My name is Doctor Brian Prieto from Yorba Linda, California
and welcome to our video series called “Questions That Patients Ask Us”.
Today's topic is about sleeping posture. It's a very common question in our
office. "Hey doc, what position is the best position to sleep in?"
Well, let's talk about that. We're going to start off on the first position
that's not good, and that's sleeping in the prone position, or sleeping on your
tummy. When sleeping on your tummy your head has to go to one side or the
other, so it's not going be really good on your neck if you're sleeping like
this for five, six or seven hours a night. Also, in your lower back area it’s
going to create a little tension here as well because the back will be in the
extension position, and that can create some back issues in the lower back
especially if you're dealing with lower back pain.
The best position, however, is sleeping on your back. We
call this a very neutral position. When your body is in the neutral position,
your head is on a pillow, as long as it's not a very thick pillow, so to remain
in the neutral position, and then your legs can be straight. Should you have a
lower back problem, it would be best to put a little pillow underneath behind
your knees and that can open up your spine a little bit, create a little
flexion in the lower back. So that's a really, really good position to sleep
in.
The next best position to sleep in is the side posture
position. You should use a thicker pillow for your head and neck and you can use
a pillow underneath your legs as well. The reason why we need a thicker pillow
if you are a side posture sleeper, because you need the pillow to be the
distance between your ear and your shoulder, because if you don't, if you have
a small pillow, then your neck's going to be titled downward, or if you have too big of a pillow then your
neck will be tilted upward. So it kind of depends on your size distance between
your ear and your shoulder, so you'll rather have a thicker pillow if you're
sleeping on your side. And if you're a back pain sufferer, then you can put a
pillow underneath your knees for your leg doesn't go over and put a lot of
tension on your lower back.
So those are two great little positions here that we
recommend that you sleep in. Until next time, thank you for visiting us.
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