4 Best Sleep Position for Low Back Pain Relief

Last updated on September 3rd, 2024 at 04:03 pm

Every one of us might have experienced low back pain at least once in our lifetime. According to the World Health Organisation, low back pain is the leading cause of disability. However, the common reason for low back pain is not a severe injury but is due to simple reasons like wrong sitting posture in a desk job (that can be corrected with ergonomic sitting), awkward sleeping position, and choice of wrong sleeping mattress.

All these factors contribute to back pain, and if back pain remains uncured for more than 6 months, it turns into chronic lower back pain. This article will try to learn the best comfortable sleeping position when you suffer from low back pain. We will also try to understand how to select a good sleeping mattress for a good night’s sleep, free from back and neck pain.

#1 Sleeping on the side with a pillow beneath the knee

The first best sleep position for low back pain is sleeping with a pillow beneath the knee. This sleeping position will best suit a habitual side-lying sleeper.

Here is the revised text: Many of us prefer sleeping on our side, but with a simple modification, we can make this position more comfortable and reduce back pain.

1. When sleeping on your right side, place one pillow under your head for neck support and another pillow between your knees.
2. You can also straighten your bottom leg while keeping your upper leg bent, and place two pillows under the upper leg for extra support as shown in the figure.
3. It’s important to switch sides regularly if you suffer from sciatica or lumbar disc bulge.

#2 Sleeping on your side in the fetal position

The fetal position is the position of the fetus inside the mother’s womb. The graphics of the fetal position depict the fetus bending at the hip, knee, and upper body. When we adopt this position while sleeping, it is called the fetal position.

This position is recommended for people suffering from lumbar disc herniation as it can help alleviate low back pain. To sleep in this position:

1. Lie on your right or left side.
2. Support your head with a pillow, and bend your hip and knee into a fully flexed position while also bending your torso forward towards the knee.
3. It’s important to remember to switch sides regularly while sleeping, alternating between the left and right side.

#3 Sleeping on your tummy with a pillow beneath your  abdomen

Many people would agree that they love to sleep on the tummy. This is also my favourite position, but when you are suffering from low back pain then this is not an ideal sleeping posture.

However, by doing the small modification by placing pillows you can make this sleeping position compatible with back pain and it will ease your pain. What is this small modification?

1. So first sleep flat on your tummy comfortably and then place a pillow just at the bottom of your abdomen.
2. This will give good support to our lower back and it will give a slight bending position to the lumbar spine.
3. This alignment of the lumbar spine will help ease any stress in the spine and relieve the pain.

#4 Sleeping on the back with a pillow under the knee

Our final best sleep position for low back pain relief is sleeping flat on the back with a pillow under the knee. Sleeping straight and flat on our back is perhaps the ideal position for sleeping, however, if someone is suffering from backache this simple comfortable position would feel uncomfortable. 

As you can observe when we sleep flat on our back our low lumbar spine remains straight. This can cause stress on the lower back, resulting in pain. So, by doing a small modification, we can change the alignment of the lumbar spine to a slight bend position. This will relax any kind of stress or tension, and it will be comfortable to sleep¹.

1. For this sleeping position, you must simply keep a pillow under the knee.
2. As you can note by keeping the pillow under the knee we are aligning both our hip and knee joints in a bending position (refer to the second pose in the above image). 
3. This position creates a slight bending alignment at the lower back and relieves the pain.

Choosing a back pain relief bed mattress

Not only the sleeping posture, but the kind of surface we use to sleep upon also affects our comfort and discomfort level indirectly or directly affects lower back pain.

Studies reveal that sleeping surfaces can contribute to sleeping discomfort and sleeping on a certain surface is more beneficial than the other³. The study also concludes that for a person suffering from chronic low back pain or sleep problems, the quality of the mattress directly affects the quality of sleep.

This is why you should choose the best sleep number mattress for back pain health and quality of sleep. The wrong choice of sleeping mattress can result in the awkward alignment of the spine resulting in neck pain, shoulder pain, and back pain.

According to the research, a medium-firm surface is best for sleeping³. In older days, coil spring mattresses were commonly used, nowadays, materials such as latex and memory foam are used in the construction of mattresses to provide greater support and comfort.

So next time when you are buying a bed mattress for your home then do take all these factors into consideration before making any final Decision. We recommend using a medium-firm mattress that is not very soft, supple, firm, or tight.

 Conclusion

Sleeping position is an important part of preventing any further progression of the low back pain it is also important for quality sleep and we all know sleep is essential for physical, mental and emotional. To stop low back pain you have to also concentrate on the low back pain exercises.

I have already covered low back pain exercises in one of my previous articles you can go you can visit this article and read and follow all those exercises that are very important to cure low back pain completely. 

Keep Reading: Follow These 7 Easy Low Back Pain Stretches That Actually Work

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Sunit. S. Ekka

Dr Sunit Sanjay Ekka is a physiotherapist in practice for the last 15 years. He has done his BPT from one of the premium Central Government physiotherapy colleges, ie, SVNIRTAR. The patient is his best teacher and whatever he gets to learn he loves to share it on his Youtube channel and blog.