♪ Bob and Brad ♪
♪ The two most famous ♪
♪ Physical therapists ♪
♪ On the internet ♪
- Hi folks, I'm Bob Schrupp, physical therapist.
- Brad Heineck, physical therapist.
- And we are the most famous physical therapists
on the internet.
- In our opinion of course, Bob.
- Today we are going to talk about the number one reason
your neck or back hurts at night and how to stop it.
We're gonna give you some solutions here.
- Well absolutely, Bob.
It's what we do.
- By the way, if you're new to our channel
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Brad, did you wanna grab it?
- Yes, I do!
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Something like that, right?
Yeah, electric massage balls.
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- Yeah, it's good.
It works well.
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- There ya go!
- Let's get right to it, Brad.
Most likely the reason you are having pain at night
or upon wakening is because your spine is not aligned
correctly.
- Sure.
- You're doing something incorrect during the night.
You're putting some stress on the neck or back.
What was beeping there, Mike?
Some stress on the neck or back that is being prolonged
and giving you pain.
Now, there's two other possibilities Brad.
- What?
- The second thing is you maybe did too much during the day.
- Sure.
- And it's starting to swell, like if you did too much
with your neck or back.
Or the third reason, which is about the less likely
is that you have an infection or something medically wrong.
- Right.
- So, less likely.
Alright, so we wanna keep your spine aligned.
So that means with your spine,
we're talking about the neck and the back,
you have a slight curve in.
- Yes.
- Brad, do you wanna be the curve?
- Oh, the curve!
Oh.
- Yeah, stand up like that.
Yep.
A slight curve in, a slight curve out,
and a slight curve in.
Well, we don't want, you know if it's the neck
is that bent flexed forward all night.
- Yeah.
- Which can happen when you're sleeping
with too many pillows on your back.
- Sure.
- And the back itself, too.
We don't want it rounded out all night long
or we don't want it, when you're laying on your side,
to be sagging down like that.
- Right.
And both of those can come from either wore out mattress
or not the proper mattress.
- Proper positioning.
So alright, let's start with the neck, Brad.
Why don't we jump into that?
- Oh, yes!
- So, when you're sleeping on your back
you're generally gonna want just one pillow.
I got a lot of pillows here, Brad.
- Pillows, pillows, and more pillows.
Let's get rid of them.
- So you're generally gonna want one pillow
so you're not like this position right here.
Now when I slip over onto my side,
I got my mic here, don't I?
You can see I got a gap here.
I'm trying to keep my spine aligned
so if I only have one pillow I'm actually gonna be down.
My head's gonna be down like this,
and that's gonna be uncomfortable.
So when you sleep on your side
you either gotta double this pillow up.
Some people put their hand there.
Or, you may have to use 2 pillows
which is probably the more likely thing, likely scenario.
Another little hint that you can do
when you sleep on your back.
You can actually take a rolled towel
and stuff it into the pillow and this provides
a little bit of support for that gap in the neck.
- Right.
- I'll show you in just a second what I mean by that.
So when I lay back down like this
now that gap fills in my neck here.
Give a little more support, just a little more comfortable.
It's something you can play around with
because you might need a little more towel,
a little bit less towel.
- Right.
They actually make sleep rolls for your pillow like that
but a towel typically is a good way to find out
if it's going to help.
- And they make pillows that are shaped like that too.
- Oh, those custom memory foam pillows.
- The custom memory foam pillows.
And those are real nice for a lot of people
but it is kinda custom, isn't it Brad?
- Right.
- Some people, they'll find one that works
and one that doesn't work.
It's really kind of a struggle to get a good fit.
This can also help when you lie on your side.
I said it right, Brad.
- Yeah we are getting much better at this English.
- So it fills in that gap there also.
So it's a good thing to try.
Another thing that, okay where's my pillow conformer?
Pillow case?
- Oh yes, the pillow case.
- Oh, here it is.
- Sitting on it!
- I'm sitting on it!
You can take a pillow case.
I've had a couple people this has helped, Brad.
- Yeah.
- So you take a pillow case.
- You're talking about patients that you work with?
- Yep, yep.
You can fold it lengthwise
and fold it lengthwise again.
- And then put it in the closet?
- Put it away, put it in a drawer.
My wife would be shocked that I actually folded something.
But you can actually make a little neck collar out of it.
Tape it or pin it in place, a little bit tight,
and it just gives your neck a little bit of support
during the night.
Keeps it a little bit straighter.
It's something to try if you're having a lot of neck pain.
- Yeah.
I'm thinking it might be like a back belt.
Sometimes just wearing it gives you some feedback
and keeps you in proper positions.
You're more aware of how you're sleeping.
- It reminds you, right.
- Right.
- This is what I do, Brad.
This is a little bit out there.
- Yeah, well it's for you, Bob.
There's a lot of people like you though.
- Alright, good.
- Well not maybe a lot but there's a few.
- There's a couple.
So this is the actual pillow I use.
This is a little throw pillow.
- Oh, wow!
- And when I sleep on my back like this
the reason I do this is it brings my chest up a little bit
and you see my neck is not bent as far forward.
Does that make sense?
So if this isn't there
can you see how my head is coming forward a little more?
So if this pillow is in place like this I'm more aligned
all the way along.
It's also great for shoulder pain
because I know we're getting off on a tangent here,
but when I lay on my sides
and I put my shoulder in the gap here.
