What is the healthiest sleep position?

What is the healthiest sleep position?

In the past few years the scientific study of sleep has obtained an almost cult like following.  I’ve read many an article aimed classifying people based upon their sleep position as fetal, solider, princess, yearning and my personal favorite, the sky diver.  Whether these claims are true or not it proves that there is a large gap in what a healthy sleep position actually is and what would be considered a comfortable sleep position.

The Mayo Clinic has performed a study on sleep that promotes healthy head, neck and spine alignment and given two opinions as to what constitutes a healthy position, the key being a neutrality of your posture.  This means that you maintain a flat and natural position of your body.  If you lay flat on your back or on your side someone should be able to trace a straight line from your nose to the middle of your knee caps.

To achieve this neutral posture a back sleeper would use a cervical pillow under their head to maintain proper neck position.  A cervical roll pillow is specially designed and is very comfortable for the sleeper.  The back sleeper would also use a second pillow placed under your legs at the bend of your knees.

A side sleeper would use the same pillows only in different locations.  To achieve neutrality for those sleeping on their side the cervical roll pillow will be placed between the legs at the knees to keep the legs in a parallel position.  Then a supportive full pillow should be used to support the head and keep the neck and spine in the correct straight line.  Side sleepers along with all sleep position people are cautioned to keep their hands and arms below their heads during sleep to avoid circulation and muscle cramp issues.

Other studies have put forth the hypothesis that it is more important for healthy living that a person focus on being comfortable while sleeping instead of making sure that they have an anatomically correct sleep position.  These studies have theorized that the gains one may get by sleeping in an anatomically correct sleep position are offset by the disturbed sleep and discomfort one may feel sleeping in a position that does not feel comfortable.  If you sleep on your stomach with a down pillow and sleep soundly than by all means changing may turn out to give you sleep disturbance and lead to an overall decrease in health.

Both sides have a valid argument which is not going to be resolved anytime soon.  Sleep technology is constantly evolving to meet the demands of all sleepers.  The bottom line would be if you experience pain, try experimenting with different positions and try different pillows.  If you have neck or back pains you may want to try a cervical pillow.  You should also see if putting a pillow between your legs gives you more comfort.  Remember that change can be good.  You may have one bad night of sleep when you are experimenting with different positions, but trying different positions to find out what does and what does not work is the key to finding the best sleep position for you.

Sleep Well. Live Well.

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