Fun fact: You will be asleep for about a third of your life. Although it’s true that you shift and move while you snooze in bed, experts consider sleeping positions “fixed,” meaning they’re positions you hold during long periods of inactivity. In other words, even though you are unconscious, these positions are not negative. It has a huge impact on your muscles, joints, and even your overall health.
Contrary to popular belief, there is no single “best” sleeping position, he says Gobolan Okobadejo, MDSpine and Orthopedic Surgeon and Founder of NYNJ Spine. This is especially great news then Sleep is elusive For you most nights, the thought of adding another potential obstacle to the mix fills you with fear.
“There are some positions that allow the body to be in a more neutral alignment and some positions that can put undue stress on parts of the body,” Okobadejo says. If he’s under extreme stress, he says he’ll be side-sleeping first, with back-sleeping second, and stomach-sleeping last. Ultimately, though, it encourages spinal alignment.
“You just have to adjust to your preferred location so you don’t put too much stress on any of these parts,” he says.
Your spine has a natural curve in the upper back (kyphosis) and lower back (lordosis), and the goal is to maintain a nice “S” balance during the Z. When your back bends too much or too little, your back will complain.
“Once that balance is lost, there is a greater tendency toward pain,” Okobadejo says. This means that whether you’re curled up into a fetal position or spread out like a starfish at bedtime, you need to make sure your spine has the proper support so it can rest as neutrally as possible.
Fariha Abbasi-Feinberg, MDYou’ll have telltale signs from your body when you’re not in a good position while sleeping, such as pain, numbness or tingling, says the sleep specialist and spokesperson for the American Society of Sleep Medicine. But if you wake up feeling refreshed and not dealing with health issues like Sleep apnea (which can be caused by lying on your back at night), your best bet is to stick with what’s most comfortable for you.
“He sleeps “The position should be comfortable, cool and welcoming, not something you’re fighting against. If you try to sleep in a position you don’t feel comfortable in, you’re going to think about it,” she says. The more you think about the fact that you are not sleeping, the worse your sleep becomes.
