Sleeping · 2 min read

How you lie down

Waking up stiff, achy, or on a numb arm? It is not the mattress. It is how your body is positioned for the seven or eight hours you are on it.

Most morning pain comes down to one fixable cause, and it is not your mattress or your age. It is a spine left unsupported and out of alignment all night. Two pillows in the right places, and the position holds itself.

The setup

1. 1

   Side sleepers: a pillow between the knees

   Without it the top leg falls forward and takes the pelvis with it, so your hips and low back spend the night twisted. A pillow between the knees keeps them level.

2. 2

   Check the height of your head pillow

   It should fill the gap between your ear and your shoulder, no more. Too thick and it tips your head up towards the ceiling; too thin and your head drops down. Either way your neck holds the difference until morning.

3. 3

   Give the top arm somewhere to be

   Keep it along your side, or resting on a pillow in front of you. Not tucked underneath you, and not stretched overhead. That is usually the arm you wake up unable to feel.

4. 4

   Back sleepers: a pillow under the knees

   Sliding one under the knees lets the low back settle instead of arching away from the mattress all night. It takes the strain off immediately.

The habit

1. 1

   Move in the night, and bring the pillow with you

   Nobody holds one position until morning, and you are not supposed to. Shift as much as you like. Just take the knee pillow with you when you roll, so the support goes where you go.

2. 2

   If you sleep on your stomach, start moving off it

   It is the one position that works against your spine whatever pillow you use: the neck stays turned to one side all night and the low back arches. Change it gradually rather than all at once, side or back, and let the pillows make the new position the comfortable one.

If you wake with numbness or tingling that does not clear within a few minutes, or nothing here changes after a couple of weeks, see a professional rather than pushing through it.

Written by Lee Albert, neuromuscular therapist, author, and creator of Integrated Positional Therapy.