Sleep plays a pivotal role in your overall health, as noted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). If you aren’t getting enough sleep, it can cause you to feel tired during the day and even contribute to emotional problems. You may even notice you wake up some mornings in pain.
If you’re not feeling refreshed when you wake up and constantly have pain upon rising, you may wonder if it has something to do with your sleep. While it could be a problem with your bed, it just might be the position you’re sleeping in.
What’s the Ideal Position?
The ideal position for many is to sleep on their back. It keeps your spine in perfect alignment while you slumber, though you may roll into different positions as you sleep. For pregnant women, sleeping on your back may cause a drop in your blood pressure and decrease your circulation. Someone with obstructive sleep apnea, a snoring problem, or acid reflux may find this sleep position exacerbates their condition. To combat this, though, a person may use a pillow or mattress that elevates the top half of his or her body.
Sleeping on your stomach may appeal to you, but could be the reason you have back pain each day when you get up. This position doesn’t support your spine well. Not to mention, since you can’t lay with your face on the pillow, you’re also turning your head, which is putting your neck in an awkward position. It doesn’t help that sleeping on your stomach places pressure on the chest, and as a result, it can hinder your breathing. You actually use more energy to sleep on your stomach than if you’d sleep in another position.
Side sleeping is the most common position for adults to sleep in, and it has its share of benefits when it comes to preventing both neck and back pain. You’re not turning your head, so it’s not stressing your spine. This position doesn’t interrupt your breathing, making it a suitable position for those with obstructive sleep apnea and snoring. As far as what side to sleep on, it all depends on what is comfortable for you. Certain health issues can make it better for you to sleep on one side as opposed to the other. For instance, if you have heart failure, sleeping on your right side may improve your breathing. Those with acid reflux may have an easier time sleeping on their left sides.
How Our Chiropractor Helps
At Premier Chiropractic Center, we’re not here to tell you what position to sleep in. That’s your choice, but we would like to enlighten you that some positions are harder on your spine than others. If you’re noticing you’ve been having back or neck pain, it might help to analyze your sleep position and alter it to stop the pain.
In the meantime, you can come to our office for spinal adjustments and other chiropractic care to ease your symptoms. You can then have less back and neck pain, no matter what position you sleep in. And our practitioner can provide you with lifestyle advice that can improve your posture while you sleep and during the day. Our practitioner can also educate you on sleep tips so you fall asleep, stay asleep, and wake up without pain.
Premier Chiropractic Center, serving Bessemer, AL, and the nearby region, is at your service to help you combat any back pain you have, whether it’s mild or severe. We can help you not have back pain when you go to sleep or rise.
Schedule an appointment by calling us at 205-519-4024. You may also use our online form.
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