If you are on your phone or iPad in bed reading this then listen up!

I see patients all the time with back pain that is either caused by, or perpetuated by reading in bed. So I thought I’d better write a little article to explain why reading in bed can cause grief.

Your spine is designed like a large shock absorber.

When a healthy person is standing upright, if you look side-on you will notice curves in the spine. One that curves in near the base, a curve out in the upper back and a curve in at the neck. A big kind of ‘S’ shape (Check out the picture). Gray_111_-_Vertebral_columnThis shape means that when you walk, jump and run the spine can flex and absorb shock smoothly. Imaging if your spine was dead straight. Every time you ran or jumped the jarring would vibrate your brain to pieces.

Now the discs between each vertebral joint in your spine are designed to function with these curves in place. When you lie in bed for ages on a handful of pillows stacked up, your spine is in a big ‘C’ shape instead of the ‘S’ shape. This places several of those discs under a little unnatural compression for long periods of time. Now this is no issue really if you’re a 10-year-old, there is no wear and tear anywhere in the spine, no previous injuries and you can still tie yourself in a pretzel shape.

But if you’re like most adults…

. . . then you have accumulated a few sprains and strains throughout the spine over the years. Often resting the discs in this ‘C’ shaped posture night after night eventually triggers a ‘healing response’ from the body. In other words the body says ‘Hmmm, that joint is under threat, could be injured, better fix it’ and your body’s ‘fix it’ response is inflammation (pain), muscle splinting/spasm (more pain) and if you’re really lucky some nerve compression thrown in.

The solution?

Well I won’t stop you from reading in bed, but I will give you a few options:

  • Read for shorter periods of time. Do your longer reads in a good chair.
  • Don’t lie on three pillows in a big slouch shape. Either lie flat and rest the book/phone/tablet on your chest or sit with your bum hard up against the bed head so you are more of an L shape.
  • Finally if you have ongoing or reoccurring back pain, stop reading in bed for a while because even if you don’t have pain while you are reading, it may still be what is preventing your back pain from getting better.

 

Share this with someone who has back pain and reads of a nighttime, and if this article has been helpful then punch your name and email into the sidebar or front page and you will receive new posts as I write them.

Have a ripping week!

– Tim