Neck: Your neck is forced up into the other direction, scrunching one side and stretching out the other. If you have sciatic pain symptoms, achy hip or knee joints, arthritis in any of these joints, take a good look at your sleep position! This effect is worse if you don’t have a pillow between your legs. Hips: Because your lumbar spine is forced up by gravity, so are your hips pulled out of alignment. This can cause pain all on its own, and if you have any disc issues such as herniations, degeneration, or spinal impingement this sleeping position can make these more painful. It is forced to dip down from your hips in the lumbar spine, then up over your shoulder (which remember, is bearing all this weight), then curve down again as your head weighs it down the other way. Spine: Your spine is is forced into an awkward ‘S’ shape. Compression of the glenohumeral joint can cause problems in the labrum, bursa, tendons and muscles of the arm and scapula, not to mention strain on the very delicate AC joint and clavicle. Shoulder: Your lower shoulder is taking all the weight of your upper body. Over time this can create limited range of motion, neck pain, headaches, numbness and tingling in the arms, weakness, and other complications. The other side is over stretched, and can weaken the muscles there. Compressing the spinal facets and impinging nerves, blood, and muscles on this side. Neck: Your neck is forced to scrunch up and tilt downward on one side. If you are a side-sleeper, and your pillow is too small… Sleeping while holding a pillow in front of you and another between your knees will allow your shoulders and hips to stay aligned, along with the spine. A close alternative to sleeping on your back would be your side with the use of the proper pillows to support not only your head and neck but also your hips and shoulders. This also supports the natural curves of the spine and doesn’t compress any of your joints. The best way to sleep is on your back on a firm mattress which allows the spine and surrounding muscles to decompresses overnight. It is not advised to sleep on your stomach, as it is very detrimental to both your neck and lower back resulting in pain, headaches and numbness or tingling in the arms/legs. As a general rule of thumb, back sleepers should use a thinner pillow to support the head and neck, while side sleepers need a slightly larger pillow to fill in the space between the mattress and head/neck due to the width of the shoulders. Sleep position plays a significant role in the type of pillow you should use. The point of a pillow is to support the natural curvatures of the spine and keep it aligned throughout the night when your body is in recovery and repair mode. No two people should use the same pillow. A: This answer isn’t the same for everyone.
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