How good are you in bed?

Be kind to your body by finding your ideal sleeping position, with advice from the experts

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We all have our go-to sleeping position, whether it's curled up on our side, stretched out on our back or face-down flat out. But beyond comfort, does the way we sleep affect our health?

Do some positions put more strain on our joints?

“Different sleeping positions generate different surface contact, putting pressure on various joints,” says Dr Hana Patel, NHS GP and resident sleep expert at Time4Sleep.

“The three basic sleep positions - supine (lying on your back), side and prone (lying on your front) - require different types of support when it comes to your mattress.

“Unsupported positions, like on your stomach, can place stress on the spine and lead to back pain.”

Can your sleeping position impact back pain?

“Sleep is massively important for recovery, regeneration and injury prevention, but for those living with back pain it can feel impossible to get the optimum eight hours per night,” says Mr Michael Fatica, lead osteopath and co-founder of the Back in Shape Program.