How your sleeping position might be hurting your back

When you crawl into bed each night, it’s likely that you don’t think twice about the position you sleep in. From lying on your back to snuggling up on your side, there are a variety of stances you can take during the night. However, could the way you snooze be having an impact on your back health? Here, we take at look at the effect your slumber position can have on your physical wellbeing – and the steps you can take to improve it.

The problem

The truth is, your sleeping position could be doing your back more harm than good. Whether you suffer with a back-related condition already or not, the way you lie in bed at night could be worsening your current situation or causing a potential problem to develop. Certain sleep stances can put added pressure and strain on not just your back, but your neck, shoulders, hips and knees too, resulting in discomfort and pain and making it more difficult for you to enjoy restful slumber. For example, snoozing on your stomach can flatten the natural curved shape of your spine, meaning your back muscles become strained. This particular pose also causes your head to twist, which can inflict pain between your shoulders. It may of course simply be that you have a little person lying on you, across you, or just in your space!

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The solution

Fortunately, there are a variety of simple ways you can banish your back woes while you rest. Firstly, you could turn your attention to your bed setup. Adopting and sticking to a certain stance while you sleep can be tricky, so you could invest in a bed that does it for you. For example, the adjustable beds from Adjustamatic have been designed so that they can manoeuvre into different positions using innovative technology, meaning you can adjust the tilt of the bed to suit you.

Alternatively, you could try to alter your sleeping position yourself. For example, if you tend to snooze on your back, you could place a pillow under your knees – this should enable your spine to keep it’s natural curve. Meanwhile, if you sleep on your side, you could try to bring your legs up to your chest as you rest, or you could even test out using a body pillow between your knees, I found this really helpful during pregnancy. Putting a pillow underneath your pelvis is an option if you prefer to lie on your stomach.

Changing your sleeping style could not only improve your health and well-being, but also allow you to enjoy a peaceful snooze night after night. Although, for many of us parents just getting the chance to let your head touch the pillow for more than 20 minutes can be an achievement some nights!

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