain functionally independent.

There is a multitude of different physiotherapy treatment approaches.

Acute & Sub-Acute Injury Management

Hands-On Physiotherapy Techniques

physiotherapy treatment

Your physiotherapist's training includes hands-on physiotherapy techniques such as:

Your physiotherapist has skilled training. Physiotherapy techniques have expanded over the past few decades. They have researched, upskilled and educated themselves in a spectrum of allied health skills. These skills include techniques shared with other healthcare practitioners. Professions include exercise physiologists, remedial massage therapists, osteopaths, acupuncturists, kinesiologists, chiropractors and occupational therapists, just to name a few.

Physiotherapy Taping

Your physiotherapist is a highly skilled professional who utilises strapping and taping techniques to prevent and assist injuries or pain relief and function.

Alternatively, your physiotherapist may recommend a supportive brace.

Acupuncture and Dry Needling

Many physiotherapists have acquired additional training in the field of acupuncture and dry needling to assist pain relief and muscle function.

Physiotherapy Exercises

Physiotherapists have been trained in the use of exercise therapy to strengthen your muscles and improve your function. Physiotherapy exercises use evidence-based protocols where possible as an effective way that you can solve or prevent pain and injury. Your physiotherapist is highly-skilled in the prescription of the "best exercises" for you and the most appropriate "exercise dose" for you depending on your rehabilitation status. Your physiotherapist will incorporate essential components of pilates, yoga and exercise physiology to provide you with the best result. They may even use Real-Time Ultrasound Physiotherapy so that you can watch your muscles contract on a screen as you correctly retrain them.

Biomechanical Analysis

Biomechanical assessment, observation and diagnostic skills are paramount to the best treatment. Your physiotherapist is a highly skilled health professional. They possess superb diagnostic skills to detect and ultimately avoid musculoskeletal and sports injuries. Poor technique or posture is one of the most common sources of a repeat injury.

Hydrotherapy

Aquatic water exercises are an effective method to provide low bodyweight exercises.

Sports Physiotherapy

Sports physio requires an extra level of knowledge and physiotherapy skill to assist injury recovery, prevent injury and improve performance. For the best advice, consult a Sports Physiotherapist.

Vestibular Physiotherapy

Women's Health

Women's Health Physiotherapy is a particular interest group of therapies.

Workplace Physiotherapy

Not only can your physiotherapist assist you in sport, but they can also help you at work. Ergonomics looks at the best postures and workstation set up for your body at work or home. Whether it be lifting technique improvement, education programs or workstation setups, your physiotherapist can help you.

Electrotherapy

Plus Much More

Your physiotherapist is a highly skilled body mechanic. A physiotherapist has particular interests in certain injuries or specific conditions. For advice regarding your individual problem, please contact your PhysioWorks team.

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Call Us or Book Online 24-hours

TeleHealth Online Appointments

Ashgrove Ph 3366 4221
Bulimba Ph 3899 1226
Clayfield Ph 3862 4544
Loganholme Ph 3801 3417

Mansfield Ph 3849 3099
Rochedale Ph 3841 0277
Salisbury Ph 3275 1044
Sandgate Ph 3269 1122

Back & Neck Pain Prevention Tips

Here's some very useful advice to help you prevent back pain and enjoy life to the maximum.

Posture

I'm afraid that your mother was right. If you slouch you'll end up with problems. Just one of those problems is back pain. You'll find other problems elsewhere on this website. Think "Grow Tall".  Imagine that you have a string screwed onto the back the back of your head, just above your hairline. Then think that someone is dragging you up off the chair you are sitting on. Hold this "grow tall" position for 10 seconds and repeat every half hour.As well as greatly reducing your chances of back pain you'll note that your chest has lifted, shoulders are relaxed, chin is tucked in, head is level and stomach muscles have contracted.  Not bad for such a simple exercise. This posture can be repeated in sitting, standing, sleeping, walking or running. Try it and physio will work for you too!

Lifting

The best method to avoid back pain from lifting is delegation. If this isn't an option for you, try the following:
  • Use a back support to lift loads over 15 to 20kg.
  • Bend at the hips and knees with your feet shoulder-width apart.
  • Firmly grip the load and hold it close to your body.
  • Think "grow tall" to tighten your stomach muscles and look upwards to straighten your back.
  • Stand using your strong thigh and buttock muscles to lift.
  • Once upright, turn by using your feet. Avoid twisting your back.

