CBS NEWS – Everyone wants a good night of sleep, but your go-to sleeping position can affect how restful your night is — and how your body feels the next day.
So which position is best: side, back or stomach sleeping?
Ellen Wermter, Better Sleep Council representative, family nurse practitioner and behavioral sleep medicine specialist, told CBS News it’s more about what works for you, not which is considered the “best” position overall — though each has some pros and cons.
Back sleeping
Certain sleep conditions like sleep apnea are “very positional,” Wermter said, which can make some positions — like back sleeping — worse than others.
“When you’re on your back, you have a lot of gravity working against you,” she said. “Your tongue tends to fall back, things tend to relax and you get more obstructions of the airway.”
So if you are prone to airway obstruction, it’s might not be the best option.
Back sleeping can also cause snoring, according to the National Sleep Foundation, since it can narrow your airways due to gravity.
The positive of back sleeping? It’s excellent for spine alignment.
“It keeps everything in such a nice, neutral position. And your weight is very evenly distributed when you’re on your back — those are really big pros,” she said.
Side sleeping
Side sleeping, on the other hand, is “pretty good for breathing,” Wermter said.
“The left side in particular is considered excellent for cardiovascular (circulation), the return of the blood flow — that’s why (it’s often) recommended for pregnancy as well,” she added.
Sleeping on your right side can also make heartburn and GERD — gastroesophageal reflux disease— symptoms worse, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Side sleeping can also be OK for spine alignment, Wermter said, particularly when using pillows to keep things as neutral as possible.
Stomach sleeping
“Stomach sleeping is considered the most problematic because it is hard to get that neutral spine (and neck) position,” Wermter said. “Your face is sort of pressed into the mattress or the pillow, so you have to turn your neck to one side or the other” …
