Tips and advice on the best positions to sleep in from a doctor of physical therapy. Tips and tricks to get your best nights sleep despite pain in your lower back, neck, or down your leg.
MY FAVORITE PILLOW (DEMONSTRATED IN VIDEO):
SIDE SLEEP TRUNK SUPPORT PILLOW:
SIDE SLEEP KNEE PILLOW:
LEG PILLOW FOR BACK SLEEPERS:
OTHER VIDEOS TO WATCH:
✅ BEST SLEEPING POSITIONS FOR NECK PAIN RELIEF:
✅ HOW TO SLEEP WITH SHOULDER PAIN:
✅ HOW TO ELIMINATE MUSCLE KNOTS IN NECK AND SHOULDERS:
✅ SCIATIC NERVE RELIEF STRETCHES AND EXERCISES (Part One):
✅ CORE EXERCISES FOR SCIATIC NERVE PAIN RELIEF (Part Two):
As a doctor of physical therapy, I get asked about sleeping positions all the time. Usually these questions come from patients who are dealing with pain either in their necks or lower backs.
These conditions can be limiting and debilitating on so many levels; one thing that is often affected is sleep.
Today I wanted to share with you five tips to ensure you are getting your best sleep possible even despite
1. The best sleeping position for you is one that is comfortable and holds your spine in the correct posture: The bottom line is the best sleeping position for you is which ever position you find to be the most comfortable while keeping your spine in as neutral a position as possible. Make sure you are aware of your spine alignment front to back, side to side, as well as if you are rotating or not.
2. To get the right posture you need the right support: In order to achieve a correct, neutral spine posture, you need to have the right support from your mattress and from your pillow.
Mattress: It is recommended that you replace your mattress every 8-10 years. If it’s been a decade since you got a new mattress it might be time.
Pillow: I make pillow recommendations based solely on two things – body type and sleeping posture. I would recommend a different pillow for someone with a petite frame versus a larger frame. Similarly, it you slept primarily on your back my recommendation would be different than if you slept primarily on your side.
3. Stomach Sleep: DON’T DO IT! This is the worst of all the postures you can sleep in through the night. It maximally rotates your neck all night, it puts your lower back in an extended position, and it puts pressure on your internal organs. Stop sleeping on your stomach.
4. Side Sleepers: Again the goal is to achieve as close to neutral spine as possible. This is achieved with proper support for your head/neck, torso, and hips/legs.
Head and neck: you want a pillow that supports your neck in a neutral position. If your pillow is too full your neck will be bent too much up towards the ceiling. If your pillow is too flat your head will be bent too much down towards your bed. Try to find the right pillow to achieve a neutral spine position.
Torso: Again, this is where the right mattress comes into play. It needs to be firm enough to support the side of your trunk but soft enough to unload your shoulders and hips (areas of higher pressure). You can also get small pillows designed specifically to achieve this goal. Click here to see these pillows:
Hips: Oftentimes when we sleep on our sides our top leg rests on top of our bottom leg putting pressure on your knees, pulling on your hips, and pulling your spine out of alignment. My solution here is to sleep with a pillow between your knees to unload stress at all three of these areas. You can even get pillows that specifically go between your legs that are intended for side sleepers; check out this link to get yours:
5. Back sleepers: Back sleepers are typically a little more prone to snoring, but if you can handle that it’s a really good position for your back! Again, the whole goal here will be getting your spine into a correct position and supporting it there.
Head and neck: Again – you want just the right amount of support to maintain your head/neck at the correct angle. If your pillow is too full, you’ll spend all night with your neck flexed up. If your pillow is too flat, you’ll spend all night with your head extended and your neck unsupported. Typically your pillow should be smaller if you sleep on your back than it would be if you preferred to sleep on your side.
