The Encinitas Chiropractor to see - Chiropractor Encinitas

How Do You Sleep at Night?

How do you sleep at night? No, not how well do you sleep, rather, in what is your usual sleep position? Do you sleep all curled up in a ball? Do you sleep on your stomach with hands and legs outstretched? Do you sleep on your side? On your back?

Maybe you’ve never considered this before, but sleep position does matter. The worst position to sleep in is on your stomach. This position places the most stress on your neck and back. If you must sleep in this position, be sure to put a pillow under your hips and don’t sleep with one under your head.

Are you a side sleeper? The fetal position is far better than sleeping on your stomach, and sleeping on a cervical pillow makes it better still because the pillow keeps your neck in a neutral position, relieving any stress. It also helps to place a regular pillow between your knees, especially if you frequently experience hip pain or suffer from degenerative disc disease or osteoarthritis.

Back sleeper? Although sleeping flat on your back may cause you to snore a bit, if you frequently experience low back pain, this is an ideal sleep position. A cervical pillow or roll under your neck and a pillow under your knees decreases stress on your lower back.

Of course, your mattress plays a big part in all of this as well. Although a soft mattress may feel good, it doesn’t support your spine in the same way as a firm (not hard) mattress and you may wake up feeling sore. For people who already have back pain, sleeping on the wrong type of mattress will only make matters worse.

If you have any type of back pain, we suggest you schedule an appointment for a chiropractic examination. Back pain may have many causes and sleep position and mattress firmness may only be part of the problem.