How should I change my sleeping position when I have back pain?

Sleeping Position for Back Pain

The position you sleep in can do a lot to reduce your back pain, but there are also tweaks you can make to how you sleep that may allow for even more pain relief. 

This can benefit the millions of people suffering from some type of back pain. In fact, medical research shows that 30% of Americans are dealing with lower back pain at any given point. A physical therapist can help you figure out how to change your sleeping position in ways that provide benefits for your back pain. These specialists can also provide back pain treatment that goes beyond sleeping position tweaks. 

Four sleeping position changes you should try to decrease back pain

There are three primary sleeping positions that people use: sleeping on the side, sleeping on the back and sleeping on the stomach. Each person may favor one position over the others, but there are ways to change each sleeping position in ways that can reduce your back pain. 

Four of the changes that you can try are: 

  1. Drawing your knees up — Sleeping on your side with your knees straight can increase pressure on the lower back. This can be an issue for lower back pain sufferers. Drawing your knees up toward your chest helps reduce pressure on the lower back. This can lead to less pain when sleeping on your side. 
  1. Supporting your knees — Both sleeping on your side and on your back can leave your knees unsupported. This makes it harder to preserve the natural curve of your lower back. Side sleepers can try placing a pillow between their knees, which can support the knees and realign the hips and lower back. Back sleepers can help out their lower back by placing a pillow under their knees. 
  1. Supporting your pelvis — Sleeping on your stomach is one of the least recommended positions for people with back pain. However, some people can’t sleep if they’re in any other position. Stomach sleepers can reduce some of the strain on their backs by placing a pillow under the lower abdomen and pelvis. This can help you maintain the proper lower back posture while you’re sleeping. 
  1. Going pillowless — Pillows are great for supporting the neck and upper back. But they can also put you in a position that causes more pain. Stomach sleepers may find that sleeping without a pillow helps reduce the strain on their backs. Back sleeps may also want to try pillowless sleeping and see if it helps their pain. 

Do more for your back pain than just change your sleeping position with help from Whatcom PT

Making these changes to your sleeping position can do a lot for your back pain, but they’re not the only option that can help decrease your pain. At Whatcom Physical Therapy, our team offers therapeutic care that’s designed to reduce back pain naturally.

We can perform a free screening to determine what’s causing your back to hurt. Our physical therapists can also build you a personalized therapy plan that can include pain-relieving techniques like: 

Contact our team today for more information about how we can treat your back pain or to schedule an initial appointment.