Lower back pain can make it more difficult to fall asleep causing you to wake up and break your sleep in the early hours of the morning.

Here are some simple tips to help you get a better nights sleep.

1) Sleeping on your side in a semi-fetal will help get relief from a strained or pulled muscle and also helps prevent your discs and facets being irritated. Place a pillow between your knees for additional comfort, also remember that the correct pillow height is also important try to have it so that your head falls in a neutral position in line with your spine. Having said that no one position works for every person so if you do have a muscular spasm in your lower back you may have no option but to move around to find a position of comfort.

2) Has your mattress had its day? Is it worn and bumpy and is it firm enough to support your spine throughout the course of the night? A mattress that’s bumpy due to Springs collapsing etc can exacerbate lower back pain by not supporting the structures of your spine and this can make it more difficult to get a good nights sleep. When you go to select a new mattress try before you buy spend plenty of time choosing the one that’s right for you. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice as a lot of companies seeking beds have a good knowledge of musculoskeletal problems.

3) Listen to relaxing music. When we go to bed of a night time it’s tempting to have a play with your phone or watch a little television before we go off to the ‘land of nod’ instead of this try to avoid the temptation, turn off the lights and put some soothing music on, try to rid your mind of anything that’s happened throughout the course of the day or rid your mind of what you have to do in the morning. You can try classical music, podcast with a gentle story (not a horror) or even whale music.

4) Chronic pain If the pain is chronic there are techniques that can also be used to assist such as breathing techniques.