- Mattress, temperature, bodyposture, howimportantarethey?
- “Appropriate sleep environment”a controversial disclaimer
- Our clinical perspective
During our sleep various environment stimuli cannot be identified unless the individual suffers from sleep disorders or pathological musculoskeletal conditions. Poor sleep can be followed by increased interrelation with lower back pain symptoms or knee pain symptoms(KimihikoMuraseetal. 2015). At that if we factor into 70.000.000 American citizens and 45.000.000 European citizens who suffer chronic sleep disorders, which affects’ body functionalities and general health,it is safe to say that finding the appropriate sleep environment is imperative.
Your mattress, the temperature and your sleep posture go hand in hand with psychological issues like declining ability to address chronic pain. However, if the latter elements are in tune, sleep quality may improve and consequently musculoskeletal issues.
- Many believe that the mattress can do the difference in your sleep quality. Scientifically speaking, when it comes to physiotherapists, the mattress is not the top factor that will define everything.
- Observing your body posture while sleeping (bolt upright, supine or on our side) may give us perspective about the needs of each body type.
- As far as temperature is concerned, Nick Obradovich et al., 2017 mention characteristically that sleep is highly regulated by the temperature of the room. Thus, in order to really rest body and soul the room temperature must be stable so that our metabolism and homeostasis rest too.
Our clinical experience, in addition to all the above, has shown that the suggestion to change our body posture while sleeping is utopian because it is impossible to demand from a patient to observe their posture and regulate it accordingly. Despite this, any different approach or disagreement by another therapist is always welcome.
However, before ‘accusing’ a patient for wrongful body posture while sleeping, ask yourself: “Is the patient certain that his posture during the day is the proper one?”
