recommendations for stomach sleeper with back pain?

[phoenix]

Hi chip,

I wonder what the chances are that any mattress will help my back pain. I’m sure the world of back pain sufferers is full of people who tried all kinds of different mattresses that failed to improve their symptoms. I know that’s certainly true of other products and treatments related to back pain.

While a mattress can’t help a medical condition … it it keeps you in good alignment in all your sleeping positions then it will give your back a much better chance to rest and recover and your spine a chance to decompress and rehydrate which can help and support any other treatments you are pursuing.

Is there any real way to know that my 300 dollar Sleepy’s traditional mattess is aggravating my back issues, or is any worse for me than a fancy latex one would be? I’m very worried I’ll spend 1200 bucks on a new mattress that does absolutely nothing for my pain issues, ya know?

Again this would depend on whether it is keeping your spine in good alignment in all your sleeping positions and allowing your back to completely relax without any tension in a neutral position. The testing guidelines in post #1 here can help you test how well it is working for you in terms of support and alignment. If your back issues are in the lower back then you would want to pay particular attention to making sure that your pelvis and hips aren’t sinking down too far which will tilt the pelvis and put your spine out of its neutral alignment.

Also, did I read in the thread you cited re allegies that you feel combination sleepers will often leave the healthier side sleeping position and end up in the less healthy stomach position because their bed isn’t giving them enough comfort in the side position?

This can happen for some people yes but it would probably be more common to "twist’ away from the pressure under the shoulders and sleep in a half stomach half side position. Each person can have a very different sleeping style and react to pressure or alignment issues in different ways. In general though your body will try to compensate in some way for pressure or alignment issues by tightening muscles or changing positions to relieve the parts that are under too much stress just like when you are injured other parts of the body can compensate and take over which can sometimes create new issues.

For back pain sufferers (and neck pain), the side is generally considered better than the stomach and should be what we strive for, yes?

Not necessarily. There are no “rules” because each person’s physiology is different and back pain has many different causes. In general though either side sleeping with the knees drawn part way up (not straight like a soldier) and a pillow between the knees or back sleeping with a pillow under the knees (or with the legs elevated slightly on an adjustable bed) would relieve back tension and decompress the spine most effectively for most (but not all) people.

For neck pain the first place I would look is the suitability and support of your pillow. Neck pain could come from twisting the head and neck when you sleep. This would be especially true for stomach sleepers (who would generally do best with a very thin pillow or no pillow at all)

Phoenix