Mid/low Back Pain During Night

Back pain facts & statistics

although chiropractors care for more than just back pain, many patients visit chiropractors looking for relief from this pervasive condition. In fact, 31 million americans experience low-back pain at any given time.1



a few interesting facts about back pain:

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one-half of all working americans admit to having back pain symptoms each year.2
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back pain is one of the most common reasons for missed work. In fact, back pain is the second most common reason for visits to the doctor’s office, outnumbered only by upper-respiratory infections.
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most cases of back pain are mechanical or non-organic—meaning they are not caused by serious conditions, such as inflammatory arthritis, infection, fracture or cancer.
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americans spend at least $50 billion each year on back pain—and that’s just for the more easily identified costs.3
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experts estimate that as many as 80% of the population will experience a back problem at some time in our lives.4

what causes back pain?

The back is a complicated structure of bones, joints, ligaments and muscles. You can sprain ligaments, strain muscles, rupture disks, and irritate joints, all of which can lead to back pain. While sports injuries or accidents can cause back pain, sometimes the simplest of movements—for example, picking up a pencil from the floor— can have painful results. In addition, arthritis, poor posture, obesity, and psychological stress can cause or complicate back pain. Back pain can also directly result from disease of the internal organs, such as kidney stones, kidney infections, blood clots, or bone loss.



Manipulation as a treatment for back problems

used primarily by doctors of chiropractic (dcs) for the last century, manipulation has been largely ignored by most others in the health care community until recently. Now, with today's growing emphasis on treatment and cost effectiveness, manipulation is receiving more widespread attention.



Chiropractic spinal manipulation is a safe and effective spine pain treatment. It reduces pain, decreases medication, rapidly advances physical therapy, and requires very few passive forms of treatment, such as bed rest.5



in fact, after an extensive study of all currently available care for low back problems, the agency for health care policy and research—a federal government research organization—recommended that low back pain sufferers choose the most conservative care first. And it recommended spinal manipulation as the only safe and effective, drugless form of initial professional treatment for acute low back problems in adults.6



the american chiropractic association (aca) urges you to make an informed choice about your back care. To learn more about how chiropractic manipulation may help you, contact a doctor of chiropractic in your area. Search our online database of aca members to find a doctor of chiropractic near you.



Tips to prevent back pain

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maintain a healthy diet and weight.
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remain active—under the supervision of your doctor of chiropractic.
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avoid prolonged inactivity or bed rest.
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warm up or stretch before exercising or other physical activities, such as gardening.
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maintain proper posture.
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wear comfortable, low-heeled shoes.
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sleep on a mattress of medium firmness to minimize any curve in your spine.
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lift with your knees, keep the object close to your body, and do not twist when lifting.
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quit smoking. Smoking impairs blood flow, resulting in oxygen and nutrient deprivation to spinal tissues.
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work with your doctor of chiropractic to ensure that your computer workstation is ergonomically correct.



References:

1. Jensen m, brant-zawadzki m, obuchowski n, et al. Magnetic resonance imaging of the lumbar spine in people without back pain. N engl j med 1994; 331: 69-116.

2. Vallfors b. Acute, subacute and chronic low back pain: clinical symptoms, absenteeism and working environment. Scan j rehab med suppl 1985; 11: 1-98.

3. This total represents only the more readily identifiable costs for medical care, workers compensation payments and time lost from work. It does not include costs associated with lost personal income due to acquired physical limitation resulting from a back problem and lost employer productivity due to employee medical absence. In project briefs: back pain patient outcomes assessment team (boat). In medtep update, vol. 1 issue 1, agency for health care policy and research, rockville, md, summer 1994.

4. In vallfors b, previously cited.



5. Time to recognize value of chiropractic care? Science and patient satisfaction surveys cite usefulness of spinal manipulation. Orthopedics today 2003 feb; 23(2):14-15.

6. Bigos s, bowyer o, braen g, et al. Acute low back problems in adults. Clinical practice guideline no.14. Ahcpr publication no. 95-0642. Rockville, md: agency for health care policy and research, public health service, u.S. Department of health and human services, december, 1994.

