Sleeping in Neutral

Proper sleep positions promote better posture

A young man walks in the room, his shoulders are hunched and his head is so far forward that it looks painful. Others notice his posture and wonder what caused it – injury, genetics? Possibly, but later, when an old man walks in with the same posture, others think it’s because of his age. 

For those who think that is the case, I propose this question: Do you know the amount of hours, translated into years, that you have spent sleeping in your bed? If you are 30 years old, then you have been sleeping for ten of those years – just divide your age by three to get that magic number. 

The reason I ask this question is that, with the amount of time we spend sleeping, those that sleep in a hunched and/or twisted position will often live a hunched and twisted life. I don’t think that I need to express the depths of stress, stiffness, and pain caused by poor posture. There is no need to be self conscious about posture or continue to experience pain – the solution is on its way. 

Typically, people blame bad posture on heavy backpacks, slouching on the couch, too much desk work, and such; these are all a drop in the bucket when compared to balling up in a fetal position for eight hours straight. Stop that! Do you wonder why you cannot turn your head to the right? It is because you’ve been sleeping on your stomach with your head twisted to the left for 10-plus years. Knock it off! Do you wonder why your right shoulder is rolled so far forward that it hurts and is prone to so many problems? Well, rolling it underneath your body in a nightly attempt to crush the nerves and vasculature of your shoulder while over-stretching your muscles might be the culprit. 

The good news is that you can sleep in a neutral position that not only feels good, but helps you achieve deep, rejuvenating sleep and halts the degradation of your posture. It may even reverse the damage that has accumulated over the years. This neutral position is called side-lying and is attained through the use of 2-4 pillows. Once you properly learn this position and adopt it, your life may easily be changed for the better. 

To learn proper neutral sleep positions that result in good posture, call my office at (805) 226-5900 and set up a free consultation – I would love to be of assistance.

Dr. David Z. Agueda, DC - owns A Line Chiropractic in Paso Robles. 

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