There is a high chance that at some stage of your life you will have an injury to some part of your body. When you have certain injuries it can be a struggle to find a comfy position to sleep in. Well keep reading for some tips on some ways to sleep with some common injuries!

Sore neck

Your pillow can influence the position of your neck overnight and may also contribute to neck injuries and complaints such as pain. 

-If you are a side sleeper, is the pillow causing your neck to bend to the side (bringing your ear towards your shoulder) as the pillow is too high or too low? 

-If you are a back sleeper, is your pillow causing too much neck flexion or extension? 

-If you sleep on your stomach, is your neck rotated largely to one side? 

Some of these positions can contribute to neck pain. 

So try removing pillows if you sleep with more than one. Check that your pillow is flat on your mattress and not on other pillows or sliding up the bed head. Then check the size or height of your pillow

- look in a mirror or get someone to look and see if your neck is straight or neutral.

It’s also a good idea to make sure your pillow is only under your neck and head and not under your shoulders. 

Sore shoulders

If you have sore shoulders you can try to avoid sleeping on your sore shoulder. Try sleeping on your back or on the other side instead.

If you’re sleeping on your opposite side, try hugging a pillow with your sore arm so you don’t drop your arm forward during the night.

Also don’t forget to look at the height of your pillow. Is your neck in a neutral position? Are you squashing your shoulders up while you sleep?

Sore back 

If you are a tummy sleeper and have a sore lower back, try placing a small flat pillow under the front of your hips. This may help to avoid over extension through your lower back as it arches into the bed. 

If you sleep on your back, place a pillow underneath your knees to try and keep a neutral spine.

If you are a side sleeper, do your knees stay together on top of one another or does the top knee fall forward causing rotation through your hips and lower back? If your hip rotates this may cause discomfort and back pain. Try to sleep with your legs on top of each other or place a pillow between your legs.

Sore hips

When people complain of sore hips, it is important to know if you sleep on your side, and the position of your leg while you sleep. Does your leg drop forward resulting in possible increased tension or pull through your hip? 

If it does, put a pillow between your legs to avoid that leg dropping and increasing the strain through the hip.

For some injuries it may be beneficial to avoid sleeping on the sore side. But, if you can only lie on the sore side and you have a hard mattress, try placing a small towel or pillow under your hip. This may soften the contact and add more support to your hip. 

Sore feet

The cause of sore feet and ankles can range from stubbed toes, ingrown toenails, broken toes, rolled ankles and plantar fasciitis.

The pressure on your feet from the sheet may be uncomfortable with some of these conditions.  The simple solution is to sleep with no sheets or with your feet sticking out from under the covers, otherwise place a pillow under your sheets at the bottom of your bed. Ideally the pillow should be higher than your foot so that the tension and pull of the sheet is on the pillow and not your foot. 

Sleep is really important, and it is essential that we are in a comfortable position to get the appropriate hours of sleep. Different injuries impact what is a comfortable position to sleep in. If you want some advice about sleeping positions especially when you have injuries contact our Osteos at Osteo 4 families. 

Source - Osteopathy Australia/ Wall street Journal

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Dr Mariella Berry (Osteopath)

BSC (Osteopathy), MHSc (Osteopathy)