Sitting

Use the "grow tall" principle each 15 to 30 minutes while sitting. A supportive chair or lower back cushion is essential if you must sit. If possible don't stay seated for too long. Regularly stand up, stretch your back and walk short distances for a variety of posture. We were, after all, designed to hunt and forage - not sit in front of a computer!

Exercise

Fitness has many benefits. Stronger, more flexible muscles and less weight to stress the bones and discs. PhysioWorks specialises in the provision of exercise programs to keep your back flexible, strong and painfree. Exercise can involve aspects of flexibility, strengthening and postural control.Consider Real Time Ultrasound Retraining to ensure you are doing it right!

Sleeping

A quality pillow and mattress are necessary for a healthy spine. You do spend somewhere between one-quarter (1/4) and one-third (1/3) of your life sleeping.Do it in comfort!  You'll need to consider a new mattress if you wake up through the night or in the morning with back pain.  Please ask your PhysioWorks therapist for advice at your next visit.

Driving

Use the "grow tall" principle each 15 to 30 minutes while driving. The combination of sitting and bumpy roads are a recipe for back pain. A  lower back cushion is essential if you must drive any distance.If possible don't stay seated for too long. Regularly break your travels to have a walk and perform simple stretching exercises for a variety of posture and a healthy spine. We were, after all, designed to hunt and forage - not sit in front of a computer!

What are the Symptoms of a Heart Attack?

Some heart attacks are sudden and intense — the "movie heart attack," where no one doubts what's happening. But most heart attacks start slowly, with mild pain or discomfort. Often people affected aren't sure what's wrong and wait too long before getting help. Here are signs that can mean a heart attack is happening:chest painShortness of breath. May occur with or without chest discomfort.Chest discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort or heaviness in the centre of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one (commonly left) or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.Other signs: These may include breaking out in nausea or vomiting, cold sweat, or dizziness/lightheadedness.If you think you or someone with you is having a heart attack, Call 000 Immediately!Don't wait longer than a few minutes (no more than five) before calling for help. Call 000 ... Get to a hospital urgently.

What are the Symptoms of Chest Pain originating from your spine?

Your spine is a prevalent cause of chest pain, which can be fixed by treatment of your thoracic spine and rib cage. However, chest pain originating from your spine won't kill you, but a heart attack can!Spinal Discs can refer pain through your chest wall like a knitting needle. Coughing or Sneezing hurts.Thoracic Facet Joints refer pain around your rib cage. Trunk movements will aggravate or ease your pain.Rib Joints send pain down and around your rib cage. Pain can increase with coughing, deep breathing and trunk or shoulder movements.Back Muscles will generally be more painful in sustained postures, e.g. sitting at a computer. These are commonly felt between your shoulder blades and can be relieved by massage.

What to Do Next?

As mentioned earlier, if you suspect a heart attack, Call 000 immediately and get to hospital straight away. If your symptoms are not heart attack related, consult your physiotherapist for an assessment of your spinal and chest joints and muscles. Most of your muscular or thoracic and rib joint pain will be relieved after your very first consultation.For more information, please consult your doctor or physiotherapist.

More info:

Thoracic & Chest Pain

What are the Benefits of Good Posture?

good-posture-sitting

Good Posture:

  • Keeps your bones and joints in the correct alignment.
  • Helps to decrease the abnormal wearing of joint surfaces.
  • Decreases the stress on the ligaments holding the joints of the spine together.
  • Prevents the spine from becoming fixed in abnormal positions.
  • Prevents muscle fatigue.
  • Prevents any backache and muscular pain.
  • Contributes to a competent and confident appearance.

To Achieve Good Posture You Will Require the Following:

  • Good muscle flexibility
  • Normal motion in the joints
  • Strong postural muscles
  • A balance of muscles on both sides of the spine
  • Awareness of your posture, plus knowledge of proper postural position, which leads to conscious correction.
Practise the correct posture for standing, sitting, and lying down (as described below) to gradually replace your old position.

What is Good Posture?

Standing with the good posture looks and feels fantastic, plus it's very healthy for your joints, muscles, bones, blood circulation and most importantly, your self-esteem. That's why proud and confident people stand tall with excellent posture. It's a habit!How you hold your body in space is your posture. Your posture is a direct result of the postural habits that you commonly exhibit. You can choose to hold good posture or poor posture. Gravity is your worst enemy while standing or sitting. You could also refer to this as your spinal posture, back or neck posture.The good news for you is that you can quite easily change your postural habits and train your body to sit, stand, walk, and even rest in great postures. Good posture also places the least strain upon your supporting muscles and ligaments.But, no one posture is good to maintain all day. As a human, you were designed to move from posture to posture to avoid muscle fatigue and abnormal sustained tissue loading. This means that your best posture is your next posture!

