Sleeping on side or on back in hammock

[TrailSlug]

I sleep on my back and side with ease in my Warbonnet Ridgerunner.

[rweb82]

I generally sleep on my back in the hammock. But I have recently tested side-sleeping in it, and I haven't had any issues with it.

[ofuros]

Side sleeper using a dry sack filled with spare clothes as a pillow(otherwise I get a crick in my neck)...back issues too...tossing all night from one side to the other in a gathered end or bridge hammock is a given.

But wouldn't be anywhere else for quids.

[Fancy Shoes]

Tomorrow I am going to ask my chiropractor if I am good to backpack. I can try and do a trip within the next couple weeks.

[Grunt]

I am a stomach and semi-side sleeper and my Amok is amazingly comfortable. I can fall asleep on my back sometimes in a GE hammock, but will try to turn over soon after and immediately wake up when my back begins to break from being in an inverted banana position. Good luck!

[Festinalente]

When i used a bed i side slept all the time. I also slept on my side in my vivere. In my dutch i sleep more on my back cause it seems to be more comfortable. But when i try to sleep on my side its more like half and half its only a position you can do in a hammock and it seems very comfortable.

[Cjkittrell]

I’m most comfortable back sleeping, but I’ve found that I can sleep on either side in my 11’ GE. In fact, there are several times I’ve found just a 45 degree roll to either side can work. Can’t do that easily on ground or in bed. It took awhile to adjust, but for me there are multiple comfortable sleeping positions in the hammock.

[fr0sty]

I'm a side sleeper in bed but find I sleep best in my chameleon with a hybrid side/back position. I lay at at a roughly 45 degree angle between side and back, with a HG premium pillow in for neck support. I barely change positions in the hammock but it's constant in a bed.

[100 Ton]

I am side sleeper in my bed, side to side all night. Once in a great while I can sleep for short periods on my back in bed, but always end up rolling on to my side. However, in my Chameleon, I have spent so many nights in it that I can just sleep like king tut, flat on my back, and I sleep like the dead! And, I’ve never been a sound sleeper before in my life. I swear, every time I use the Chameleon it seems even more comfortable. I have a really nice bed, but the hammock is more comfortable!

[WhollyHamaca]

Tossing in my 2 cents with some purely anecdotal evidence. I had a pretty awful bad-back experience for a very long while, but finally and with some effort it has greatly improved. My hammock has been a big help to make it so.

When I was young I slept most of the time in a Mayan (summer) or Brazilian (winter) hammock but gave it up for a bed when I was married. Then in my mid 30's I had a serious spine injury which led to a few years of intensive physical therapy, traction, numerous injections into my spine, and finally several surgeries to fuse 4 vertebrae in my neck & back just to get me walking and able to turn my head again. Surgery was absolutely the LAST option I considered, given the terrible odds of poorly defined "success" and the resulting mobility limitations that will likely be further exacerbated with age. Still, I wanted to walk again and the pain was intolerable without serious meds, so I finally did it and had some improvement but by no means a cure. More years of pain, depression, unemployment, social isolation, and powerful opioids followed (thankfully I never got addicted), and I came to hate every bed I tried. Nothing was giving the relief I needed, and I still could hardly walk or even sit in a chair for more than a few minutes. Finally I gave the doctors, therapists, and meds the boot and pursued my own recovery plan. That decision changed my life. I worked out my own exercise and pain/stress management routines, hung a colorful new Brazilian hammock (La Siesta Carolina) in my bedroom, eventually got rid of the bed, and for several years I've been an every-night hammocker again and getting decent sleep. I can fall asleep just as well on my back or on either side, straight-legged or fetal. I might shift positions a few times in the night but then I fall right asleep again.

I'm only about 5'5" now after all those spine fusions. Stilll, I find a long, wide hammock with about 45* sag works best for me. That amount of sag gives the hammock softer sides (some would object to "floppy sides" but Knotty's stretch mod fixes that), so it's easier to get in and out with arthritis and a semi-rigid spine, and I find the soft sides much more comfortable for side-sleeping and also for sideways lounge-sitting. (I can do that now!)

I like this general setup to ease my stiff & creaky back:
(1) a long (12-13 ft) gathered-end or Brazilian-style hammock at least 66 inches wide to allow either back or side sleeping with a good diagonal lay. Indoors I always use a cotton hammock. Outdoors use what you prefer. I think firmer hammock fabrics are better for side sleeping, since they won't allow as much curve in the spine as stretchy fabrics will.
(2) Neck support: I use either a small, thin travel pillow or a crescent neck pillow. The crescent pillow stays in place better to cradle your neck, or it can sit on your chest to serve as a hands-freeholder for a Kindle or small tablet. Tether the pillow to the side of hammock for easy retrieval if it tends to fall out in the night. Sometimes I need a foam wrap-around neck support collar instead of a pillow, but it's hot in summer.
(3) For reading or sleeping on my back, sometimes also a REALLY BIG pillow or a big stuff-sack full of clothes or a down quilt, sleeping bag, etc under knees to elevate & support them if I notice any hyper-extension or calf ridge. The big under-knees pillow also helps to flatten the curve in my lower spine. It turns an already fine hammock into a perfect sleeper-recliner!

Every once in a while I wish I still had a bed to sleep on my stomach and stretch my back out like an inverted banana, but a little yoga takes care of that. Now the only meds I take are an occasional aspirin or else one each ibuprofen and acetaminophen. I keep a little bottle of Hyland's quinine tabs with my flashlight in a pocket on the side of the hammock in case I get a leg or back cramp, but that rarely happens now, as long as I keep up the exercise routine.

My ways may not be right for others, but they surely have made a difference in my life with a badly damaged spine. I hope you'll find what works for you. Don't let back troubles keep you from getting good sleep and doing what you love!