The best sleeping positions for lower back pain, or sciatica, are ones that open up space in the spinal joints and around the spinal nerves. Low back pain in bed is usually from positions that compress the spinal joints, making them restricted or inflamed. These bad sleeping positions also close down the area where the nerves exit the spine, and can give you pain, pins and needles, or numbness down your leg. So here’s the best positions to sleep in for back pain and sciatic pain...

0:00 Intro
0:15 Lying Face Up
0:46 Side Lying
1:54 Lying Face Down

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HOW TO SLEEP ON YOUR BACK IF YOU GET BACK PAIN OR SCIATICA
Option one is lying on your back with a few pillows under your knees. Lying face up avoids any twisting or side bending in the spine, and is the best option if your bed is too soft or too hard. The more you bend your knees, the less arch in your back, and the less pressure on joints and nerves in your low back, so the more pillows under your knees, the better in this position.

A ‘leg elevation pillow’ is an option for people who can sleep all night on their back.

HOW TO SLEEP ON YOUR SIDE IF YOU GET LOW BACK PAIN OR LEG PAIN
Option 2 is side-lying. Again bending the legs a fair bit will take pressure off spinal joints, and the nerves that cause sciatica. Try to bend your legs equally to avoid twisting your back. A pillow between the knees can help with that.

If you have a soft bed, or a narrow waist compared to your hips or shoulders, your lower back can end up sagging down and causing pain when you’re on your side. A thin pillow, or folded towel, under your waist—above the pelvis, but below the ribs—can help.

If you have a hard bed, a mattress topper can help to keep your spine straighter during side-sleeping. I’ll leave a link in the description box below to a video about mattresses and pillows if you want more information about that.

So, should you lie with the painful side up or down? Well, there’s no hard & fast rule here because it depends on a few things your bed, back condition, and body shape, so just go with what feels more comfortable.

HOW TO LIE FACE DOWN IF YOU GET LOWER BACK PAIN
The third option is lying face down, which is definitely the worse for your neck, as it has to twist to the side for you to breathe. Lying this way increases the arch of the lower back, compressing everything.

But if you put a few pillows under your stomach, you can create a slightly decompressing position, which can be relieving for some people. So, this is an option, for a short period of time, if you can find a way of not twisting your neck. But I wouldn’t sleep like that.
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