Benefits of Good Posture

Good posture:
  • Prevents postural muscle fatigue.
  • Correctly aligns your joints and bones to encourage efficient muscle activity.
  • Helps minimalise joint stress.
  • Avoids passive ligament overload.
  • Prevents backache, neckache and muscular pain.
  • Contributes to your enhanced confidence and a good appearance!
Standing comfortably with good posture should feel natural and energy efficient. Bad postural habits can cause a few muscular aches and pains for a few days during the early transition (posture habit change) phase. You may experience temporary joint or muscle discomfort or fatigue as your joints realign, ligaments stretch and postural muscles start working. The good news is that if you keep at maintaining a good posture your body will quickly adapt and you'll feel more comfortable and strong in your new normal posture.Plus... the up side is that not only will you be less likely to suffer pain, you'll look confident and feel fantastic too!

How to Improve Your Standing Posture:

The number one tip to achieve a great standing posture is to simply"stand tall"! All the muscles that you need to push you taller are the same ones that improve your posture.
  • Stand tall!
  • Extend your head directly up (think balloon lifting your head with a string in the top of your scull) - but keep your chin tucked in. Avoid tilting your head forward, backward or sideways.
  • Your earlobes will line up with the middle of your shoulders.
  • Keep your shoulders back, your knees straight and your back straight.
  • Let arms hang naturally down the sides of the body
  • Lightly draw in your core stomach muscles. Avoid tilting your pelvis forward.
  • Avoid locking the knees
  • Ensure your feet arches are in a neutral (not flat) position.
  • Stand with weight over the the centre of your feet.
  • Stand with your feet slightly apart (shoulder-width).
  • When standing for a sustained periods, shift your weight from one foot to the other, or stand in walk stand and rock your weight from your front to back foot.

How to Quickly Check Your Standing Posture

Stand against a wall with shoulders and bottom touching wall. The rear of your head should lightly touch the wall.

How to Correct Your Posture?

If you experience discomfort in the above test and you can't easily correct your posture, you may have some restriction of joint, ligament or muscular movement. All of these problems can be quickly assessed and quickly improved by your physiotherapist. Please consult them for advice.Having difficulty maintaining a normal upright posture? You are probably suffering from reduced muscle endurance or strength. But these can both be easily improved with some practice of the right exercises. Your physiotherapist is an expert in prescribing the best postural exercises for you in a stage-appropriate manner to help your improve your posture without causing unnecessary pain or injury.You physiotherapist may also advise a posture brace or prescribe some posture taping to assist you to quickly achieve and maintain a good posture.Contact your physiotherapist for posture advice specific to you and your needs.

What is the Best Standing Posture?

Standing with your best posture not only looks and feels fantastic, but it's also very healthy for you.Great posture is the best thing for your muscles, joints, bones, blood circulation and most importantly, your self-esteem. That's why proud and confident people stand tall with excellent posture. It's a successful habit!Good posture also places the least strain upon your supporting muscles and ligaments.How you hold your body in space is your posture. Your everyday posture is a direct result of the everyday postural habits. You can choose to hold good posture or poor posture. The constant compressive weight of gravity is your worst enemy while standing or sitting. You could also refer to this as your spinal posture, back or neck posture.It's actually quite easy to improve your postural habits. But it is a habit and researchers suggest that it takes 10000 attempts to create a habit. That's a good or a bad habit! Why not start the new you with a proud and posture perfect body today?

What is Your Best Posture?

Humans were always designed to move and be versatile. You were designed to move from posture to posture to avoid muscle fatigue and abnormal sustained tissue loading. When we were hunters and gatherers it was easy. But, with specialised jobs and postures, we tend to become static for too long these days and that causes postural fatigue, which leads to posture failure. This means that your best posture is your next posture! 

Benefits of Good Posture

Good posture:
  • Prevents postural muscle fatigue.
  • Correctly aligns your joints and bones to encourage efficient muscle activity.
  • Help minimalise joint stress.
  • Avoids passive ligament overload.
  • Prevents a backache, neckache and muscular pain.
  • Contributes to your enhanced self-esteem!
Your ideal standing posture should be comfortable, easily attained and maintained. Your best posture should feel natural and be energy efficient. Bad postural habits can cause a few muscular aches and pains for a few days during the early transition (posture habit change) phase. During this period you can experience some temporary joint or muscle discomfort. These discomforts are related to mild joint adaptation as your joints realign, ligaments stretch and postural muscles start working. The good news is that if you keep at maintaining a good posture your body will quickly adapt and you'll feel more comfortable and strong in your new normal posture.Plus... the upside is that not only will you be less likely to suffer pain, you'll look confident and feel fantastic too!

