The BEST Ways to Sleep - Wherever You Are

Hey, everyone! We are going to go through different sleeping positions because I know some of you are going to be leaving your house this weekend and maybe sleeping on the not-so-great mattresses or maybe a cot or maybe the ground this weekend or anytime throughout the summer when you're traveling. So let's just make sure that you know how to sleep properly so that you're not going to do anything bad to your spine. So the first thing I'm not going to show you to do is how to sleep on your stomach. The reason why is because that is the worst, absolute worst position for your neck, back, and pelvis. Let me tell you why.

So first, if you're on your stomach, most people, you're going to do this too, right? Turning your head more one way or the other. And then what most of us do, is bend one knee. Now what this does is it creates a lot of tension in that hip and the hamstring, which will eventually cause low back pain. So not only do you get neck, but you could also get low back pain from going on your stomach, so none of that. So first and foremost, the most important way to sleep is on your back. That's the best way.

So how you're going to do that, whether you're on a cot, on a mattress, anywhere else, you'll have your pillow close by. Just make sure when you're traveling that if you can, bring your pillow from home. That's going to be very helpful. So what you're going to do next is elbows are going to go down. It's going to be as close to the pillow as possible here, touching. And then basically, you're going to lower yourself onto your pillow. So do notice where the pillow is. So the end of the pillow is basically right between the shoulder blades and your head's just naturally going up and down. So what you don't see is starting with your pillow just supporting your neck and head. Why? Because if I would take the pillow away now, your head and neck would be overstretched, those muscles would get really tight, and we don't want that.

So the second way someone could sleep, and what most people sleep, is on their side. So with that, we're going to go on our side. The pillow can be right at the edge of your shoulders, but the one thing you don't want to do is to lay directly on top of that shoulder joint. What you're going to want to do is pretend someone's holding your hand and pulling you a little bit out from underneath you so you're on your shoulder blade. Then you can put your head down, bend your arm around so it's wrapped around your pillow. And then this isn't all so the next thing you want to do is put a pillow between your legs, because if you're knees are stacked on top of each other you're going to put pressure on the hip, pressure on the low back, and even pressure on the knee. So make sure you have a pillow between your knees for this one.

And then even better, if you can put a pillow right in front so you're hugging something so your shoulder's not flailing your arm about throughout the night. You're nice and straight up and down here in the spine, hips are nice and straight, and your arms. So those are the best ways to sleep. Even if you're on a cot, whether you're on a couch or on a mattress, anything that might be different than your bed at home, those are the best ways to do it during your vacation.

Be Well,

Dr. Lisa