Sleeping

We often overlook sleeping when we think about our posture. And yet, we spend about a third of our lives sleeping and our sleeping positions can put a lot of strain on our back and neck. A supportive mattress and pillow will improve the quality of your sleep and allow you to wake up pain free. There are three main sleep postures:

Back Sleepers

To create proper support for back sleepers, you will need a pillow that offers firm support at the neck but allows the back of your head to drop back, keeping your neck aligned with the rest of your spine.
Orthopedic pillows often have divots or contours in the centre for this purpose. Soft, fluffy pillows do not provide any cervical support. The filling simply moves away from the area or is compressed when pressure is applied.
By sleeping on your back, you are prone to lower back tension. Put a pillow under your knees to reduce the pressure.

Side Sleepers

As a side sleeper, you need to accommodate the gap between your head and shoulder. Your neck should remain at a 90 degree angle from the line of your shoulder (as depicted above). If you typically need to put your arm under your head or use two pillows, its time to get a new pillow. For side sleepers size really matters. The pillow should not allow your neck to flex up or tilt down.
When sleeping on your side, your knees should be aligned with one another to keep your hips straight. If this is uncomfortable, try putting a small pillow between your knees to space them apart.

Stomach Sleepers

There is really no correct way to sleep on your stomach, so it should be avoided if at all possible. If an injury prevents you from sleeping in another position, then the trick will be to keep your neck aligned with your spine as much as possible. Try not using a pillow at all.

Posture Medic Do:

  • Do — view all videos and how-to pictures here on our Instructions pages to learn the proper steps.
  • Do — begin by wearing your Posture Medic for no more than 15 minutes per day to assess your body’s imbalances.
  • Do — begin by doing basic stretches 1x per day, for 5-15 seconds to assess tightness.
  • Do — begin by doing basic exercises 1x per day, 15 repetitions to assess weakness.
  • Do — use the Posture Medic as a reminder to maintain good posture.
  • Do — basic exercises and stretches daily.

Posture Medic Don’t:

  • Do NOT wear for longer then 30 minutes at a time.
  • Do NOT continue to wear if any tingling begins in your arms (immediately remove).
  • Do NOT continue to wear if any pain or pinching arises (immediately remove).
  • Do NOT count on Posture Medic to fix your posture just by wearing it, you must do the stretches and exercises to gain long term success.
  • Do NOT use Posture Medic for ANY other purpose than is expressed through our instructions found in our Instruction Manual.