Belly, back or side? While we all have our preferences when it comes to our favorite sleeping position, your sleep posture can seriously impact your rest—and even you health—if you don’t know how to tailor your position for proper alignment. Each posture comes with its own pros and cons, and knowing how to get better sleep according to your sleeping position can be the difference between comfortable slumber over restless nights.
Knowing how to get better sleep according to your sleep position can help you rest more comfortably … [+]
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But just how important is sleep position for your well-being? “There’s no single best sleeping position for everyone, but certain positions, and choosing the right mattress, can help with specific issues, ” says Dr. Caroline Leaf, clinical and research neuroscientist. Continue on below to learn the best sleeping positions for certain conditions like sleep apnea and back pain, and sleeping tips for pain relief according to each position.
The Best Sleeping Positions For Your Health
Back Sleeping
Who Should
Back sleeping is a position frequently recommended as the best sleep posture for most people, minus a few exceptions. Dr. Michelle Cantwell, DMD and president-elect for the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, shares that it can help promote natural spinal alignment, which can reduce back pain. She also shares that research suggests back sleeping helps evenly distribute a person’s weight, taking some pressure off of their joints.
Who Shouldn’t
But not everyone is a great candidate for back sleeping, she adds. Back sleeping can making snoring and OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) worse because gravity pulls the tongue and soft tissues back, which can block the airway and cause snoring.
Additionally, not all back sleeping is made equal. Some individuals may experience discomfort in the lower back if it’s not supported adequately during rest, says Cantwell.
Side Sleeping
Who Should
Side sleeping is the most popular sleep posture and an ideal position for people with OSA. “If the concern is obstructive sleep apnea, then sleeping on your side, especially your left side, is considered the best position because it helps keep your airway open by preventing the soft tissues in your throat from collapsing,” says Cantwell. “[That] is the primary cause of breathing disruptions during sleep when lying on your back; this results in reduced snoring and fewer episodes of apnea.”
Cantwell says that sleeping on your left side can also benefit those with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). She points to research that suggests this may be because when sleeping on the right side, your stomach is above the esophagus. “This could result in delayed gastric emptying and increase the amount of esophageal acid exposure,” she says. In short—you may have less acid reflux when sleeping on the left side versus right.
Left-side sleeping is also recommended for pregnant women because it increases blood flow to the fetus and other vital organs and relieves pressure on the liver.
Who Shouldn’t
While side sleeping can help ease the symptoms of heartburn and open airways for those with sleep apnea, it can also be the culprit behind pressure-related pain as you spend a prolonged period of time lying on your hip and shoulder joints. If you experience shoulder pain, hip pain or have undergone shoulder surgery, you may want to consider back sleeping.
Stomach Sleeping
Who Should
Sleeping prone isn’t commonly recommended by experts, but it can reduce snoring because your airways are naturally open while lying in this position.
Who Shouldn’t
On the other hand, it’s typically one of the least recommended positions because it requires twisting your neck to breathe, Cantwell says, which can cause neck pain and spinal misalignment.
How To Get Better Sleep (According To Your Sleep Position)
Tips For Back Sleepers
Consider A Wedge Pillow
If back sleeping is your preferred sleeping position but you experience back pain or acid reflux, a wedge pillow is highly recommended by experts (including Cantwell) as a possible avenue for relief. Cantwell recommends a pillow from 8 to 22 centimeters in height to help with acid reflux, as it keeps your head and upper body at an ideal angle to prevent stomach acid from entering the esophagus. And by placing a pillow under the knees, you can help relieve pressure on your lower back.
Invest In A Firmer Mattress
Your mattress makes a difference in how comfortably you sleep through the night, and a bed that’s too soft for a back sleeper can contribute to back pain as it lets the spine sag into the bed’s layers. Instead, back sleepers should consider a medium-firm mattress that keeps their spine in a neutral alignment.
Tips For Side Sleepers
Choose A Softer Mattress
Softer mattresses are popular with side sleepers because they give a bit more flexibility to your hip and shoulder joints, and properly contour around your curves to maintain a proper spinal alignment. So, if you are a side sleeper looking to level up your sleep quality, identify if your mattress might be too hard for your sleep position. You can consider our editors’ top-favorite Helix Midnight Luxe Mattress, or a soft mattress topper for a more affordable route.
Strategically Place Your Pillows
Side sleepers often have to contend with hip fatigue or pain as your hips take on the task of holding up your body weight through the night. To relieve pressure on your hips and promote better alignment, try keeping a pillow in between your knees.
Alternatively, if you are hoarding pillows like it’s the end times in an effort to support multiple parts of your body, there’s an easier solution. A body pillow can provide support to multiple areas of your body, such as knees and ankles, without needing numerous extra pillows.
Tips For Stomach Sleepers
Consider A Position Change
With numerous potential impacts from stomach sleeping health- and cosmetic-wise, such as face wrinkles and a sore neck, many experts recommend that you train yourself out of this sleep position. They recommend practicing by using pillows as bumpers to keep yourself on your back or side.
Keep A Short Pillow
If training yourself to sleep in a new position isn’t in the cards, make sure you have a pillow that keeps your neck in alignment with your spine. Most stomach sleepers do best on short, soft pillows, like a fluffy down pillow.
Prevent An Arch
If your back is arching as your mattress dips down, you might notice that you either need a firmer mattress, or that you need to offset the arch with a pillow under your pelvis. You can experiment with pillow heights to find a comfortable position for your back.
Why Trust Forbes Vetted
Forbes Vetted is a leading expert source of research-based sleep health information. From how to stop tossing and turning all night, to the mattresses you must know about if you are shopping for a more supportive option, we share the necessary research and details on all things sleep health so you don’t have to.
- Alexandra Frost is a veteran freelance journalist in Cincinnati with nearly two decades of e-commerce and health related coverage. She has worked with publications like New York Times, Washington Post, Consumer Reports and more, to ensure readers have access to leading health related information, and the best products to suit their needs. She has covered a variety of topics about kids’ health as well, including the best baby swings.
- The Forbes Vetted sleep section is run by senior mattress and sleep editor Bridget Chapman and sleep and mattress editor McKenzie Dillon. Both are also a certified sleep science coaches. Together, the pair has tested over 100 different mattresses.
- As someone with chronic back pain, I know a think or two about stacking your pillows for the optimal comfort and positioning. Though I always end up waking up on my stomach no matter how hard I try.
- In addition to well-known medical research sites, we talked to Dr. Michelle Cantwell, DMD and president-elect for the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine (AADSM) for more information on the medical aspects of sleep positions. We also got input from neuroscientist Dr. Caroline Leaf.