Hips: Oftentimes laying out flat on our backs puts a lot of stress on our lower back due to hip flexors pulling on our spine. I always recommend that if you sleep on your back you do so with 1-2 pillows under your knees to unload some pressure in your spine. You can also buy different wedge-shaped pillows designed specifically for this purpose. You can check out this link to see my personal favorite:
What’s your favorite position to sleep in? I hope these tips help you sleep better and with less pain in your neck and back. Thanks for watching!
Before continuing watching the video, I just love how you and your wife cooperate to make the videos 🙂
Wish you guys the lovely life you deserve <3
What a kind and thoughtful comment, Mahmoud! That really means a lot to me and I thank you for it. I’ll be sure to share with my lovely wife.
When you’re 22 and already searching for sleeping positions to mitigate back pain
Thanks for the info I have a pain in my lower back sleeping on side with the right pillow works for me
Yes, I have to add that I continue to watch his video because he mention his wife will be his assistance…I feel I can trust him for his advise instead of someone using other female or model as an assistance. Thank you for doing that.
I’ve experienced a lot of back pain recently and this video has helped me a lot thank you so so so much 👍
You’re so welcome! I am so glad this video has helped you and thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the great advise 🙂 I like how well you’ve captured the issues in an easy to understand way in the video.
Thank you and you are welcome! I am glad you are finding these helpful!
Really interesting video. My pattern for many years is I start off as a side sleeper and then go onto my stomach but have recently suffered from lower back pain first thing in the morning, and it’s slowly eased through the day. Need to try other positions eg: side sleeper to hopefully eliminate this problem. Thing is we all start with the best intensions but don’t realise we change positions in the night whilst we’re fast asleep and this defeats the object. Why does sleeping have to be hard work 🤷♂️
Hello Doctor, I am one of your subscribers from India. I recently had a pinched nerve condition causing pain in my right hand. I followed some of your techniques to alleviate the pain and it has given me quite a bit of relief. Thanks for that. I have one question though. While sleeping can I not use a pillow and sleep straight on my back on an orthopedic mattress which is bit hard unlike other soft mattresses?
Excellent! Very informative, clear explanations, and useful demonstrations. Just what I needed. Thank you very, very much. 🙏👍😊
You are welcome, LP Frank! I hope these tips help you out!
I’ve been struggling with neck and back pain for years now. I’m 20 and I thought there was no hope until I found your videos, thank you. I always felt so much tension in my neck and back making me feel awkward haha
You are welcome, Layla M! I am glad you are finding this video helpful and thanks for commenting!
Hey Jared, great 👍🏽information. I sleep on my side, I used the neutral spine technique you explained so well. I used a support just above my waist due to a very soft mattress, I woke up this morning and the pain had decreased by 80% and my mood & mobility was much better. I will be investing in some stuffed circular pillows and the memory foam pillow you recommended 👌Thanks to you and thanks to your wife ( up her wages she’s doing a great job ) your channel gets a thumbs up👍🏽 from me
You are very welcome, JDWHIZZ! I am glad you found this video helpful and thanks for commenting.
Thank you for your video! Such an informative video and tips! Can I ask what’s the best position to sleep in if you have acid reflux and need to use a wedge pillow to manage the reflux at night? Thank you 🙂
Most helpful love it thanks so much
Of all the videos that I have watched, this was simpler and far more informative and confirms what I am already doing. I do have a question though, I am a side sleeper and have suffered for many years with a severe pain in my right leg (amongst many others) which has now forced me to put my right leg slightly forward and a pillow directly behind my leg to support my left leg as the pain is too severe to have my legs together on top of each other. I now have pinch nerves in both my thighs which won’t release. I have been to a chiropractor, massage therapist, MRI’s done and dusted with no answers. I have watched many many videos for answers to help release these pinch nerves as they are painful and I’m obviously concerned about permanent nerve damage. I am taking tranquilizer’s at night so that I can at least sleep as the pain is too severe. Is there a specific exercise that I can do that will help release these pinch nerves?
Yoga helps mine. Back and leg pain.
