Morning Stiffness
Do you feel stiff and sore waking up in the morning?
Waking up stiff sucks! It’s easy to say you “slept wrong”, or blame an old mattress or pillow. These often aren’t the culprit. We’ve all fallen asleep on the couch, or slept on a cheap hotel mattress; you know how it feels to be uncomfortable all night, and then wake up feeling horrible in the morning. It’s quite clear through the whole night that your sleep set up isn’t ideal.
I’m talking about a different scenario. You go to sleep without an issue, sleep fairly well, but as you wake, and try to get moving, you’re incredibly stiff, and sometimes in pain too. This is not your mattress, or how you slept; this is caused by inflammation.
Inflammatory levels in our body peak in the early hours of the morning, which is why this is particularly a morning problem (also why sufferers of sinus inflammation are more troubled as they wake up 🙋🏻♂️😣).
So, the question is, why are you waking up with increased inflammation?
Muscular inflammation?
Imagine going to the gym, or going for a long run, and then sitting in a car for an hour. Getting out, you’re going to feel incredibly stiff, like you’ve aged an extra 30 years in that hour. After fatiguing exercise, our muscles go through a short inflammatory phase. If you’re going to sleep with very tired muscles, you could definitely wake feeling stiff. This is likely to leave you feeling stiff specifically around the muscles that are fatigued. If you do an arm workout, then you wake with stiff ribs, shoulders, and neck. Exercise your legs, and you will wake with a stiff lower back and hips.
If this is you, I recommend trying to do more for your muscle recovery following exercise. Hydrate. Walk. Massage.
Dietary inflammation?
Some people can have an inflammatory response to certain foods. I know if I have two glasses of red wine, I’ll wake up with a blocked nose. This is a potential cause of migraines; for migraine sufferers, some foods will trigger inflammation of blood vessels in their head. If you think this could be you, each time you wake feeling stiff, write down what you ate the previous day. After a few weeks, see if you can find a pattern. A dietitian can help to narrow down on this and provide options for you going forwards.
Poor sleep?
One big reason you can wake feeling stiff and sore is from not getting enough good quality sleep. The amount of sleep you need is very individual, but if you’re waking up feeling tired, you’re not getting enough.
There is not a right or wrong way to sleep, despite what people trying to sell things might say. If you’re more comfortable on your side, great; or you prefer on your front, also fine. Your body will move around if it needs to move (unless you sleep with a pet 🥰).
Sleep is such a crucial thing for our health, it really should be a priority for everyone to ensure they are getting enough sleep.
An underlying inflammatory condition?
If you are consistently waking up feeling stiff, and it is taking more than an hour to settle, it is worthwhile speaking to your GP. There are some inflammatory conditions, particularly types of arthritis that can cause morning stiffness. Your GP can run some blood tests, and make the appropriate referrals so that you can get a diagnosis and begin treatment. Physio and exercise are often a part of the treatment plan, but blood tests and scans are usually required to make the diagnosis that informs your treatment plan.
So, what do you think is causing your morning stiffness? Do you need to focus on exercise recovery, prioritise your sleep, keep track of your food, or speak to your GP?
If you need help with this, give us a call, we’d love to help 🙂