Effect of sleep posture on neck muscle activity.
Won-Hwee Lee, Min-Seok Ko
PMID 28626314WHAT IT FOUND
In healthy young adults, lying on the back with the dominant hand on the forehead raised right trapezius and scalene muscle activity versus hands at side.
Left-side muscles did not differ. This is muscle activity, not proven pain reduction.
Key findings
01Right trapezius and scalene muscle activity differed significantly among the three supine sleep postures.
02Right trapezius and scalene activity was significantly greater in the dominant-hand-on-forehead position than in the arms-at-side position.
03Left trapezius and scalene activity did not differ significantly among the three positions.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
All participants were healthy and young, so the findings may not apply to people with neck or shoulder pain. All participants were right-side dominant, so the result may not apply to left-side-dominant people. Only one pillow size was used, so results cannot be generalized across different pillows. The positions were held for 30 min in a laboratory, not observed during actual sleep, so they may not represent real sleep conditions. Ribcage and clavicle motion were not measured, so the paper's explanation for the muscle activity is not directly tested. The study measured muscle activity, not pain, function, sleep quality, or clinical outcomes.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that sleeping with the dominant hand on the forehead causes neck pain or that changing posture prevents pain. This study measured right-side neck muscle activity in healthy young adults holding positions for 30 minutes, not pain or actual sleep.