- Oh, so it's a dual purpose.
- It serves a dual purpose
so it's just something you might try.
- Lay back down there.
I just wanna clarify.
- Lie back down there?
Lie down because now Bob's not putting his head down
into the pillow because of his mic.
- Right.
- You might notice his head is too high
and we just talked about being,
there ya go!
But we have to mind the mics.
- Good to clarify that.
- Yeah, people are gonna be saying
"Wait a minute, you're not practicing what you preach."
- Right.
- Alright, let's go to the low back, Brad.
- Oh, yes!
- Alright, let's try a few things with that.
The first thing would be, in order to fill in that gap
you could take a rolled sheet.
- You're talking about the lumbar?
- The lumbar.
- Right about at the belt line.
- Right, the lower back.
Do you wanna tie that in place, Brad?
- Tie it in place?
- Yeah, put it around you.
- Oh!
Well I'll give it a go.
Yeah so, they make lumbar rolls, sleep rolls, for this.
- We're gonna show that in just a minute.
- Yeah.
- But right now this should be a good way to start.
- Here we go.
- You're getting thinner, Brad!
- Oh yeah, yeah.
- You're slimming down.
- My wife doesn't feed me anymore, but that's alright.
So yeah, so we have some support here
and that's at that waistline right above the pelvis.
Right above the belt.
And there ya go.
- So now look when he's sleeping, it fills in that gap.
And this may vary from person to person.
If you're someone
with maybe a little more of an ample buttock area
you may have more of a gap there
and it's gonna feel even more comfortable
to have a rolled sheet there than Brad
who's kinda slender
and probably doesn't need as much of a support there.
- But it feels good, Bob.
- Yeah, this is always an experiment isn't it Brad?
- If your mattress is worn out or has a hole
or it just may be too soft of a mattress
or something like that.
This can also compensate for those things.
- Right, and the same when he lies on his side.
- Yep.
- Now the spine isn't sagging.
It's being supported.
So this is a great thing to start
if you've been having back pain at night.
- Right.
- It's one of the first things I would try.
- And it feels in that hollow spot between the ribcage
and the pelvis.
So there's, you know, that stomach soft area
which needs to fill in a little bit.
- Since you're in that position let's go ahead and,
- Oh, wow!
Yeah!
- With your spine, if your feet or knees are together
like here, you're putting a little bit of twist
on the spine.
- Yeah.
Plus you're kinda knee to knee.
Sometimes that's uncomfortable.
- Right, that's uncomfortable.
So it actually would behoove you,
- Oh, behoove!
- I love that word.
To try a pillow and give a little support to the back
that way also.
- Sure.
- Now the final suggestion we're gonna make
is actually when you lie on your back
you can take a couple pillows.
Brad, do you wanna lie on your back?
- Ah, I was almost asleep!
- And take a couple pillows.
- Oh, right.
- You know what?
I forgot to grab something.
You keep talking for a little bit.
- Oh, I'll entertain them while you're off doing that.
- Tell a joke!
- So, I'm gonna lay like this.
You can put the pillows like this.
You can put them like this.
Or, Bob, oh, Bob's got the deluxe!
- Yeah.
- Now this is something that I've used with many patients
and I have one at home for myself as well.
Very successful at comfort.
Particularly if you've got back, hip, or knee pain issues.
This can really..
Oh, yes!
- Yeah, what's this called again Brad?
- Oh, it's called the Leg Wedge.
- The Leg Wedge?
- Mhm.
- Okay, so we'll put a link down below over that.
I've had a lot of patients too that have really liked this.
It's kinda hard to replicate with pillows
because you need so many pillows.
And plus, Brad and I have talked about this before,
there's something about this support along the thigh
that just feels so good.
- Yeah, it comes in and supports those hamstrings
and that thigh.
And it just, you gotta pull it up a little snug there.
It makes it a nice difference.
I'm a happy camper!
- Now I think they do have ones
that are a little bit longer, right?
Because I really go over the edge of this thing.
- Yeah, Bob's feet are down there by the bathroom
when he lays.
- Yeah, so it's a nice device.
Brad often uses it with, like, a cold pack.
- Oh, yeah!
If I got a sore back and overdid it
I'll put a cold pack right where the sleep roll is
and lay there.
Lie there, and relax for about 20 minutes.
- Now, one other reason you might wake up with pain
is because your back and neck are stiff
from not moving all night long.
- Sure.
- So one thing you might try in the morning
is get rid of the wedge, yep,
and doing a little bit of trunk rotations like this.
Just to get the back warmed up a little bit.
- Right.
Real gentle, don't start out with stretching really hard
just go back and forth real easy.
- Yep.
- And, you know, gradually increase that range.
- Get thing's warmed up, yeah.
Might start with sole.
If it hurts one direction, don't do that direction.
Just work on the other direction.
- Yep.
And then come back and check this leg.
- Same with your neck.
You can do some chin tucks.
They're a little harder, yeah.
- Yeah this pillow is not my pillow.
- Yeah, that's too much.
- I'm not happy with it.
But yeah, you can do some chin tucks.
And with the mic I have a little issue.
- Yeah, and you can do a little bit of rotations too
before you get going.
- Oh, yeah!
- Do all that and you'll be ready for the day.
And remember, Brad and I can fix just about anything.
- Except for
- A broken heart.
- And we continue to work on that
and we will always continue until we succeed.
- Alright, we're not very good at that are we?
Thanks.