3 Tips to Improve Sleep Quality for Back Sleepers

Do you regularly sleep on your back? According to experts, sleeping on your back is the best position to sleep in. However, not all positions are the same, and some may be more effective than others in helping you fall asleep faster or improve your quality of sleep.

Here are three tips that may help back sleepers enhance their sleep quality.

Keep a pillow under your knees

Have you ever laid on your back on the ground, maybe at the beach or on some grass at a park? Many of you would have instinctively put your feet flat on the ground and bend your knees.

Many people find this more comfortable and the same goes when you are lying in bed. If you lie on your back, put a pillow underneath your knees. This will help to flatten your back and put less pressure on your joints during the night. This tip may also help people who regularly wake up with an aching lower back?

If you are pregnant or have a particularly large lower back curve (technically known as lordosis), you may consider putting more than one pillow under your knees. Often in cases of mums-to-be, the lower back curve grows larger as their tummies get bigger and heavier. This places more pressure on the joints in the back, which could do with a good rest in the evening. Placing pillows underneath your knees can help take that pressure off. If your lower back curve continues to grow bigger, consider sleeping on your side instead.

Make sure your pillow’s shape is correct

Another important tip for back sleepers is to have your pillow height and pillow shape correct. If your pillow is not the right height or shape for your body, we recommend purchasing a new pillow or tweaking your pillow in a way that would be more healthy and suitable for your body.

In an ideal spine, you want to have a curve in your neck when you look at it from the side. It should be convex at the front and concave at the back (imagine your neck as a banana, in order for you to have good posture, the pointy ends should be pointing backwards). For optimal spinal posture, you want this curve in your neck supported. This is where a pillow comes in.

Oftentimes, people mistake the purpose of a pillow as a head support, rather than for both head and neck support.

Here at Ryde Chiropractic, we believe contour pillows to be the most helpful in supporting one’s head and neck. They are often shaped with a bump on one end and a bump of a different size on the other end. This bump is designed to fill the gap between the back of your head and your upper back, and makes sure that your neck is not hanging from two ends like a rope bridge.>

Contour pillows with smaller bumps are usually more comfortable for back sleepers, while contour pillows with larger bumps are usually more comfortable for side sleepers. To make sure your neck is properly supported, lie on your pillow and try to push your fingers under your neck. If you are able to push your fingers through the gap easily, it is likely that your pillow is not giving you the best support. We recommend using this test when trying to find a pillow that is best suited for you.

Pay attention to your pillow’s height

Another important tip is to make sure your pillow is the correct height for your head. Most pillows come with a fixed height. Different pillow heights suit different types of sleepers.

When testing a pillow before purchase, make sure that your head is in a neutral position; that is, your head is facing straight up when lying down, or forward if you have it standing up. You don’t want your head sticking too far up to the ceiling nor do you want it flat on the mattress. The best way to check is to have someone look at you from the side to make sure the pillow supports a neutral posture.

Ryde Chiropractic recommends purchasing pillows that are listed here. These pillows are ideal because they have adjustable heights, are soft and have customisable shapes.

Video: Back-sleeping Tips

For more tips and information on sleeping postures, check out our blog on stomach sleepers here.

Get in Touch

If you are looking for advice on choosing the most suitable pillow for you, get in touch with us today! We want to hear from you! Ryde Chiropractic: 3/455 Blaxland Rd, Denistone East NSW 2112