How are you sleeping?

Do you wake up feeling stiff in the mornings? Do you find yourself tossing and turning at night trying to find a comfortable position to support your neck and back? 

To prevent lost sleep at night and to improve your performance the next day, it is important to have proper sleeping posture. Proper sleeping posture supports your spine while you are asleep to prevent waking up feeling stiff and sore throughout the night.

The best sleeping postures are sleeping on your back or sides. While sleeping on your back focus on relaxing your spine so your back, shoulders, and hips are comfortably touching the bed. Keep your legs extended out, or place a small pillow under your legs with your legs slightly bent. Laying on your back and allowing your legs to fall to one side or the other can cause excessive spinal twisting while sleeping.

If you prefer to sleep on your side be aware of your posture by placing a small pillow between your legs. This will help keep your hips in a level position throughout the night. Check to see that your ear is aligned over your shoulder and your shoulders are aligned over your hips. This is a neutral posture with minimal stress to your back and neck.

Support your body with good pillows, but not excessively fluffy pillows. We want you to feel comfortable at night and be able to fall asleep without pain. However, excessively fluffy pillows can create strain to your neck and do not support your head. You may experience headaches or neck pain from the use of too many pillows or very large pillows.

You want to train yourself to sleep in a healthy position. This requires conscious repetition. Even if you wake up in a different position, move back into the healthy posture to fall back asleep.

To prevent fatigue the next day take care to sleep in a good position and create new posture habits that support healthy sleeping patterns.

-Stand Up Chiropractic Team