I have back pain that is very similar to stephana's (the original poster's). It has not arisen during the day, only at night. It dissipates after I get out of bed. The pain is rather general in nature around the lower back, and feels to be in the muscles, as if they were subtly tight through the night and just wear themselves out--but that's just a guess. The problem began slowly, at least a decade ago (roughly age 40) and has slowly gotten worse. I start out in bed feeling fine, but over hours the pain develops, usually by roughly 3am, and increases, disrupting sleep. It can be postponed by the usual proper positions of lying on my side with a pillow between my knees, or lying on my back. Lying on my stomach is a big no-no, it guarantees pain within just a few minutes, though putting a pillow under my belly does a lot to help delay that. (i recently slept the whole night with a pillow under my stomach--a big surprise to me). I have a firm mattress with a 1-1/2" memory foam topper. Up until I was about 40, I slept on a mattress that was *very* soft (my wife called it a big hot dog bun) and usually slept face-down. So I have a life-long propensity to sleep on my stomach, and when I do roll-over on my belly unconsciously in my sleep, bingo! I wake up in pain. I do exercise....I've been jogging on a treadmill most days a week, perhaps 5 miles each time. I do a touch of free weight work as well. My body weight is currently a bit on the light side of average.

This problem has welled up quite a bit in recent weeks, and is ruining my sleep. I don't want to become an aleve "addict". There is some increased stress at work that correlates to the current flare-up, but I can't say that's it.

Any comments? This is getting out of hand for me.....

I am having the same problem as Stephana and webmasterbill. I wake up between 2:00 and 4:00 every night with mid-back pain. I end up taking ibuprofen or other pain medicine and then finally go back to sleep sitting upright on the sofa after 30 minutes to an hour. This has been going on for almost 2 years now, and I've probably only slept through the night 20 times in the last 2 years. I've had an x-ray and MRI, both of which showed nothing. I have been to a chiropractor for an extended period, which did not help. I've been to physical therapy for 2 different periods of time. I've also had cortisone shots in my back and tried several different prescription muscle relaxers and vitamin supplements. Oh, and I bought a new (expensive) mattress, but that hasn't helped either. I feel like I've tried everything, but nothing seems to work. I am young and healthy and am lost on this problem.

Seems like my back pain flares up more when I am stressed at work and will even hurt some during the day. The pain is definitely muscular and is almost like a form of cramping after lying down for several hours. From everything I've read, it would be considered myofascial pain (trigger points). Seems like the doctors can diagnose this problem but can't treat it.

I've probably spent $4,000 out of pocket on medical bills and buying a new mattress trying to get help, but no luck so far. I'm not giving up, but this is starting to wear me down.

If anyone knows how to stop this pain cycle, please help!

I am having the exact same issue as mike s and the others. I wake up at about 3am with muscle pain in mid to upper back. a few advil helps but i seldom get through the night. i wake up stiff but warm shower helps and i'm mostly pain free during the day. MRI showed nothing major that would cause this. dr gave me anti inflammatory but that did not help. only warm showers and massage seem to work.

i am adult male and thought it might be fibromialgia but i don't seem to have pain in other parts of my body.

i would appreciate any advice if anyone with this problem has been able to cure and/or improve your condition. it's effecting quality of my life.

thanks!

I have started suffering from this as well, but it has been for a shorter period of time. I wake up between 2-4 am and then I have to get up due to mid/lower back pain. Usually, by being upright it helps and the pain lessens after half hour. During the day I am fine and none of the symptoms appear.

When I went to the doctor she prescribed valium and a a lidoderm patch but they aren't helping. Next it will probably be some tests. She did say other conditions could be causing this such as stomach problems, heart, lungs, to name a few. But this would also present other conditions just not back pain.

I have even seen on the web that people suffer from Irritable Bowel Syndrome and have back pain. Unfortunately, it looks like it could be caused by a lot of things and figuring it out is the hardest part. Good luck to you and hope you get an answer. This lack of sleep is not fun.

