The best: Back position
Good for: Preventing neck and back pain, reducing acid reflux, minimizing wrinkles, maintaining perky breasts
Bad for: Snoring
The scoop: Sleeping on your back makes it easy for your head, neck, and spine to maintain a neutral position. You’re not forcing any extra curves into your back, says Steven Diamant, a chiropractor in New York City. It’s also ideal for fighting acid reflux, says Eric Olson, MD, a sleep medicine specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. “If the head is elevated, your stomach will be below your esophagus so acid or food can’t come back up.”
Back-sleeping also helps prevent wrinkles, because nothing is pushing against your face, notes Dee Anna Glaser, MD, a professor of dermatology at Saint Louis University. And the weight of your breasts is fully supported, reducing sagginess.