tips on sleep positioning
 

here's the backround...

i'm 36 and between an ankle injury,several years of unchecked sleep apnea, and yes, negligence my health's become rather dicey.

last spring i finally got a cpap machine, which is basically a fan going through a tube that attaches to my nose and lets me get the deep sleep i need.

unfortunately, a couple months into using it and ever since, i've been waking up with a steady stream of back ache. i'm normal after about a half hour, but it sucks to go through it. and on top of that, now i'm starting to notice slight twinges of the same back pain later throughout the day. i never had a problem with my back before this.

i'm pretty sure it started because i had to get used to securing the straps and mask correctly so it didn't slip or leak air sideways while i slept. also, i've always slept kind of like a horizontal mountain climber, with both of either my left or right arm and leg raised and i'm somewhere between my side and my stomach. unfortunately the mask gets in the way of sleeping like that and i think the pain stems from me tilting my head back and the resulting strain on my neck.

i tried sleeping on my back, but i'd wake up with a numb hip. i read about this and it sounds like "sciatica" which i don't want to pick up as a bonus condition.

anyway, long story short, i'm already on the path to eating healthier and decent excersize, but in the meantime i would like some info or tips on any kind of stretching or positioning strategy with a goal of waking up both refreshed and pain free, not one or the other. thanks.

Sleeping on your back puts pressure on your lower back, as you have found out. To take the pressure off, put something under your knees. In massage, we use bolsters under the knees for this purpose. A folded pillow could work as well.

Since you said you prefer to sleep on your side/stomach but can't because of the machine.. can you still sleep on your side? If so, try putting a shallow pillow between your knees. It also sounds like you might need a better pillow that may help keep you from wrenching your head back and bothering your neck.

Good luck!

Would a body pillow work here maybe? Dunno...

Have you tried a small neck pillow to help alleviate the strain on your neck? That along with the folded pillow under the knees should help making back-sleeping more bearable.

Hi

OK .. I'm on CPAP too, since November 2009, and have fought with the identical problem.

All my life, I have been a flat-on-my-face stomach sleeper, varying only to get in the kind of positions you describe.

Check the gear:
This is the machine I am using
ResMed - S8 Escape? II

Here's the general mask page.
ResMed - Masks

Here are the ones they had to offer at the hospital.
ResMed - Hospital Full Face

I'd started with the full face mask and felt like a cross between WW1 gas attack and Bondage session.

So I went on to the nose only mask
ResMed - Hospital Nasal


Nose-only mask has been number 1 help when it comes to getting closer to my prefered position. Side-of-head against pillos is now no problem at all. Flat on stomach is something I don't do often now .. but with careful pillow positioning, I can hang my nose and nose mask over the edge of the pillow.

Number 2 is Latex Mattress ... it allows a far greater range of positions whilst providing precise support. I'm not referring to memory foam, or to matresses which have a layer of latex. I am referring to a big 10inch deep latex matress. Unlike memory foam, it gives instant response to your position choice or position change

I used to weigh 230 (at 6' 1") and I had similar problems... minor sleep apnea, could only sleep on my side or stomach, numbness and pinching in the shoulder area, etc. Very similar to what you're describing. Anyways, I got down to about 190 (for reasons unrelated to sleep) and now I can sleep comfortably in any position without apnea or numbness.

It was a huge improvement for only some moderate weight loss.

thanks guys...

i'm gonna look through those zenda links, and i'm already doing some walk/jogs to lose the weight.

i've been improvising some light stretching before bed too since i posted and that's been helping. it also seems to make it so that it if i stretch when i wake up the pain goes away real fast.

You really raise a good point, Because many arises by the reason of wrong
sleeping style and positions... Normally wrong position of sleeping cause of muscles pull...

cut a hole in your bed where your face can go and sleep face down?

Some of the back pain comes with age. I the older I get the more aches and pains I notice.

update-

i stumbled on to a solution over the last couple months. when i wake up now i roll onto my back and gently roll/lean kinda sideways into my rib cage first one way then the other. this produces a small pop and the pain is gone. im still not interested in a chiro but this is workin for now!