Best Mattresses for Back Pain

“Sleeping on your stomach tends to worsen back pain,” says Nnaemeka Echebiri, MD, a physiatrist at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. When your hips sink into the mattress, they force your lower back into a hyperexteded or overarched position. This stresses the small joints that connect the vertebrae—known as the facet joints—and can increase pain, especially for people who have underlying arthritis.  

Instead, try to sleep on your back with a pillow or a bolster underneath your knees. “This can reduce pain by taking pressure off the facet joints,” Echebiri says. (Sleeping on your side could also be a good option, he says.) 

A move as simple as switching the side of the bed you sleep on could ease strain, says Karen Gstalder-Dring, a physical therapist in Irvington, N.Y. “If you’ve been turning to your left for a lifetime, changing to the right could make a difference,” she says. And if you sleep with a partner, “you tend to be attracted to sleeping in a certain pattern together. Trading spots might naturally shift things and provide some ease and comfort.”