...with one eye open?

I'm often asked by patients 'how should I sleep'?
And I want to answer - soundly? Like a baby? Like a log? How should I know?

It is somewhat futile for your chiropractor (or anyone else for that matter!) to tell you how to sleep since your dozing body will do as it pleases. I will share with you some basic tips, but as is the rule with most activities between the sheets, what works for one person may not work for another. So figure out what works best for you.

Stomach sleeping gets a bad rap for being hard on the back. This can be true, as this position forces the low back joints together. People with herniated discs might find that sleeping on their stomach offers relief though, since it puts the disc in a less herniated position. Stomach sleeping can be a pain in the neck - the head is forced to one side, putting excess pressure on these joints for an extended period of time. Excessive is relative though, and if you must sleep on your stomach this can be minimized by un-torquing your body (and accordingly, neck); try sleeping more 'semi-prone' - bring one knee up and end up sort of half on your side, half on your stomach. This can be helped by using pillows to prop yourself up.

Sleeping on your back is often 'best'. It opens up the joints in the lower back, which is great for anyone in acute low back pain - try also putting a pillow under your legs. This is also a great position to use an orthopedic neck pillow (the ones with the bump in them) - great for supporting the curve in your neck.

Side sleeping or fetal position is generally well-tolerated, especially if you are a fetus. Heh. This position, however, can be challenging for some women, especially the more curvaceous ones. Full hips mean that when lying on your side, your spine is actually NOT straight, though putting a pillow between your knees will align you better. Rotator cuff and hip problems also present a problem to the side sleeper, and it may be best to avoid the involved side. A pillow-top will help hips and shoulders sink into the mattress better, making side sleeping more tolerable.

As for mattress type, the best mattress is the one that feels comfortable. I prefer a coil mattress with a pillow-top. Firm is best, but don't confuse the cushion-y feeling of a pillow-top with softness. High coil count makes for a firm mattress. Spend good money on a mattress, but you don't need the most expensive one on the market either. Also - ditch the ancient mattress (or heaven forbid... futon!), irrespective of what you paid for it in 1992. 10 years seems to be the maximum life span of a bed.

Other than this, what can a chiropractor say? As anyone who has slept beside a tosser will attest, we move around in the night and rarely end up in the same position we started in. You can try to choose your ideal sleep positions based on your needs, but if you wake up facing a different direction, don't lose sleep over it (!). As long as you aren't waking up on the wrong side of the bed, things can't turn out so bad, can they.