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7 Ways to Relieve Neck Pain from Sleeping in the Wrong Position
Medically reviewed by Patricia Salber, MD, MBA
Updated on April 2, 2021
Research has found that imbalanced activation of the neck muscles related to sleep posture can be a cause of neck & shoulder musculoskeletal pain.
Bothered by pain in the neck? You’re not alone. A 2017 population-based study determined the prevalence of neck pain (1) in a population of adults aged 20 and above was 20.3% or 1 in 5 people. Although a variety of risk factors for neck pain have been identified, including your posture/positioning while at work, one risk factor that isn’t often talked about how you position yourself when you sleep. A study published in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science (2) on June 29, 2017, was specifically aimed at identifying the effects of sleep posture on neck muscle activity.
The authors found that the activity of the affected muscles was significantly different in each of the three main sleeping positions: supine with both hands at the side (BHS), supine with both hands on the chest (BHC), and supine with the dominant hand on the forehead (DHF). The authors concluded that
“sleep posture is important and prevents neck and shoulder musculoskeletal pain.”
