Because I am not convinced that patients take it seriously enough, especially stomach sleepers.

“Stomach Sleepers”; they might as well be given a full-fledged name because not only do they sleep on their stomachs, but it is a mission for me to get them to stop.

I am hearing it already, “why can’t I”, “my husband snores”, “my shoulder gets sore”.  I could carry on here, but this is a blog, and you and I both know how boring that could be. 

In short, stomach sleeping creates extra torque or rotation on the cervical spine (your neck), adding increased pressure to the joints, nerves, and muscles, in a position that is unnatural. 

Have you ever wondered why you can only turn your neck the one way while you sleep? 

Or perhaps why the range of motion of your neck is reduced when you’re awake?

It is called habit and as we know, habits aren’t always good for you. What you are doing to your neck while you sleep, is creating havoc when you are awake. This increased rotational pressure creates inflammation, as well as the associated symptoms of aches, pains, pins and needles as well as headaches.

During lockdown, the amount of emergency patients I have seen due to neck spasms or migraines or headaches, far outweighs any other time before the lockdown was implemented. It is not just ‘one thing’ that can set you off. It is the months of doing the incorrect thing, adding to the stress of sitting at your new desk in your new home office in the kid’s playroom. And that ‘one thing’… is the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Your cervical spine has had enough, and it told you so, LOUDLY!

Put up with the snoring, or get your alignment corrected so you can sleep on your shoulders, or even have your spine checked by me. And if you do wake up that one morning with a neck that’s painful or a migraine that won’t alleviate, come see me at STICKS AND STONES WELLNESSHUB, in the Morningside Shopping Centre, it’s the Chiropractors’ forte.

June is MIGRAINE & HEADACHE month. It is a rather large topic so I will be covering it throughout the month of June so catch up with me on Instagram or on Facebook.

I will have more solutions for stomach sleepers, upper body stretches and exercises, and some tips to help you with your home ergonomics. If anything, we’ll have a laugh together.

Start finding that new sleep position.

Dr Debbie Cerva is the newest Chiropractic addition to the Sticks
and Stones Wellness Hub in Morningside Shopping Centre. She has been practicing for 13 years, owning two practices across Cape Town
and Gauteng and studying in various countries, learning different Chiropractic techniques.