What is the healthiest way/position to sleep?

The best and the worst sleeping positions

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 sleepers: Consider this

"Snoring is usually most frequent and severe when sleeping on the back," Dr. Olson says.

Perfect pillow: The best pillows for back sleepers are puffy, and their goal is to keep your head and neck supported without propping your head up too much.

Next best: Side position

Good for: Preventing neck and back pain, reducing acid reflux, snoring less, sleeping during pregnancy

Bad for: Your skin and your breasts

The scoop: Side-sleeping is great for overall health—it reduces snoring and keeps your spine elongated. If you suffer from acid reflux, this is the next best thing to sleeping on your back. The downside: "Sleeping on your side can cause you to get wrinkles," Dr. Glaser says. Blame all that smushing of one side of your face into the pillow.

This pose also contributes to breast sag, since your girls are dangling downward, stretching the ligaments, says Roshini Rajapaksa, MD, Health’s contributing medical editor.

Not ideal: Fetal position

Good for: Snoring less, sleeping during pregnancy

Bad for: Preventing neck and back pain, minimizing wrinkles, maintaining perky breasts

The scoop: When you snooze with your knees pulled up high and chin tucked into your chest, you may feel it in the morning, especially if you have an arthritic back or joints, Dr. Olson says.

"This curved position also restricts diaphragmatic breathing," adds Dody Chang, a licensed acupuncturist in Irvington, NY. And if you make this your nightly pose, you may bring on premature facial wrinkles and breast sag.

The worst: Stomach position

Good for: Easing snoring

Bad for: Avoiding neck and back pain, minimizing wrinkles, maintaining perky breasts

The scoop: "Stomach-sleeping makes it difficult to maintain a neutral position with your spine," Shannon explains. It puts pressure on joints and muscles, which can irritate nerves and lead to pain, numbness, and tingling. "Think about the soreness you’d feel if you kept your neck turned to one side for 15 minutes during the day," Dr. Diamant explains.

In this position you have your head to one side for hours at a time. You won’t necessarily feel it the next day, but you may soon start to ache.

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