How to Improve Your Standing Posture:

If I had to tell you one "switch" tip, it is simply to "stand tall" whenever you think about it. The muscles that you use to stand taller are exactly the same muscles that improve your posture.
  • Stand tall!
  • Think tall neck (ballerina or model style)- but keep your chin tucked in. Avoid tilting your head forward, backward or sideways.
  • Your earlobes will line up with the middle of your shoulders.
  • Keep your shoulders back, your knees straight and your back straight.
  • Let arms hang naturally down the sides of the body
  • Lightly draw in your core stomach muscles. Avoid tilting your pelvis forward.
  • Avoid locking the knees
  • Ensure your feet arches are in a neutral (not flat) position.
  • Stand with weight over the centre of your feet.
  • Stand with your feet slightly apart (shoulder-width).
  • Shift your weight from one foot to the other when standing for a sustained periods. Alternatively, stand in a walk-stand and rock your weight from your front to back foot.

How to Quickly Check Your Standing Posture

Stand against a wall with shoulders and bottom touching the wall. The back of your head should lightly touch the wall. If you can't do this without pain or strain, you may have some restriction of some spinal joints, ligament or some muscle tightness. All of these problems can be quickly assessed and quickly improved by your physiotherapist with some joint mobilisations, stretches, massage and/or strengthening exercises. Please consult your physiotherapist for specific advice regarding your posture.

Posture Fatigue?

Having difficulty maintaining your normal upright posture? You are probably suffering from reduced muscle endurance or strength. Postural muscle fatigue can be improved quite easily with repetitive contraction and periodic posture breaks. This will help to strengthen and improve your postural muscle endurance.Your physiotherapist is a professional in prescribing the best postural exercises for you in a stage-appropriate manner.  They may consider temporarily prescribing you with a posture brace or prescribe some posture taping to assist you to transition, achieve and maintain the best posture for you.
A posture brace can help you position your shoulder blades into a better posture and allow you to return to everyday activities sooner. However, we don’t usually encourage their long-term use because research has shown that your shoulder and upper back muscles will weaken as you become reliant on the brace.  There are better ways that are exercise-based.Children's posture, in particular, can be improved by wearing a posture brace for an hour or two a day while studying to encourage awareness of a good posture.

More Information about Posture Braces

Back Tone 4000: Posture Trainer

A Biofeedback Device

Re-train your body to great posture in just 20 minutes a dayGood Posture makes you look great, feel more energetic and project confidence. It also helps prevent injury and reduce pain.We all want good posture but it can be so hard to achieve. That's because acquiring good posture involves not only learning new movements, but changing life-long habits as well.Just knowing how to correct your posture is not enough to achieve a change in your actual habit. Our body uses learnt motor patterns to perform everyday activities. When we sit, stand, walk or move - our body follows previously learnt motor patterns. If your body has learned to slouch - that's what it will do. BackTone helps you re-train that motor pattern.

What is BackTone?

The BackTone 4000 is the latest biofeedback device for re-training postural habits. Worn for short periods daily, BackTone beeps whenever the wearer slouches. Straightening up turns the beep off. Users wear their BackTone during everyday simple tasks.Wear the BackTone for about 20 minutes at a time during everyday tasks. Without even thinking about your posture, you will straighten up whenever the BackTone beeps.The New BackTone 4000 has:
  • 4 -5 second vibration option for use in noisy environments
  • New strapping configuration for more active tasks
  • Firmer strapping and rubber-backed waist band for less slippage
  • Easy change battery

BackTone Benefits

  • Can be worn at work - the sound emitted is low volume thus does not distract others
  • The backTone 4000 now has a vibration mode for noisy or discrete environments
  • Not cumbersome, easy to put on, no cleaning
  • Wear outside of clothing
  • Not a ‘support’ but a training device (reusable)

 Features of the New BackTone 4000

 
  • Vibration Option allows use in noisy or quiet environments
  • New strapping configuration:
    • Allows wearing during more active tasks.
    • Suits clients with sloping shoulders
    • Allows adjustment for wider range of body shapes
  • Rubber backing on rear waist helps to anchor BackTone
  • Louder, deeper beep (plus vibration option) allows use by people with hearing problems
  • Attractive new packaging and instruction guide

