Did you know that our body heals itself while we sleep? Sleep is essential to our bodies as it helps to rid our bodies of toxins, encourages cellular repair, and restores energy.1 When recovering from spine surgery, adequate rest is vital to stimulate an effective and speedy healing process.
After spine surgery, quality rest can seem unrealistic, but it shouldn’t be. By following these easy tips, you will be out like a light while your body is working hard to heal your spine:
- Invest in Your Sleep Environment: To obtain quality sleep for healing, you must invest in your sleeping environment. A supportive mattress, comfortable pillows, and cozy blankets are necessary to ensure a restful night of sleep after spine
- Sleep with Proper Positioning: After surgery, your physician will likely recommend sleeping on your back with a pillow under your knee for a neutral spine. While this positioning may take time to adjust to, it will ensure more quality sleep due to less strain on your spine.
- Don’t Skip Your Pain Medications: Your pain medications are prescribed for a reason, to reduce your pain and inflammation in your Taking your pain medications as prescribed will help to alleviate any discomfort you may be facing as you try to rest.
- Practice Relaxation Methods: If you find yourself not being able to sleep well at night, try implementing relaxation methods before you go to Certain activities like deep breathing, meditation, reading, or listening to music can all help to put your body at ease, allowing for better, restorative sleep.
Following these helpful tips will allow you to get quality sleep and maximize healing for your spine. If you need more guidance after your recent spine surgery, our orthopedic specialists at Hinsdale Orthopaedics at Munster are happy to help. Get world-class care at Hinsdale Orthopaedics today!
Author: Dr. Cary Templin specializes in the operative and non-operative treatment of the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine. Dr. Templin is an expert in minimally invasive surgical procedures. His practice includes spinal decompression and fusion, microsurgery and motion-preserving procedures, including artificial disc replacement.in Munster, Indiana.
Reference:
1. https://www.healthline.com/health/why-do-we-sleep