I'm sure this cause of back pain may be familiar to some people and to others, not so much. But here I'd like to explore the rationale behind the "why" this could be a source of back pain. Let me tell you right now, it has all to do with your body's physiology!
As many people know, your body is made up of mainly water. Some famously say approximately 70%. But did you know that some of that water goes to your spine? Yes indeed. The intervertebral discs or the soft tissue structures that act as 'spacers' and shock absorbers for your spine need water to be healthy. I've included an image of an actual spine. In the image you can clearly see the vertebrae (bone) in red. They're red because they are infused with blood and blood vessels. What you see in white is a disc. Now pay close attention to the disc because what you'll notice is that in the middle, there is section that looks more like liquid and watery. Well your eyes don't deceive you. That is what's called the; Nucleus Pulposus and it is in fact, more fluid than the surrounding disc material.
Now on to the physiology portion of our discussion. The disc appears very white in the picture above because unlike the bone above and below it, it doesn't have blood vessels coursing through it. Therefore the discs throughout your spine don't get nutrients from blood to remain healthy.
What the discs actually need is time and rest. Rest away from weight bearing and upright posture that apply force to it from above and below. In addition, time to allow for some slight re-hydration of the disc material to remain in a more healthy and functional state. Wonder how you're going to manage that? That's right; SLEEP!!!.
When you rest for 7-8 hours in bed, you actually allow your body and your spine to in effect, regenerate and restore itself from the stresses you put on it from the day before. Make no mistake, your body actually needs this time to do this work. To be continuously sleep deprived puts your body in a state of stress, always playing 'catch-up' from the day before. Not allowing your body the time it needs to restore itself is a sure fire way to make pain a more likely problem for yourself. So I hope this discussion helps explain why not getting enough sleep can actually contribute to back pain.
If you have any questions or comments, leave them here or you can always visit my office in the Commercial Drive area of East Vancouver. Don't forget, you can also visit my website here; COMMERCIAL DRIVE - EAST VANCOUVER CHIROPRACTOR; DR. DOMINIC CHAN DC!!!!
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