How many hours a night do you sleep? Are you getting solid and consistent sleep each night? Patients frequently ask me what the best way to sleep is to prevent back pain and neck pain as sleep is incredibly important to staying healthy.

Here is the answer:

Sleep on your side or on your back, but never on your belly! Sleeping on your stomach is bad for both your lower back and your neck. Have you ever woken up with lower back pain after sleeping on your stomach? Probably! Why is it bad for your neck? In order to breathe while sleeping on your stomach, your head has to be turned to the left or right for hours and hours. This prolonged cervical rotation is not good for the muscles, nerves or spine. It also is probably not too comfortable for al all night position. Also, this position doesn’t support the natural, desired “C” shaped curve in you neck. Here are some helpful sleeping tips:

1. Sleep on your side or back, never on your stomach
2. Put a pillow between your thighs if you sleep on your side to level your pelvis
3. Use a cervical pillow that supports your natural “C” shaped curve in the neck

We hope these tips were helpful! If you have chronic sleep issues, contact Chicago Chiropractic today, we can help you.