I’ve always read and been told that sleeping on your stomach is bad for your spine and neck but after a workout or long day at work, I find that laying on my stomach for an hour or so while I read or scroll on my phone makes my back feel so much better. Am I doing more long-term harm than good with this? Why does it feel so good on my back but is bad for it? Is it just not recommended for long periods of time but beneficial for shorter periods?
Laying on your stomach is good if it reduces your back pain, but variety is the spice of positioning. Lying on your stomach extends your back and for some people with the right type of bulging disks it will bring pain relief. Possibly more so with pushing up on your elbows or for the maximum stretch pushing up on your hands while holding your hips down and arching your back. Just don’t overdo it.
If I’m laying for more than an hour I’ll usually spend some time on my sides when my shoulders and elbows get sore. I would know if I had bulging disks right? Like I would be in considerable pain?
Not necessarily. Spinal disks can bulge to different degrees. It can be a temporary thing, like you’ve been bent over a computer all day, or a major thing like you fell 8 feet on to concrete. The later would probably result in a herniated disk which would likely lead to severe pain. The former can be fixed with light stretching.
Ooook, ya I definitely have some shrimpy posture throughout the day which is what originally led me to try to shrimp the other way to balance things out