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Can you fall sleep on your back?

molnizzle

molnizzle

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
17,695
I've been struggling to train my brain to allow this for weeks now. Always end up rolling over to actually fall asleep. I've got the knee pillow and also a travel pillow around my face to simulate laying on my side. Still can't do it. When I'm on my back, it feels like my pulse is literally shaking my body and I can't shift my focus away from it to fall asleep

I'm trying to do it to mitigate my back pain and help with posture.

Anyway, how many back sleepers do we have here? Has anyone who previously couldn't do it been able to successfully train themselves?
 
TheThirstyPrisoner

TheThirstyPrisoner

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,155
I never slept on my back. Then I got a herniated disk in my lower back. Now I sleep on my back.

This wasn't because I willed myself to do it in order to avoid future troubles, but because turning your body when you have a herniated disk is like the most difficult thing in the world. I didn't have to train myself because I was pretty much stuck in that position each night while I healed.
 
SlickShoes

SlickShoes

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,772
I didn't used to be able to do it, then I broke my ribs and the only way I could sleep was on my back so now it's easy.

Don't recommend that you break your ribs just to achieve this.
 
tsampikos

tsampikos

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,613
I had back/ shoulder problems when I slept on my stomach/ back.

Then I started sleeping on my back.

I no longer have back/ shoulder problems.

It sounds odd but what helped me was moving my pillow from under my head to on my chest.

So yeah I no longer use pillows.
 
Fall Damage

Fall Damage

Member
Oct 31, 2017
2,105
I was waking up with a sore neck sleeping on my side which was how I had always slept. So I started sleeping on my back. It was akward at first but I got used to it. Having a firm memory foam mattress and pillow made a big difference for me. I find sinking into a soft mattress extremely uncomfortable. There was a thread here a few days back about weighted blankets which seemed to help lower stress levels for people trying to fall asleep, you might want to check that out.
 
CampFreddie

CampFreddie

A King's Landing
Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,989
Try having kids. I can now sleep on my front, back, side, seated, curled up in a bed that's too small for me and probably even upside down.
It's like the karma sutra for falling asleep.
 
Qikz

Qikz

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,624
Only on my side and only one way. If I sleep the other way without fail I have nightmares. I don't understand why
 
Cascadero

Cascadero

Member
Nov 8, 2017
1,533
Normally no but I managed to sleep on my back when I fractured my elbow a few years ago. So I guess it's possible under the right circumstances?
 

Deleted member 412

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
491
I always switch between different sleeping positions, despite knowing I can only sleep on my back. Sleeping on my stomach hurts my back.
 
The40Watt

The40Watt

Member
Oct 29, 2017
964
I had to learn how to sleep on my back a few years ago after spending my life up to that point sleeping on my stomach/side. I found having a pillow to my left side (the side I'd always move to) would stop me from turning.

I only needed the pillow there for a while. No trouble sleeping on my back now.
 
Pooroomoo

Pooroomoo

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,972
I used to be able to fall asleep only when on my stomach. At some point last year my back aches started to get more frequent, and after 2 weeks where things were not getting better (which never happened before), after I heard that the way I sleep might affect things, I decided to try sleeping on my back.

Took a week of not giving in, but surprisingly now I only sleep on my back, and my back thanks me for it. This unequivocally and significantly changed my back ache situation.

Before i started, I actually had an example that it is possible - one of my daughters who was really suffering from back aches successfully did this herself, also in a week or so, and this also changed things for her.

Pain is a great motivator...
 
Ravelle

Ravelle

Member
Oct 31, 2017
17,981
I'm a tornado before I finally asleep, I can only sleep on my sides and turn a hundred times. I feel like a vampire when I'm on my back.
 
Treestump

Treestump

Member
Mar 28, 2018
8,416
Thanks to many surgeries that made it the only comfortable way to sleep, yes I can. I don't always end up doing it but I can and mostly do.
 
Xiaomi

Xiaomi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,237
Yeah I'm a back/stomach sleeper but I generally flip between both til I fall asleep. My partner tells me it's like I'm a giant steak being flipped next to her while she tries to sleep next to me on her side.
 
Bonejack

Bonejack

Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,654
Nope. Been sleeping on my side/stomach since i can remember ... seems to be something that children inherit from parents, because all of my kids do the same while the Mrs. sleeps on her back.
 
Wackamole

Wackamole

Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,985
Sure i can. Mostly on my side nowadays though. I tend to snore more when i sleep on my back.
 
apocat

apocat

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,122
I always fall asleep on my back. Occasionally I change position while sleeping, but my back is my default sleeping position.
 
Nachtmaer

Nachtmaer

Member
Oct 27, 2017
347
Nu-uh. And on the very rare occasion I do, I usually get sleep paralysis. Come to think of it, it happened last night.
 
Fat4all

Fat4all

Woke up, got a money tag, swears a lot
Member
Oct 25, 2017
94,862
here
back and sides

usually end up on my back

stomach just ain't comfy at my mass anymore
 
javiBear

javiBear

The Fallen
Oct 30, 2017
888
No way. If I do, I end up having sleep paralysis and start seeing shadow people staring at me.
 
Herne

Herne

Member
Dec 10, 2017
5,354
I can sleep in almost any position. Apparently I fell asleep while sitting on the edge of a fountain once while in Budapest.
 
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