Our Guide To Sleeping On Your Back

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There’s three main common sleeping positions, on your front, on your side and on your back. There’s many slight variations within each sleeping position, such as positioning your arms or legs in a different way or utilising pillows to support certain areas of your body, but those three are the main sleeping positions we find ourselves in night after night.

Which position you tend to sleep in will depend on many personal preferences and many of us will tend to sleep in different positions from time to time, even if we have a strong preference for one of them. 

Each sleeping position has its pros and cons and this week we’re taking a look at sleeping on your back, our tips for making the most of the position for a great night’s sleep and the various benefits and disadvantages of sleeping in said position. 

Why Do Sleeping Positions Matter?

Getting a good night’s sleep is so integral to our way of life. Without it, your body can’t recover from the previous day correctly, you’ll be tired and lack concentration the next day and prolonged lack of sleep significantly increases your risk of many serious conditions such as diabetes, stroke, heart disease and certain cancers too. So as you can see, getting enough sleep is vitally important!

The sleeping positions we adopt can either help or hinder our ability to get forty winks and you could even be doing short or long term damage to your body without even realising it with the way you sleep. That’s why it’s so important to understand the pros and cons of each sleeping position so you can either work towards re-training yourself to sleep in a different position (which isn’t always easy) or be confident in the way you currently sleep.

Our Tips For Sleeping On Your Back

It’s always a good idea to try and make the most of anything you do and sleeping is most definitely no different. Here’s our top tips for getting a great night’s sleep on your back.

Use A Thinner Pillow

When sleeping on your back, the last thing you want is for your head to be too high and craning forward as this will throw out your spinal alignment and likely end up in neck pain when you wake up. As sleeping on your back is generally great for keeping your spine in a natural, neutral position, opting for a thinner pillow can help you to achieve this. 

Generally a thin to medium thickness pillow is a great idea when sleeping on your back. You’ll want to opt for a pillow that’s fairly flat, yet supportive and also feels rather soft so it can cradle your head and help to minimise your head rolling to either side whilst asleep. Luckily, many pillows are described as being ‘suitable’ or ‘best’ for various sleeping positions, so keep an eye out for any pillows described as such when pillow shopping. 

Sleep On A Firm Mattress

Firmer mattresses generally provide you with superior back sleeping support and promote neutral spinal alignment whilst you sleep. Of course you don’t necessarily want it to be ‘really’ firm, as you’ll need it to have some element of ‘give’ to it, otherwise you run the risk of putting additional pressure on your joints. 

The firmness of the mattress you choose ultimately still comes down to personal preference and your specific situation too. Your body weight can also impact how firm your mattress should be. For example, if you’re on the lighter side, you may not need to opt for such a firm mattress to keep your spine aligned as you won’t sink into the mattress as much and as such, a really firm mattress could have the opposite effect and prevent you from sleeping with your spine in a neutral position whilst you’re on your back. 

So it’s important to consider various aspects and potentially even try before you buy when it comes to how firm your mattress should be. 

Use Pillows Underneath Your Knees

Another way to help support the natural curvature of your spine is to use a pillow or specially designed alignment pillow underneath your knees to help raise them up. By sleeping in this position you can help to alleviate any potential back pain as it helps to redistribute your weight more evenly, which in turn, reduces the pressure on your hips and lower back. 

By placing a pillow underneath your knees, you can also improve circulation and reduce fluid retention, helping to improve blood flow and reduce swelling. All of this helps to reduce any pain you may be feeling in your back, hip and knees both whilst you sleep and upon awakening. 

Utilise Lumbar Support

You may also find that sleeping with a small pillow, specialised lumbar support pillow or even a rolled up towel underneath your lower back can help to provide you with additional support. This helps to keep your spine naturally aligned and helps to reduce stress on your lower back, alleviating or keeping pain at bay. All of which results in a better night’s sleep and a real chance for your body and mind to rest and recuperate. 

The Benefits Of Sleeping On Your Back

Whilst it’s not the most popular sleeping position, it’s still a favourite of many and it’s easy to see why…

Neutral Spinal Alignment

Sleeping on your back helps to keep your spine neutrally aligned as there’s no external pressure on your hips or knees shifting your spine one way or the other. However, this is only the case if you don’t use a mountain of pillows or one thick pillow that causes your neck to be greatly misaligned from the rest of your spine. Thicker pillows or using multiple pillows causes your neck to crane forward too much, exerting pressure on your neck and working against the neutral spinal alignment that sleeping on your back brings. 

Can Help To Relieve Sinus Buildup

Sleeping on your back with your head elevated helps to promote mucus drainage, clearing your airways. With the help of gravity, mucus drains much more effectively, making it easier to breathe. Swelling in the nasal cavities is also reduced whilst sleeping in this position too. Propping your head up with a thicker pillow or additional pillows creates an even more effective angle to help relieve sinus buildup too. However of course this works against our previous point regarding spinal alignment, so it’s up to you to determine which pain point so to speak you want to tackle the most. 

Helps To Ease Tension Headaches, Avoid Skin Breakouts & Even Wrinkles!

By reducing the pressure on your head, backsleeping can help to prevent cervicogenic headaches. These headaches are rooted deep in your cervical spine and are often confused with migraines due to their severity. By keeping your spine and neck in a neutral position and supported, it minimises any compression or strain on the spine. 

Our pillows are a hotbed for bacteria, grime and remnants of make up and hair products, so by sleeping on your back, you minimise any face contact with your pillow, reducing the chances of any skin breakouts. 

Not only that, but by avoiding as much contact between your pillow and your face as possible, you can help to keep wrinkles at bay for longer. Your pillow can pinch, pull and irritate your skin, which can result in the premature development of wrinkles, so by sleeping on your back, you could believe it or not, look more youthful for longer.

Potential Disadvantages Of Back Sleeping

Of course, as with anything, there are potential disadvantages to sleeping on your back. 

It’s Not Comfortable For Everyone

Backsleeping isn’t for everyone. It can feel unnatural or not feel like the most comfortable position for you to sleep in. Plus, it can be very hard to re-train yourself to sleep in a different position so to speak. This is all of course completely normal. But, if some of the potential benefits have resonated with you, it may be worth giving it a go and trying to stick with it for longer. 

Can Make Snoring & Sleep Apnea Worse

Backsleeping can aggravate and make symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) worse as gravity pulls the tongue and the soft tissues in your mouth back into your throat. This can narrow your breathing passages and obstruct your airways, making sleep apnea symptoms worse, including snoring. All of this hinders the quality of both your sleep and your sleeping partners’ too. 

Can Aggravate Neck & Back Pain

This one all depends on the thickness of the pillows you use. We’ve touched upon this already, but essentially if you opt for a thinner pillow, you’ll reduce the likelihood of any neck or back pain whilst sleeping on your back. Be careful not to go too thin though, as this can have the opposite effect, as you’ll strain your neck in the other direction instead. You want to aim for a thinner pillow that comfortably supports your head in a neutral position aligning it with your spine as much as possible. 

Is Backsleeping The Right Position For You?

By now, you’ve hopefully got a good idea of whether sleeping on your back is a good idea or not and whether any of the potential benefits have caught your eye and can help you to have a better night’s sleep. Be sure to consider the tips we’ve shared to help you have an even better night’s sleep on your back too and take a look at our collection of mattresses that can help to provide comfortable support, night after night.