Most people naturally have a ‘preferred’ sleep position, but are all sleep positions equal? Are there pros or cons to any particular sleep position? If so, what do we need to consider?
When we are asleep, it may feel like we have little control over the position we choose, but it is worth considering if consciously trying a different position may be beneficial, and to share this with a bed partner if their position is perhaps causing sleeping disturbances, such a snoring.
In this blog, Dr Lindsay Browning discusses the topic of the ‘best’ sleep position and the considerations for the common ones, including sleeping on your back, side and front.
The “best” sleep position?
The truth is, whilst a lot of sleep experts talk about sleep quality and sleep hygiene, we’re still researching and learning about sleeping positions and how they affect our bodies while we sleep.
For now, choosing the correct sleep position is best based upon your own needs and, of course, comfort is important.
The key thing to mention, however, when assessing the ‘best’ sleeping positions is those, such as sleeping on your back, that have been crucially linked to sleep apnoea. Sleep apnoea is a breathing disorder during the night, which can affect your heart health and cause chronic sleep deprivation.
Also, if we don’t choose the right sleeping position, with a supportive mattress and correct pillows, then we may wake up during the night in pain. This means we need to move to get comfortable again, causing disrupted, poor quality sleep.
Assessing the different sleep positions
Sleeping on your front
Sleeping on your front (or stomach) is the least common sleeping position and generally has less benefits than side or back sleeping.
It can help people with sleep apnoea by helping to keep their airway open through the night. It also reduces the risk of snoring, but the risks outweigh the benefits for a lot of people.
Stomach sleeping can put strain on your spine, so it is not recommended for people with back pain. Also, it should be avoided for pregnant women for obvious reasons.
Sleeping on your back
Sleeping on your back can be helpful for people with a bad back, specifically lumbar pain, which is in the lower region. When on your back, the spine can maintain a natural alignment, as long as the pillows and mattress are supportive.
It can be helpful to back sleep if you have nasal congestion too. Sleeping on your back with your head elevated enables any mucus to drain. It also reduces acid reflux, as long as your oesophagus is above your stomach, which it will be if you use pillows under your head.
Back sleeping has been found to reduce fine lines and wrinkles too. …sounds too good to be true and it is based on small scale studies, but apparently in comparison side sleeping can cause wrinkles over time as your eye and face are squashed by the pillow.
Sleeping on your back can also reduces puffy eyes. Again, by comparison, puffy eyes which occur when blood pools under your eyes as you sleep, can happen when you side sleep.
Finally, back sleeping can reduce sinus pain too, as the pressure is off the nasal area.
Learn more about back sleeping in my dedicated post about the pros and cons:
Finally, it’s worth highlighting that sleeping on your back can make snoring worse – especially if you have sleep apnoea. Also, back sleeping is not recommended for women in the third trimester of pregnancy.
Left side sleeper
Lying on the left hand side can cause heart rhythm changes. Studies have found the heart physically moves (and may be compressed) when lying on the left which causes changes in the heart’s electrical activity. This could lead to heart health issues over time. Lying on the left isn’t all bad though, it does reduce the risk of gastroesophageal reflux – better known as indigestion, heartburn and acid reflux.
Research has found those with gastroesophageal reflux who slept on their right had more episodes and the symptoms lasted longer too, so make sure you fall asleep on your left if you suffer with anything heartburn related.
Sleeping on your side can improve snoring, which can significantly help sleep apnoea.
Right side sleeper
While sleeping on the left side can change the heart’s natural rhythm, the same issue doesn’t occur when people sleep on their right side.
People with heart failure have been found to naturally avoid sleeping on their left side. Right side sleeping may also reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s. During the day, toxic by products accumulate in our bodies including beta amyloid – a substance found in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s. Spinal fluid helps flush these toxins away during our sleep, and research from the US (on rodents) found the flushing action works best when the rodents slept on their right.
Multiple sleep positions
According to a 2014 study, people move or twitch their limbs on average 18 times per hour, with the most movement happening during light sleep, and the least during REM sleep.
REM sleep or rapid eye movement sleep – is one of the most restorative types of sleep, it’s the period when we dream and usually we experience a kind of paralysis during REM sleep, so that we do not move or act out our dreams. We only tend to move more during REM sleep if we are too hot or too cold because we become less able to regulate our temperature during REM sleep, and we may need to move to cool down or get back under the covers.
If we are moving too much during the night, it can disrupt our dreaming sleep.
During the menopause when women experience hot flashes, they are likely to move more frequently during the night to attempt to regulate their temperature.
Moving a lot in your sleep can also be a symptom of having an uncomfortable mattress or incorrect pillow for your sleeping style, so you move to get comfortable again.
Moving during the night could also mean you have a sleep disorder such as REM sleep behaviour disorder (like sleep walking/sleep talking), obstructive sleep apnoea or periodic limb movement disorder, PLMD, which causes sleep disturbances.
It could be that your sleep is not as restorative so it’s worth assessing your sleep hygiene and seeing if you can improve it, so that you get better quality sleep (likely with less movement, tossing and turning).
Interested to learn more about sleep positions, hygiene and improved sleep quality?
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Also, do explore more blogs on bedroom environment, sharing a bed and bedding advice here: