Tips to Avoid Back Pain on the Couch

• Go to bed. If you're going to nap—and face it, you probably are—go lay down in a real bed. Too many of us end up in the oddest positions when we doze on the couch, and very few people really think about the angle of their neck before drifting off in the recliner.
  
  Then you know how it is: you wake up an hour or three later, and the first thing you do is reach up to massage your sore neck. (The second thing you do is go get another piece of pumpkin pie.)
  
  
• Watch your posture. I wasn't kidding before when I said that you should always be thinking about your posture, even while watching Snoopy float down 34th Street in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Slumping into the couch places an unnatural strain on your spine. Make sure that your low back is supported: use a pillow to give lumbar support if necessary.
  
  One of the best ways to make sure you don't strain your back muscles while watching TV is rather simple: don't spend huge amounts of time in front of it. Granted, you do need to watch football or a holiday movie, but get up every hour and move around a bit. Change positions frequently when you're sitting down.

And Happy Thanksgiving from SpineUniverse! We want to help you get through this holiday—and on to the next—with as little back and neck pain as possible.