Sleeping on your stomach is not recommended. So cut that out of your habits. As rec in this video, place a pillow along the side of your body to prop yourself and adjust sleeping on your stomach to less than 25% of the night. Get those hands below your chest level as well. We see neck and arm nerve symptoms all the time with sleeping with hands above head.
As physical therapists we are often asked what type of pillow is right. If you ask 10 different PT’s, you will likely get 10 answers. Here it the general rule of thumb, a pillow that is not too flat, and one that is not too tall (certainly not 2 or three pillows stacked) is healthy. The cheap pillow at Walmart is not appropriate for under your head. Keep the cheap pillows for your knees when you are sleeping on your side. Consider a supportive pillow that has been through research. Our suggestion is the Purple Pillow. If you are worried about spending just over $100 on a pillow, think about how many pillows you would be buying in a 5 year period, just to have crappy sleep. Do yourself and your body a favor, purchase an appropriate pillow. If sleep is important to you, look at our other video on sleep position.
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