Sick of tossing and turning? Find out which sleeping position is the best for your health
There are many different sleeping positions. You can lie on your back, on your front, on either side — and you can even hang upside down to sleep like the roadie in Wayne’s World 2, if you really want to.
But are all sleeping positions equal in the eyes of health and safety? People want to know on which side is sleeping good for health, and on which side there are dangers and perils. Read on to find out about different sleeping positions, plus the merits and drawbacks of each.
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Is it safe to sleep on your stomach?
Stomach sleeping is one of the less popular sleep styles, with only about 7% of people choosing to sleep in that position. There are some positives to sleeping on your stomach — for example, it can reduce pressure on your windpipe and reduce the likelihood of snoring — but there are also some negatives.
Other sleeping positions create a neutral position for the back and neck. That’s not the case for stomach sleepers. Stomach sleeping might cause nerve and back pain over time, so if you’re suffering from those ailments, consider attempting another position.
However, everybody is different, and this position might work well for you. If you’re a lifelong front-down sleeper and aren’t having any negative consequences, there’s no urgent need to change.
Is it better to sleep on your back?
Is there anything more relaxing than lying on your back? For some people, yes. Sleeping on your back can exacerbate certain kinds of back pain, and also aggravate snoring.
But let’s get ‘back’ to the positives. Back sleeping can reduce neck pain, because the body is in a more neutral position. Additionally, back sleeping is said to improve heartburn for some people.
Sleeping on your side: the real story
Sleeping on your side is, by far, the most popular sleeping position. It is the Beatles of sleeping positions: beloved by almost everybody, and scorned by only a tiny, isolated minority. Scientists call it ‘lateral sleeping’, if you want to know the technical term for it. For most people, however, sleeping on your side is as natural as breathing.
There are some nasty rumours about side sleeping out there.
- Some people believe that the cloth of your pillow rubbing on your face overnight will cause wrinkles.
- Other people entertain the notion that side sleeping causes breasts to sag.
- Fortunately, there isn’t a good body of scientific literature to confirm or deny those cosmetic theories.
Sleeping on your side is especially good for your health if you’re a pregnant woman. The posture will improve circulation both for yourself, and for the growing baby.
What about sleeping hanging upside down, like a bat?
We put that into the introductory section purely as a joke. Sleep Republic does not recommend that you sleep upside down. The best and healthiest way to sleep is horizontal, on a mattress!
Is sleeping position really that important?
In some circumstances, your sleeping position really can have a big impact. Snorers, for example, can often mitigate their condition just by turning over. Heavily pregnant women, also, benefit from certain sleeping positions and might enjoy better rest and health by changing the position they sleep in.
But if you’re frequently waking up sore, or are having trouble getting to sleep, chances are that the sleeping position isn’t the main problem. More often than not, the issue is with the mattress.
Do you need a specialised mattress to suit your sleeping position?
Some mattress makers target different mattresses to people who sleep in certain positions. They’ll say that one type of mattress is better for front sleepers, or side sleepers, or people who sleep on their back. At Sleep Republic, we disagree. We’ve crafted one perfect hybrid mattress that will work excellently for front, side, or back sleepers.
No matter how you like to sleep, we’ve got the perfect mattress. With all the comfort of foam and the unsurpassed support provided by high definition pocket springs, all sorts of sleepers will love our mattress. Find out more about our hybrid mattress today.
