Beyond fitness, which does have a lot to  do with waking up pain free (the more fit I become, the less I hurt – the better I eat after a workout, the less I hurt etc.), I used to have major lower back pain on a regular basis.  I did countless sit ups to strengthen my core in hopes that would straighten me out – it didn’t work.

A couple of years ago I spoke about this with my dentist, who I actually happen to be close with outside of his practice, and he recommended wearing a bite splint while I sleep.  After a lot of hemming and hawing about buying one (his are exceptionally expensive for proprietary reasons and he takes hours to make sure they fit properly within a thousandth of an inch).  I went from eating six to ten Aleve a week to two every couple of months.  I’ve written about this before, here.

As it turned out, I don’t wear my stress well when I sleep – I have a tendency to clench my teeth when with such force that it translates to pain in my neck and shoulders, radiating all the way down to my back.  Since I’ve been wearing the bite splint, not only have I knocked my Aleve Days down to a bare minimum, I actually feel younger – like I did when I was in my early 20’s.  It really is quite awesome only waking up with minor aches or pains related to the prior day’s workout – and if I eat properly, I’m hardly (if at all) feeling it.

If you’re feeling your age, as most of us do, talk to your dentist about a bite splint – the quality of my life is better many times over because of mine.

I’m feeling no back pain from yesterday’s push, and only minor discomfort from the effort in my legs.

On the agenda for today is a run with my eldest daughter followed by a ride through town.  I’ll be taking my time on this one, making sure to “smell the roses”.