If you are having trouble with your sleep, one of the factors to look at is your sleep position. Is sleeping position causing you not to fall asleep or stay asleep? Is your sleeping position causing your neck pain or stiff neck when you wake up?
There are many positions for sleeping. Sleeping on your back, sleeping on your side, or sleeping on your stomach. Sleeping on your stomach is by far the worst sleeping position. Some people get used to sleeping on their stomach and it’s hard to get out of this habit as they age.
Sleeping on your back is actually an ideal position for sleep. However it’s a hard habit to follow every night. When you sleep on your back you actually stretch out your body evenly on the mattress. There is alignment of your head neck and spine in a neutral position. I like to recommend the back sleeping position because it puts the least amount of stress on your body. The least amount of stress on the bones in your spine and the discs of the spine. Incidentally, if you have an issue with acid reflux - back sleeping is ideal. If you lay on your back and elevate your body with, for example a bed wedge or a bolster, your pillow can help you keep acid from coming up.
There are two disadvantages if you are a back sleeper. Number one is snoring and number two is sleep apnea. Both can be made worse by back sleeping.
Sleeping on your back and make your snoring worse by making it louder. Snoring is so annoying to the person sleeping next to you and it someone they may give you a gentle push to make you sleep on your side to stop the snoring sound.
Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that causes your breathing to stop and start again. It can cause loud snoring or choking sounds. Sleep apnea is often linked to heart disease and high blood pressure. If you do a lot of snoring this is something that you should look further into, possibly a sleep study. Sleeping on your back can make your snoring worse by making it louder.
It can be difficult to sleep on your back but there are ways that you can help this. One way is to choose the right pillow for sleeping. One example of this is the Arc4life cervical traction pillow which can help you to sleep on your back. This pillow has two sides to it it has a support side and a traction side. The support side of the traction pillow allows you to keep your head and neck in neutral position. The traction side of the pillow allows your neck to be gently stretched while sleeping on your back. With this particular pillow you want to make sure you purchase the right size of pillow. If you use a pillow that is too large for example, your head will be pushed forward which can cause forward head posture. This can lead to neck pain, stiffness, and headaches.
Let your body gradually get used to sleeping on your back. Start every night in this position and train your head and neck muscles to know what this feels like. Using a supportive cervical pillow will help with this.
Additional Reading Resources:
- 5 Products You Can use for neck Stretching
- How to get used to your new cervical support pillow
- Why its better to use a pillow vs no pillow
- The key to Restorative Sleep
- The Neck Pain Support Group
- A pillow for back sleeping that works for post surgical patients
