Sleeping on your stomach

Sleeping on your stomach will keep your head turned in one direction or the other for a period of time, which causes pain.

“Imagine standing and looking one way for two or three hours at a time. Stretching your neck muscle for that long creates soreness,”

Sleeping on your stomach also extends your neck backward, compressing your spine. Then you get tingling in your arm, or your arm may fall asleep, as blood flow is constricted and nerves are compressed.

“Avoid bringing one leg up,” he cautions. “It can lead to soreness by torquing your hips and low back.”

If it’s hard to break your stomach-sleeping habit, try sleeping on your side with a body or side pillow. This may provide the same reassuring pressure on your stomach.

Checking your alignment

The bottom line: “It’s all about body mechanics,”  You have to keep your spine in alignment, just like your car. If you hit a bump with your car, you can still drive. But you feel a shudder, and you know it’s not good for your car.”

In the same way, bad postural habits when you sleep aren’t good for your body. They’ll throw your spine’s alignment off and give you problems down the road.

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