Health Practitioner Tips

Backtone Retrains Posture Habits Like No Other Strategy.Allow Sufficient Time
  • It takes at least 21 days to change any habit. Wear BackTone for 20 mins, a couple of times a day for as long as you like – and actually change the habit.
Use a Train/Feedback/Practice Regime
  • Wear BackTone to learn good posture during activity. Then REMOVE IT and practice without the feedback. Daily non-wearing is just as important as wearing. This allows the training to naturally flow into everyday activities.
Avoid Fatigue
  • BackTone is designed to be easily removed by the user before their muscles fatigue. Once muscles tire they won’t learn much at all. In fact, muscle fatigue may actually contribute to slouching and slow down the learning process.
User Friendly
  • BackTone is easily adjusted by the user even during a single training session. This allows them to set the training to their current status and task.
Develop Confidence and Skill
  • The capacity to apply, adjust and remove the device yourself encourages users to notice and manage their own posture. BackTone users will know when they’re slouching and do something about it, and will tend to alter environments such as computer setup, office chairs and seating of their own accord.
BackTone gives you the tools to provide a comprehensive program that results in real change in posture habits

What is the Best Way to Sleep?

Your Best Sleeping Position?

best sleeping position
Everybody has their favourite sleeping position. However, some are better for you than others. Try to sleep in a posture that helps you maintain the curve in your lower back. We recommend lying on your back with a pillow under your knees (if more comfortable) or on your side with your knees slightly bent.

It is preferable to not sleep on your side with your knees drawn up to your chest (the foetal position). However, having said that some back conditions will find this preferable. You should seek the advice of your physiotherapist if you are in doubt.

If you are suffering back pain, you could try lying over a lumbar roll or peanut cushion at night to make you more comfortable. A rolled sheet or towel tied around your waist may also be helpful. You may wish to avoid sleeping on your stomach, especially on a saggy mattress. This sag can cause back strain and can be uncomfortable for your neck.

What is Your Best Mattress?

Select a firm mattress or an ensemble that does not sag. If necessary, place a board under your bed's mattress. You can also set the mattress on the floor temporarily if needed. If you've always slept on a soft surface, it may be initially painful to change to a harder surface. Try to do what's most comfortable for you.

How to Rise from Bed

When standing up from the lying position, turn on your side, draw up both knees and swing your legs over the side of the bed. Sit up by pushing yourself up with your hands. Bend forward at your waist with your core muscles activated.

What is Your Best Pillow?

The human neck curves slightly forward (to sustain the weight of the head when upright), and it is crucial to maintain this curve when in a resting position. If the height of the pillow is too high or low when sleeping, your neck is bent abnormally out of alignment, causing muscle and joint strain. You can even wake with headaches.

Poor pillow support can also cause narrowing of the air pipe, resulting in obstructed breathing, and sometimes snoring, which can hinder sleep.

The best lying or sleeping position may vary, depending on your symptoms. No matter what posture you lie in, the pillow should be under your head, but not your shoulders, and should be a thickness that allows your head to be in a normal position.

To give your body the proper rest it needs, and to ensure the health of your spine, physiotherapists recommend only two sleeping positions: Side sleeping and supine sleeping.

Sleeping Tips

Sleeping on your side, with the spine straight.  Sleeping on your back, maintaining the primary curvature of the cervical spine. Both of these positions prevent poor alignment of the neck and upper back. Proper alignment can help to reduce the number of neck aches, backaches, pinched nerves, shoulder and arm referred pain, insomnia, and mental fatigue from a lack of effective sleep.

More Info

Book Now!

Call Us or Book Online 24-hours

TeleHealth Online Appointments

Ashgrove Ph 3366 4221
Bulimba Ph 3899 1226
Clayfield Ph 3862 4544
Loganholme Ph 3801 3417

Mansfield Ph 3849 3099
Rochedale Ph 3841 0277
Salisbury Ph 3275 1044
Sandgate Ph 3269 1122

Common Sources of Spinal Pain & Injury

Spine Regions

Joint Injuries

Muscle-related Injuries

Bone-related Injuries

Disc-related Injuries

Nerve-related / Referred Pain

Systemic Diseases

General Information

Book Now!

Call Us or Book Online 24-hours

TeleHealth Online Appointments

Ashgrove Ph 3366 4221
Bulimba Ph 3899 1226
Clayfield Ph 3862 4544
Loganholme Ph 3801 3417

Mansfield Ph 3849 3099
Rochedale Ph 3841 0277
Salisbury Ph 3275 1044
Sandgate Ph 3269 1122

Sports Injuries

Body Parts

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