Sleep and Chiropractic Care

by Dr. Mia Maginness

Sleep and Chiropractic Care

There is no doubt that sleep is essential for the body. It can help to regulate many important systems such as mood, healing, energy, anxiety levels and overall well-being. If you are tossing and turning, waking up regularly, or having difficulty falling asleep, these are signs that your sleep is not very high-quality – leaving you unprepared for the day.  

 

Let’s talk about a path forward to help with this and get you feeling fresh again. 

Reasons People Struggle with Sleep: 

  1. Screen time before bed: In order to initiate a deep sleep, your body needs to release a hormone called Melatonin. If you are on any screens prior to bedtime, the blue light from the phones, TV inhibits the hormone release, keeping you awake for longer.  

 

  1. Neck or Back discomfort: Many people might be tossing and turning or waking up sore from misalignments within their spine, which may cause muscle tension and make it hard to relax.

 

  1. Sleeping on your tummy: When you sleep on your tummy, this creates vertebral misalignments within your neck, leading to early onset of degeneration and disrupting the blood flow through your neck, therefore leaving you tired as you wake up.  

 

  1. Inconsistent sleep schedule: the body loves rhythm. We have systems such as heartrate, and respiratory rate – the body also loves a predictable time to go to sleep each night to help stimulate the release of Melatonin before bed.  

 

  1. Incorrect Pillow: Your Pillow is super important for ensuring we have a restful night’s sleep. Your pillow should support the natural curves of your spine which will allow the muscles to rest rather than tensing up.  

 

  1. Racing thoughts: this is when the body is stuck in “fight or flight mode” not leaving the day behind. 

 A Good Pre-sleep schedule is important:  

Time before Bed  What to do   Why it helps  
60 mins   Turn off all screens and dim lights   Tells your body its night time and encourages body to unwind and release melatonin 
55-45 minutes   Deep breathing (try box breathing)   Helps nervous system, and releive body from fight and flight  
30-15 mintues   Sip some Cherry tart juice   Enocurage relaxation  
Bedtime   Ensure supportive pillow, sleep on back or side   Promotes good spinal alignment  

 

 

How Chiropractic care can help support better sleep  

  1. Correct Spinal misalignments and support the nervous system

     

A peer-reviewed study showed that individuals receiving chiropractic care for four weeks reported improved brain wave activity (suggesting better nervous system regulation), increased light stage sleep, significant reduction in pain, anxiety and fatigue.  

 

  1. Insomnia and Manual Therapy 

A published randomised controlled trial found that cervical adjustments lead to a 21-24% decrease in insomnia severity amongst the group with moderate insomnia compared to the control group  

 

  1. Ensuring you are using the correct pillow

All of our chiropractors are trained to help fit and match your spine with a pillow that will allow it to be supported.  

 

Ready to sleep Better? If you are looking for a natural remedy to a restful nights sleep, please contact our clinic to book in with an initial consultation with our Chiropractors.  

 

Articles:  

Journal of Contemporary Chiropractic 

MDPI 

Written by Dr Mia Maginness (Chiropractor)

Category: Chiropractic