I have the same now. About 7 years ago I had it for about 3 years and then it disappered magically for a couple of years. It came back about 18 months ago. I've tried chiro's, new mattress, GP's, Xray and CT. The first GP I saw couldn't diagnose anything wrong. He actually told me I'd live to be 100. Last year the GP I saw said that I simply have a 54 year old back! ( i'm 55 now ). This year (last week), I am seeing an excellent caring GP and I am undergoing a full set of tests. There must be something causing this. My gut feel is that because it happens at night when our metabloism slows that it may be a blood/oxygen circulation thing? I might try Aspirin? I do know I have low oxygen levels too.

I did have shingles about 7 months ago, maybe caused by stress at work at the time, and I wonder if this is all simply stress related. Who knows?

Here's one from left field - don't laugh, but I seem to think that I don't
suffer as much on the weekends, so I honed in on that theory. Now, I sit next to a set of electronic gates that scan freight coming in and out of the warehouse. They have a radiation warning sticker on them to advise to keep about 50 cm away. I'm about 1.5 meters away and behind glass. Well on Thursday last week I moved desks and that night and the 3 nights since (today is MON) I have had pain free nights. This week will prove interesting. A colleague told me that he heard on the weekend TV something about exposure to radiation levels resulting in Iodine level changes causing pain. Can't find anything on the web about this though.

I will keep you posted on my testing and theories, and would love to hear from any of you regarding a cure or treatment... cheers, Tony

Hello Stepana and others,

First thing that came to my mind om reading your first sentence was "she needs a new mattress". But you say you have a good mattress. Perhaps.

First question is what type of mattress do you have and yes, how old is it? And is it a pillowtop?

When we are young we can sleep on almost anything. As we get a bit older, our back gets more "fussy" so to speak.

I'll look forward to your reply and then I'll tell you what I know sleep on.

Take care.

RichT

I have a very similar situation to you Stepana and as near as I can tell we are the only females complaining of this. I tend to sleep on my right side (yes, I have a good, firm mattress) and around 3 am or so I wake with mid-back pain. At first, turning over seemed to help or lying on my back. But nothing to do with positioning, even sleeping on another surface seems to change it now. My pain seems to be off either/both side of my spine, which makes me wonder if kidneys could be involved. This started about two months ago - and is now a nightly event. Since your posting is over a year old, I wonder if you've found anything more out about cause or how to alleviate the problem?

Do any of you guys sleep with good ventilation (windows open)? I read somewhere a link that the kidneys struggle and work overtime if they are starved of oxygen and this would add up with the other poster's info on metabolism.

Personally, I'm testing this theory but the wife doesn't like a draught so I have to relegate myself to the spare room!!

I also have problems (not back pain, just overheating!) during the day if I don't have a good supply of fresh air so perhaps it's just me. It would be interesting to know how others sleep though.

Let me know.

CDG

Hello all. I'm up yet again at 3:00 am with a tight painfull back near midsection. Tonight is notably worse than usual. Its all the way up my neck.

To start off.... I'm male. 32 years old. I have always been in good shape. 5'11". 155lbs. This started in my 20's. Have tried a new bed, x-rys, doctor visits, physical therapy ect.ect. This problem comes and goes over the months. It's generally always there, just not as bad at times.

I'm a very active person. I can run a mile, ride a motorcross track, air out a wake board, and have no pain. I've had no surgurys or broken bones in my life. No serious injurys either. My back never hurts when I am up and moving around or durring outside recreation. It's when I stop moving that the tightness and dull ache starts. Sometimes even when I watch a movie. I'm up every night a 3:00am like clockwork and I leave the bed so my tossing doesn't wake up my wife.

Like all of you I'm at a loss ane there seems to be no cure. (other than getting up and moving around) Physical therapy and stretching exercises seem to help sometimes. This really boils my blood because I know many many people who arent active, never exercise, never stretch, and can snore all night long pain free. SO FRUSTRATING.

I've seen three Dr's. All are baffled. Going to try a fourth Dr next week as it seems to be getting worse. 4-5 hrs of sleep is maximum. I usually end up napping on days off durring midday from the prior week of crappy sleep.

