Can hotel beds cause back problems?

WHO, WHAT, WHY?
The Magazine answers...

Bowlers often suffer back injuries

Cricketer Ryan Sidebottom's back pain is being blamed on uncomfortable hotel mattresses. Can staying in hotels really be bad for the back?

Bowlers put a huge pressure on their back and are prone to spinal injuries, so it should be little surprise to learn of Sidebottom's injuries.

But the explanation for his stiff back - which might mean he misses the next Test match - was unexpected.

"The problem arose because we travel around the country every week and we're sleeping in a different bed," said Ottis Gibson, the England bowling coach.

"Unfortunately, Sidebottom suffers more than anyone else at the moment from sleeping in different beds. He often wakes up and he's got a stiff back."

THE ANSWER Beds which you are unaccustomed to can cause back stiffness But a mattress might only be a contributing factor

So can sleeping in different beds be bad for the back?

"If you sleep at home every night you tend to adopt the same position in the same bed - which is as soft or hard as you like," says Sammy Margo, chartered physiotherapist and author of The Good Sleep Guide.

"But when you are travelling you have to sleep in an 'alien bed' which can cause problems."

It means that your back is experiencing different mattresses - like from soft to hard, for example - and that can make it stiff.

Added to this, Ms Margo says a cricketer who exerts a lot of energy and is full of adrenalin for long periods of the day is likely to have tight muscles and be in a state of alertness when he goes to bed - which can be exacerbated by an "alien bed".

She thinks Mr Sidebottom might also be predisposed to "early morning stiffness" and could benefit from physiotherapy to loosen up his back in the mornings.

Bed 'battleground'

Mattresses can cause back stiffness

But Professor Idzikowski, the director of Edinburgh Sleep Centre, says he would be surprised if the professional cricketer's back pains were down to hotel mattresses because the industry has invested in refurbishment.

"Some B&Bs might have still have old mattresses. But the kind of hotels that the cricket team will be staying in regard sleep as one of the areas they need to compete in. It is part of the battleground they need to win."

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But Ms Margo says it is not the quality of mattress which is the problem, but the variety that cricketers or corporate travellers on the move encounter. And she says anyone who has an inappropriate mattress is also at risk - estimating that 70% of back pain she treats might be partially down to this.

Dr Dries Hettinga, a spokesman for charity BackCare, says although mattresses could be part of Mr Sidebottom's problem, it is difficult to know what triggers back pain - which will affect four in five people over their lives - because it is usually caused by a combination of factors.

If people are worried about their mattress - which should be changed every 8-10 years - Dr Hettinga advises a quick test.

"Lie on your bed and put your hands under your lower back. If you can't comfortably do so, the bed is probably too soft. If there is a big gap, it is probably too hard," he says.

But ultimately a mattress is a matter of personal preference. Unless you are in a hotel.