Sleep Posture 101: How Your Sleep Position Affects Your Spine

If the first thing you do every morning is stretch your back, your sleep posture might be trying to tell you something.

You spend roughly a third of your life asleep. During those hours, your spine either rests in a neutral line or spends the night bent out of shape. The difference often shows up the next morning as stiffness, a sore neck or that “I slept wrong” feeling.

Here's what our Sleep Coaches in Cornelius want every sleeper to know about posture.

What “good sleep posture” means

Good sleep posture keeps your spine in roughly the same gentle curve it has when you stand up straight. Your head, shoulders and hips stay in line, and no single area carries too much pressure.

Three things work together to make that happen:

• Your sleep position: side, back, stomach or a mix
• Your mattress: how it supports your heaviest areas and cushions your pressure points
• Your pillow: how it fills the gap between your head and the mattress

Change one and the others need to adjust. That's why sleep isn't one-size-fits-all.

Side sleepers

Side sleeping is the most common position. It can be a great one, as long as your shoulders and hips are able to sink in slightly.

What can go wrong: on a surface that's too firm, your shoulder and hip press hard into the mattress and your spine bends upward in the middle. Many side sleepers wake with numb arms or sore shoulders.

What can help: a mattress with enough cushioning to relieve pressure at the shoulder and hip, a higher pillow that keeps your neck level, and a pillow between the knees to keep your hips stacked.

Back sleepers

Back sleeping spreads your weight evenly, which makes it a naturally supportive position for many people.

What can go wrong: on a mattress that's too soft, your hips sink lower than your shoulders and your lower back loses its natural curve. Too firm, and the small of your back may float without support.

What can help: a mattress that keeps your hips level with your shoulders, a medium-height pillow, and a small pillow under the knees if your lower back feels tight.

Stomach sleepers

Stomach sleeping is the toughest position for alignment, because your head turns to one side all night and your midsection can sag.

What can go wrong: a soft mattress lets your hips sink, arching your lower back. A tall pillow pushes your neck back even further.

What can help: a firmer, more supportive surface, a very thin pillow (or none), and a flat pillow under the hips. If you're open to it, gradually training yourself toward side sleeping may help too.

Combination sleepers

If you change positions through the night, you need a mattress that responds quickly and supports you in each one. Combination sleepers often do best with a balanced, medium feel and a pillow that adjusts in height.

Three signs your posture isn't supported

1. Your hips sink and your spine bows.
2. You wake up stiff and loosen up after you've been moving for a while.
3. You toss and turn looking for a comfortable spot.

If these sound familiar, your mattress might be the reason.

See your posture, don't guess it

It's hard to judge your own alignment lying in a showroom. Dream Mapping, our pressure mapping technology, shows where your body presses into the mattress in your real sleep position, so a Sleep Coach can match you to the support you need.