Edit....
CDG, I do not sleep with the windows open. I will try that but I'm in a similar situation. My wife is an athsmatic. I would have to sleep in the other room to try it. Going to try it anyway now.

Also note. My twin brother has recently been experiencing this on a less severe scale. He says he does stretches before bed and he's fine. I wish that worked for me.

I have a very similar problem although it doesn't just flare up at night. I cannot lay on my left hand side on the sofa as it gets painful after about half an hour. This also happens in bed. I have tried sleeping with a pillow between my legs and this does help for a short period. I have 2 young children one of which I still carry on my left hip a lot. I have been prescribed anti inflammatories and take pain killers before I go to bed and these seem to help although would not like to be doing this long term.

I have had an MRI scan which has shown up a few hemangiomas and one of which is concern is one that is 10mm so I am having a CT scan tomorrow. THe doctor does not know whether this is related to the pain or not.

I just used a herbal pillow, which was heated in the microwave. It helped me through the nite.

I'm having the same problem, and while it's good to see I'm not alone, it's discouraging that no one has found a good, solid solution or diagnosis. About a year ago, I would have the middle-of-the-night backache, waking me up. It was like a painful tightening of the muscles in my mid back and often felt as if it was wrapping around to the front of my ribcage. I would take some Advil or Tylenol and it would go away within an hour or so. Only happened about once every 4 - 6 weeks, but went several months with no problems this past spring. Happened a couple of times since then, but the past 9 days it has been EVERY night and it's much more intense and long-lasting, often 4 - 5 hours awake after only an hour or two of sleep. Went to the dr. a week ago, no results from EKG and x-ray, given muscle relaxers (worked one night and not since) and painkiller (ditto) I'm becoming sleep-deprived, and as a working mom to two very energetic kids, I'm getting very frustrated! Never believed in chiropractors, but I'm starting to feel desperate!

My boyfriend is having the same issue. It's always around 2ish and he has to get up out of bed to ease the pain. I have been googling and googling and nothing.
This is along shot... but maybe it's a food allergy. I know it's a long shot and it even sounds a little ridiculous.
I hope someone finds something helpful to everyone.

To a pain free future!!

The best thing for all of you to do is seek the opinion of a spinal surgeon to evaluate and diagnose if you have any kind of spinal problems going on.

You really need to see either an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in spines or a neurosurgeon who specializes in only spines.

These doctors will examine you, have you get any tests, x-rays, MRI etc that would be needed and then determine the best course of treatment for you.

Until you are properly evaluated by a doctor that specializes in spines, you will continue to suffer without any diagnosis.

Good luck to all of you and let us know how you make out.

Fran

I was having very similar pains to what you all describe and I found somewhere that a calcium deficiency can cause back spasm and 'charlie horses' in your left leg.
I tried drinking a big glass of milk before bed that night and it worked. Amazing. It might not be the same thing you have, but I haven't had one incident since I started drinking the milk before bed. Can't hurt to try....

Over the years, I have encountered my patients with this type of problem. I have found that organ-referral is usually present in some form. Every time, there seems to be a different solution, with different people, but all seem to cause the same thing. Here are the things that have worked, in order from most to least:

1. Stomach issues: Acid reflux, heartburn, ulcer, etc.
2. Antioxident deficiency: Causing liver stress, etc.
3. Low adrenal output: Adrenal fatigue caused by excessive stress, and imbalances in blood sugar by not eating correctly.

Anyone here identify with any of these 3?

I had some back pains from the way I sleep and spending long time on the computer (really uncomfortable chair at work) then I started drinking a juice with Acai and 18 other fruits called Mona Vie and my pains slowly went away. I now share it with all my family and friends show them how to get it for cheap and they love me for it. Look it up.

For about a few months now I've been trying figure out the cause of my mid/lower back problems at night. I've had several doctor appointments, but still nothing was found. Until I came across this forum, I couldn't believe all the similarities I shared with everyone else. Has anyone been able to find a solid diagnosis? Or some way to control this irritating pain that robs me of sleep!? Please reply!