Thanks for the tips. I sleep mostly on my back and can definitely feel the discomfort in my lower back and hips. It feels like my legs are lower than my torso, so I will definitely look at using a pillow under my legs. Thanks again!
You are welcome, John! I hope these tips help you out!
Clear, concise, perfect pace of delivery. Now THAT was informative and brilliantly delivered. thank you!
You’re very welcome, Shok Mail! I appreciate your kind words and I hope these tips help!
Great video! Yes, I was a stomach sleeper well into my thirties, couldn’t fall asleep any other way. However, trained myself to sleep on my side and yes I love the extra pillow between my knees and I actually have another small cushion under my armpit (result of time with shoulder injury). Changing sides during sleep with the pillows takes some practice… ha ha.
Yes, it absolutely does! I am glad you found this video helpful!
Hello, Dr. Beckstrand. Thank you and Camille so much for these videos. My husband is in the midst of the worst sciatica pain he’s ever had. So we’ve been watching your videos and they’ve helped tremendously. We do have one question for you. We have an adjustable bed. My husband is a back sleeper who snores, so he elevates the head of the bed. Does that negatively impact his sleep position for sciatica? Thank you!
I developed bursitis (in my upper side legs just below hip join), according to the doctor. He helped that for about 5 months with a cortisone injection into the lower hip. But it slowly came back. I have discovered that sleeping on my back without a pillow except for a fairly firm neck pillow seriously decreases that pain to the point that I can sleep on my side. I can only go to sleep on my back but then always later turn on one side or the other. The amount of sleep I WAS getting according to my Fibit was less the two hours at a time with average total @ 4-5 hours. Also, I am very sensitive to any thickness under my hips or legs. Part of my pain problem was also caused by my night gown seams bunching up under the same area . I recently cut the thick overcast seam and ruffle (hem)from the worst offender and wow what a difference. Thought I was going to have to throw it away, but it worked wonders 🙂. ( But sleeping without a pillow does cause shoulder pain. I had to pick shoulder or hip pain.🤔 Hip was worst. Sleeping much better for now.)
thanks 4 your tips😇
I always use several roll pillows of different sizes.
I usually gts on my back but it gets uncomfortable after awhile.
I’m a side sleeper , is an air bed ok for sleeping ? Thank you3x
Don’t.sleep.on.your.stomach
Hi, Dr. Beckstrand. Thanks a lot for these videos. But, is it really possible to maintain the same neutral position throughout the night? Or can we train ourselves to keep a particular sleeping position throughout the night? Any tips on this? I, normally, don’t find myself in the same sleeping position when I wake up in the morning. Thanks again
👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆
I feel like the only thing that u can do to really help you with keeping your position at night is working with your brain , try to really realize that it would help you,and after forcing yourself to do that and waking up to do that,you will find yourself doing it naturally in need of rest, hope it helps ya:)
What is the best mattress, my insurance will pay 80% for a new mattress do to I have arthritis and a lot of lower back pain do to my L4 L5 and s1, it’s not a hospital bed at all. Medicare helps pay for the kind I need, but I don’t know what to tell my doctor. My pain management does help with that.
You’re 20 and dealing with these issues? You need to check if you have some sort of disorder. I had issues with my neck since I was around 17. I was diagnosed in my thirties with a degenerative disorder of the spine. I’m going through hell with it right now at 43. I would also suggest doing a lot of back, neck and abs strengthening exercises to avoid ending up like me. Glucosamine, collagen, Vit D, Magnesium, Vit K and Calcium to keep your bones strong. Quit soda if you drink it.
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Totally agree with all advice you gave, thanks. I have been adopting those postures for years being a chronic back sufferer. Unlocking hip flexes are something I fear I’ll never be able to achieve but it’s vital to me I get a good sleeping position
You are welcome, Dotti!
Hi – recently found you on YouTube and so glad I did! Your videos are great, your explanations are easy to understand, and appreciate the recommendations of the best sleeping positions. Thanks so much, will continue to watch! And your wife is great too!
Awesome, thank you! I appreciate your support!
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