What is the Ideal Sleeping Position?

In honor of everybody losing an hour of sleep this morning, we wanted to raise a question that comes up often in Physical Therapy and Chiropractic clinics.

In fact, I just had this conversation with a patient last week. She asked what position she should be sleeping in.

This particular patient has always been a stomach sleeper but was told by another provider that this is bad for her. She was told that this puts more stress and strain on her neck and low back which could lead to discomfort.

Maybe you’ve been told something similar in the past, and honestly, this is a common narrative from well-intentioned providers everywhere.

“Don’t sleep on your stomach because you need to turn your head to one side, straining your neck.”

“Don’t sleep on your side because it compresses the shoulder.”

“If you sleep on your back, make sure there’s a pillow below your knees.”

…we’re kind of running out of options!

So how do we guide patient’s when it comes to sleep position?

Let me pose a question:

What’s worse for your body? Getting 7-8 quality hours of sleep and being comfortable on your stomach, or getting 4-5 hours of quality sleep as you toss and turn all night trying to find a way to be comfortable on your side or back?

I’d take the increased sleep quality ANY day!

Now let’s brainstorm a couple of the potential arguments against this approach…

“Sleeping in ____ position puts stress on ____ body part.”

Sure, maybe it does. But if it does, is that really an issue? For example, if I’ve been sleeping on my stomach with my head turned to the left for 30 years without any issues, can we really say that the tightness that just started in my neck a week ago is because of that sleeping position?

“Your ____ pain gets worse when you sleep in your favorite position.”

If you’ve always been a left side-sleeper (for example) and you recently suffered a left shoulder injury, and it hurts to lay on your left side, you probably aren’t getting very high quality sleep on your left side.

If we are prioritizing sleep quality, your usual ideal position may not be your current ideal position to maximize sleep!

Sleep has become a hot topic in the world of health and wellness. Look at all the people who are now tracking their sleep with wearable devices.

As fitness and healthcare providers, we understand the importance of sleep for overall health and wellbeing. So we need to consider the bigger picture of our clients’ health when making these seemingly simple recommendations!

Short answer: In general, sleep in whatever position allows you to be comfortable and get a good night’s sleep!

Let’s keep the conversation going! Feel free to leave a comment below or click here to reach out to us!