3 reasons why you shouldn’t sleep on your stomach.

Of all the positions you can sleep in, sleeping on your stomach is the worst. If you sleep on your side or back, and follow a few simple rules, you can sleep in a good position and not wake up with pain. Sleeping on your back however will generally always lead to pain over a period of time. Here are 3 reasons why sleeping on your stomach is bad and can lead to pain.

Rotating your neck to breathe

Unless you have a face hole in your bed, to sleep on your stomach, you need to turn your head to the side to be able to breathe. This means your neck will be rotated for the whole time you're asleep. Also as your bodyweight pushes you into the mattress your rotated neck will also be bent to the side a bit. Having your neck in this position for 6-8 hours will cause some muscles to be shortened and others to be lengthened, joints will be pushed into the end of their range of movement which can cause stiffness in joints. Over time this can lead to pain in the neck.

Hyperextension of the lower back

Due to the mattress being a generally soft surface, your bodyweight will push various parts of your body further into the mattress than others. When you sleep on your stomach, one of the parts that gets pushed in more than others is your lower back. This leads to hyperextension (bending backwards) of your lower back. When you sleep for 6-8 hours with hyperextension of your lower back this can lead to pain in the lower back over time.

Rotating your pelvis

To counter your lower back being put into hyperextension when sleeping on your stomach, a lot of people will bend one of their legs up at the hip. By doing this it means you have less extension through the lower back, but it also means you rotate through the pelvis. Being rotated through the pelvis for 6-8 hours a night can eventually lead to a twisted pelvis. This over time can lead to pain in the pelvis, hips and lower back areas.