Why sleeping posture is important

Good sleep posture is absolutely critical for a healthy body, since we spend such long periods of time every day without moving.

While you sleep, your muscles and ligaments unwind and repair themselves. Stresses and tensions from the day should release with proper sleep posture, enabling you to wake up feeling rested and refreshed.

Let’s look at how you can ensure your sleeping posture is perfect to reduce your neck or back pain.

Picking the right pillow

Your pillow should be comfortable and supportive of your necks natural curvature.

A pillow that is too high might force your neck into a posture that strains the muscles in your back, neck, and shoulders.

Pick a pillow that will keep your spine straight, in line with your chest and lower back.

Alignment

Regardless of which position you choose to sleep in, make an effort to maintain your hips, shoulders, and ears in a straight line.

We recommend using an additional pillow to support your knees and maintain a neutral spine.

If you sleep on your back, place a pillow under your knees to relieve pressure on your spine and support the lower back's natural curve.

If you sleep on your side, a firm pillow between your knees will prevent your upper leg from pulling your spine out of alignment and reduce stress on your hips and lower back. Pull your knees up slightly toward your chest. This helps to align your pelvis.

We do not recommend you sleep on your front. There is significant medical research to show that this is a position likely to destabilize your spine leading to neck and back pain.

In clinic we have some adjustable orthopedically shaped memory foam pillows available for you to buy.

The Sacroiliac Joint or SIJ as it’s also known as can be a real pain in the bum, literally, and is a problem for many of us. It’s the joint where the Sacrum, an upside down triangular shaped bone at the bottom of the spine meets a section of the pelvis called the ilium, hence sacro-iliac. Activities like sitting or standing for long periods, usually aggravate it, and anyone who has SIJ issues knows that it can make getting up from sitting down, getting out the car, rolling over in bed and bending a painful issue, let alone sport and exercise. Pain can be felt in the lower back, buttocks, hip and even down the leg.

It’s a joint that was for a long time thought not to move, but it is now known that it does but only slightly and is needed for shock absorption and to take the pressure off the lumbar spine. Basically, it acts as a buffer between the hip and the lumbar spine. It has ligaments helping the structure, but also some large muscles including quadratus lumborum, hamstrings, gluteal muscles, psoas, erector spinae, piriformis, abdominal obliques.

Chiropractic adjustments along with soft tissues techniques can be used to correct hypermobility (instability) or hypomobility (stiffness) in the joints, rehab exercises can get the supporting muscles firing better and stronger. All this will take the pressure off the joint to give it a chance to heal and become less inflamed.

If you think you might have a problem with your SIJ it is important to get checked out by a professional such as a Chiropractor. At Watkins Chiropractic in Uckfield & Haywards Heath, we have helped hundreds of patients get on top of their SJI pain and work on how to reduce the risk of flare ups in the future. Just call 01825 890592 to book a consultation.