What is the best sleep position for low back pain? 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 serious 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 the back pain and if back pain remains uncured for more than 6 months then it turns into chronic low back pain.
In this article, we will try to learn the best comfortable sleeping position when you are suffering 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 any kind of back and neck pain.
#1 Sleeping on side with 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. Many of us prefer a side-lying position and we feel comfortable sleeping in this position but by doing a small modification in this position we can improve our sleeping position and we can drastically reduce the back pain. This modification is very simple and we just need two pillows for this position.
Let’s take the example of sleeping on our right side. Normally when we sleep on our side we bend our hips and knee so to make it more comfortable. We can make this side-lying position back pain-free and friendly by position simply keeping one pillow beneath your head to give good comfortable support to your head and neck and then keeping another pillow between the two knees. This will provide a good alignment to your hip region and prevent any kind of stress on the lower back area.
Here you can make another small modification, you can keep your upper lying leg bent and straighten your bottom leg. In this position, you can keep a layer of two pillows beneath the upper lying leg. This position is rather more comfortable than keeping both your legs bent. Here you have to note that you have to keep changing the position from left to right side. This position is also preferred position if you are suffering from sciatica or lumbar disc bulge.
#2 Sleeping on your side in fetal position
The fetal position is the position of the foetus inside the Mother’s womb. You might have seen the graphics of fetal position, they simply bend themselves completely at the hip, knee and upper body. So when we sleep ourselves in this position we call it fetal position and this will be best for the person suffering from lumber disc hernia. So for this best sleep position for low back pain, we have to come to the side-lying either the right or left side. Now support your head with a pillow and then simply bend your hip and knee to complete flexed position and bend your torso forward towards the knee. Here is a reminder, you have to keep changing the sleeping position from left to right side2.
#3 Sleeping on your tummy with pillow beneath your abdomen
Many people would agree that they love to sleep on the abdomen, 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? So first sleep flat on your tummy comfortably and then place a pillow just at the bottom of your abdomen. This will give good support to our lower back and it will give a slight bending position to the lumbar spine. This alignment of the lumbar spine will help ease any kind of stress in the spine and relieve the pain.
#4 Sleeping on the back with 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 that 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.
For this sleeping position, you have to simply keep a pillow under the knee. As you can note that by keeping the pillow under the knee we are aligning both our hip and knee joint in a bending position (refer to second pose in above image). So this is how this position creates a slight bending alignment at the lower back and relieves the pain.
Choosing 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 the 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 the 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 in order 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 would recommend using a medium-firm mattress that is not very soft, supple and not very firm or tight.
Conclusion
Sleeping position is an important part to prevent 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 which are very important to cure low back pain completely.
Keep Reading: Follow These 7 Easy Low Back Pain Stretches That Actually Work
Thank you so much
I agree with you when you said that choosing the wrong sleeping mattress might cause the spine to be misaligned, which can cause neck, shoulder, and back pain. My aunt recently started having lower back pain, and she wants to visit a chiropractor. Thanks for the advice and I’ll pass it along to my aunt so she can pick the best chiropractor for her requirements.