Question
It has been 2 years about now since i have been suffering from chronic thorasic back pain.  I havent had any traumas or anything that i remember.  The mid back area mostly hurts when i got to sleep, after about sleeping 2-4 hours the pain gets intense and i cant sleep any longer i get up and go sit on the couch and kind of slouch on it and i get some relief and end up sleeping on the couch, till i get up for work.  Now as far as chiroprators go, i have been through like 3 of them, non of them really helped, one was pretty good thow he told me that my Vertebra i think in the t9-t12 keep sliding out of place or twisting out of place, and i think one more in the t2,t3 area.  He keeps putting them back in, but the next day they would be out of place again.  Like i said before, the pain only gets intense when i sleep, and i tried sleeping in many different positions nothing helps.  After i get up it will still hurt, but will start to feel better, and after a little bit of streches and usually by noon my mid back pain dont bother me. So i can sleep, sleeping for me is like a nightmare, everytime i go to sleep my back just hurts like crazy, but does not really bother me through the day, can someone please help, what is my problem and what can be done, thank you!!!  

Answer
Dear Yuri,

The fact that only have problems with your spine when you are sleeping may be due to the fact that you have poor support at night from your mattress.  Is it old, too hard, too soft?  This would be the first thing I would address.

If you have been going to chiropractors for some time and the adjustments help, but the pain recurs after sleeping then either The mattress is the source of the problem, or you are deconditioned so much that the spinal adjustments are only a temporary fix, and you need to go through rehab exercises for stabilization.  It should be specific for the region of the spine and the problems associated.  you need to make sure that your chiropractor addresses this issue.  If they do not have a facility capable of rehab, you should find one that does, and you can find a sports certified chiropractor at www.acbsp.com.

As far as the mattress situation, if you need help with that, I would be more than happy to prescribe a tempurpedic mattress for you with a bit more information from your chiropractor on the current working diagnoses.  That way you can save money on the taxes.  I would encourage you to actually find a sleep center and check out these mattresses first.  I sleep on one, and prescribe them to my patients often, they are the best in my opinion.

Good Luck, Yuri.

Respectfully,
Dr. J. Shawn Leatherman
www.suncoasthealthcare.net