cause

Do you know someone that woke up with an injury or illness and attributed it to sleeping? It is not uncommon to hear people say something like, ‘I just woke up with it.’

While sleeping in awkward positions may trigger aches and pains in the morning, there are usually underlying conditions that are the cause of the problem.

Jacob Riis, esteemed reporter and colleague of Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before.”

The same principle holds true with your health, including the health of your spine and nerve system.

Spinal injuries known as subluxations, for example, can occur during the birth process, when a child is learning to walk, from childhood falls, toxicity, and stress just to name a few. This condition can lie dormant for decades and suddenly show up one morning because the way you slept was “the straw that broke the camel’s back.” And if the nerves are involved your entire body could be affected.

Your nervous system controls the function of every cell, tissue and organ in the body and adapts you to your environment. Brain function, heart rate, digestion, elimination, movement, strength, stamina, and the ability to focus and adapt are just a few of the daily functions of your nervous system.

Research shows:

– 8-10 mm of pressure, the weight of a dime, can reduce spinal nerve transmission (CU)

– Nerve compression can exist without pain (Spine)

– After only two weeks since an injury, the nerves begins to degenerate (T. Videman, MD)

Other lifestyle habits that can affect your spine and nervous system are overeating, poor nutrition, slouching, excessive drinking, taking prescription or non-prescription drugs, or sitting too much.

Because it only takes a small amount of pressure to injure a nerve and a little bit of time for the degeneration to set in, regular chiropractic check-ups should be a priority.

Don’t wait until you ‘feel it’ because you may not have pain at first. Schedule an appointment today to begin enjoying your sleep, waking up refreshed, and getting back to living your ideal 100 Year Lifestyle.

Article contributed by Emily Plasker, BA.