Why do you have back and neck aches for days if you “sleep wrong” one night?
In: Biology
This is often caused by tension that is created by the sympathetic nervous system (a part of the nervous system that controls involuntary, unconscious actions that stimulate the fight-flight-or-freeze response like breathing). This response is normal, and it can be a reaction to stress.
Potentially, you may be unconsciously thinking about something stressful during sleep, or you might have a nightmare. When you wake up you find you have some tension that feels like stiffness in your neck.
When you get up, and start your day, the usual movements, like standing up, walking, turning your head and other movements will increase your blood flow. The blood will go more easily through the tightened muscles, and that begins to relieve the stiffness, and or pain.
This tension-based pain can usually be reduced with deep muscle relaxation techniques, as well as meditation or any way of reducing our reaction to stress, and negative emotions.
But if there is a severe you should see a medical professional for diagnosis.
Most likely because you are getting old. A few years ago I had to train myself to only sleep on my back. It was a challenge, but has really helped with neck and shoulder pain.
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So I’m no expert but I have Fibromyalgia/chronic pain so I kinda understand the experience closely. My pain is mostly muscular, so assuming what you’re describing is also muscular, here’s how I think about it:
When I sleep in a non-neutral position, it either over stretches or contracts a muscle for extended periods of time. My body “thinks” there is damage being done, and tenses the area to protect the body. The creates long lasting tension or even a spasm that has to be released.
Probably the pain lasts for a few days then goes away because it eventually works itself out and the tension releases. In my case that rarely happens on its own so I have to do a lot of stretching and self massage to get things unclenched. Obviously you can do that too. Sometimes taking magnesium can help too, in addition to anti-inflammatoires like ibuprofen.
Also everything in your body is connected so sometimes you have to release and stretch other area to feel relief in the area that actually hurts. This is where a physical therapist or someone who understands body mechanics is helpful if you have nagging pain you can’t figure out on your own.
EDIT: genuinely curious why I’m getting downvoted. Because I’m not an expert or I presented something incorrectly?
Injuries take longer to heal than they take to cause. Breaking your leg only takes a second but will take months to heal. Same concept but with the muscles and nerves in your neck, it may only take one night of bad sleep to hurt them but it will takes days to feel better.
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Especially if you are heavy and/or out of shape, if you sleep in a bad position it can put pressure on local nerves. This causes pain and inflammation (swelling). The inflammation can have the effect of stressing the nerve further, making the problem worse in a ~~negative~~ ~~positive~~ feedback loop. (**edit**: it’s a feedback loop of some kind).
If this happens, you can take a strong dose of ibuprofen or other anti-inflammatory medicine and (properly) use ice to reduce inflammation in the affected area. Usually, once the inflammation abates, the pain does as well.
You should see a doctor if the problem is recurrent or doesn’t respond to these treatments. (I am not a doctor.)
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Nerves are hardly ever pinched or compressed, especially those of the autonomic nervous system as they are outside of the spine. Those nerves of the central nervous system exiting the spine are almost impossible to pinch in a healthy person. Someone with an irritated nerve experiences weakness or tingling, not inflammation.
The joints of the spine have several structures that can become irritated by “sleep wrong” which may cause prolonged compression and/or torsion on the joint. Typically, the cartilage of the joint can become inflamed from prolonged compression, the joint capsule can become entrapped (pinched) and the structures around the joint can be strained/sprained. These structures can even refer pain to other parts of the body mimicking a pinched nerve.
To protect these irritated structures the body adopts pain-relieving postures and reactive muscle splinting. Both will resolve over time depending upon how much irritation was caused and underlying conditions (arthritis, muscle fatigue, etc).
Over the counter anti-inflammatories, stretching and joint mobilization can all be helpful. The role of ice or heat is debatable but can be tried for whatever relief they provide.
Muscle relaxants are often not helpful as the muscles are not in true spasm but trying to protect the joint.
If the condition worsens or fails to resolve after a week seek professional help.
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