Benefits of Placing a Pillow Between Legs when Sleeping

Placing a pillow between knees when sleeping is highly recommended for side sleepers, as their upper leg generally slides down onto the mattress when they’re asleep.

74 percent of the population are side sleepers.

Let’s learn more about the benefits of placing a pillow between legs when sleeping.

Why to Place a Pillow Between your Knees?

Side sleepers sleep on one of their sides: left or right. In either case, the upper leg tends to slide down and rest on the mattress.

This rotates the spine in a very unnatural manner, leading to a lot of stress on the joints and discs. Stress on the lumbar spine can lead to:

Muscle strain
Chronic lower back pain
Disc herniation

How to Prevent the Rotation of the Spine?

Placing a pillow between legs when sleeping is an easy way to prevent this from happening. The pillow between your knees prevents your upper leg from sliding down.

Improve Side Sleeping

Side sleeping is linked with a lot of health benefits. It is often recommended to people who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea.

But when done wrong, side sleeping can cause serious stress on your shoulders and cervical and lumbar spine.

Here are a few recommendations that side sleepers should follow to protect their joints by relieving pressure:

Pillow Recommendation

When sleeping on the side, it is important to have a pillow that has not only a good loft but also good firmness.

If the pillow is too low, all the upper body weight will fall on your shoulders.

And if the pillow is too soft, your head will sink in, again leading to the same problem.

Here’s the Pillow Recommendation for Side Sleepers:

Loft: 5-7 inches
Firmness: firm

A pillow with a greater loft prevents the upper body weight from falling down on your shoulders. It also helps to maintain good alignment of head and neck with the rest of your spine.

How to Avoid this Problem?

An adjustable pillow enables you to customize its loft and firmness according to your preferences.

This obviates the need to try different pillow sizes and materials.

How does an Adjustable Pillow Work?

An adjustable pillow comes with shredded foam packed into a zipper case. You can insert or remove foam to alter the height and firmness of the pillow.

Mattress Recommendation

If you think that placing a pillow between your knees is going to solve all your back pain problems, then you’re wrong.

Apart from your leg sliding down, your mattress may also cause lower back pain.

When the mattress fails to provide good support to your body, your lower back either sinks in too low or stays up too high.

In both these citations, the spine is misaligned, which can lead to serious damage to the lower back.

When it comes to mattresses, you may have to try different materials to test their firmness and comfort level.

Tips for Better Posture

Apart from getting the right pillow and mattress, side sleepers should employ the following tips to improve their posture:

Place the bottom hand beside your face or under your neck
Use a firm pillow to support head and neck
Bend your knees and pull them a little towards your chin
Place a pillow between your knees when asleep
Get a mattress that is medium-firm

If you suffer from acne, then don’t place your face on your hand, as this can exacerbate the symptoms.

When to Place a Pillow Below your Knees when Sleeping?

If you’re a back sleeper, then you should place the pillow under your knees to relieve some of the pressure from your lower back and bring it back into a more neutral position.

When to Place a Pillow Below your Abdomen when Sleeping?

If you’re a stomach sleeper, then place a pillow below your abdomen to bring the lower back into a more neutral position. Stomach sleeping may lead to cervical and lower back pain, so it is usually recommended against.

Body Pillow for Pregnant Women

Apart from side sleepers, pregnant women benefit from placing a pillow between knees. However, instead of a normal pillow, they should rely on a body pillow.

When your curves are changing during pregnancy, a body pillow will help you find the perfect position to sleep in.

Conclusion

Side sleeping is great for relieving pain, protecting joints, and reducing snoring. However, you must follow the correct posture to protect your neck, shoulders, and lower back.

Simple ways to do so include using the right pillow and mattress and placing a pillow between your knees when asleep.