How to Fix Neck Hump While Sleeping

Want to fix your neck hump and poor posture while sleeping? Here are a few tips to help improve your posture at night.

0:00 Intro
0:56 Mobilize the Area
1:53 Scapular Retraction
2:22 Head Turn and Lift
3:00 Back Sleepers
4:24 Stomach Sleeper Tips

Step 1: Mobilize your Hump

The first step is to mobilize the area. Your neck hump is probably stiff – after all, it’s been like that for a while. Mobilizing it gives you a better chance at changing your posture.

For this activity you’ll need a towel or a balled-up pair of socks. Ideally, you’d perform mobilization on a flat surface such as the floor, but you can try this on your bed if you have a large towel to use.

First, roll up the towel, then lie down so that it’s directly under your spine. Make sure the towel is thick enough to keep you from sinking into the bed; you should feel it pressing into your back.

Hold this position for 20 to 30 seconds. Then scoot the towel slightly to the right of your spine and hold for another 30 seconds. Switch sides. Repeat this 3-4 times on each side as you work along the sensitive areas of your neck.

After mobilizing the area, reinforce good posture by squeezing your shoulder blades together and moving your arms into external rotation (out to either side like a door hinge, with elbows bent). Do this 20 to 30 times.

The point: Gentle mobilization helps bring the spine into a neutral position and stretches the front of the chest. If your chest muscles are too tight, they’ll pull your shoulders forward and make your bad posture even worse.

Step 2: Stretch your Neck
This next step will feel a little more natural for stomach sleepers than it will for back sleepers. But this one you can certainly do in your bed.

While lying on your stomach, place your arms overhead and turn your head to one side. Now carefully extend your neck slightly, up from your pillow. You should feel as if you’re trying to look behind you across the room.

Repeat 5 to 10 times and then turn your head to the other side for the same reps. Stop the exercise if you start to feel dizzy or lightheaded.

The point: This subtle movement stretches the anterior neck muscle and promotes extension at the CT junction, where the cervical and thoracic vertebrae meet.

Now that you’ve done your pre-sleep warm-up and have mobilized, stretched, and worked on strengthening the right muscles, it’s time to address your sleeping posture.

Step 3: Adjust your Sleep Posture
The way you sleep is absolutely critical to combating dowager’s hump. Your goal here is to gradually straighten your spine by removing or adding support.

Back sleepers: For you, the goal is to remove support until your head aligns with your spine. If you use multiple pillows, work your way down to one pillow. And once you’re comfortable using one pillow, transition to a thin pillow.

These changes can feel huge, so give yourself two weeks to work your way down to one pillow. To help you transition, you can place a rolled-up towel underneath your pillow to prop it up. Over the next week or so, gradually unroll the towel until it is flat.

The point: A double pillow or a really thick pillow forces your neck into flexion and puts even more pressure on your neck hump. You need to remove that pressure so the body stops sending fatty tissue to that area.

Stomach sleepers: Compared to back sleepers, a stomach sleeper might have a harder time adjusting their sleep position. That’s because most stomach sleepers hug a pillow, which rounds the back even more.

My suggestion? Try sleeping on your side. But if that isn’t possible, you can modify your stomach-sleeping position by placing a thin pillow or folded towel under your pelvis.

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[skaethii]

Thank you for including tips for stomach sleepers that are actually helpful and not just a "stop sleeping on your stomach"! Because of joint problems and hypermobility, sleeping on my stomach is the only option that truly works for me and causes the least amount of pain and discomfort, and it's been really discouraging to up until now only get "don't sleep on your stomach" as suggestions to help with the neck hump.

[cheryllilly-williams]

Thank you for taking time to tell us what to do, instead of trying to sell us something ❤

[arzumardalieva]

I’m a stomach sleeper (although I’m trying to sleep on my left or right side, but keep turning on my stomach while in a deep sleep), thank you so much! That is what I needed!
Blessings 🙏🏻

[michelegovender]

I had always woken up with a more pronounced hump than the night before. I changed to the Carbon X Butterfly pillow and saw an immediate difference. Combined with the neck hump 3-minute drill, my hump is almost gone and so is the neck pain and headaches.

[Olivegreeennn]

As a stomach sleeper I’m definitely going to try these out.

[MyAmazingUsername]

Thank you so much. You are a kind man for sharing all this for free... 😊

[biscuit]

Please include what side sleepers should do. You covered back and stomach but not side sleepers. Thank you in advance ☺️

[mijiyoon]

I've started working on it & using these exercises & I can feel the difference .... I know it's going to take a time ....hope I can stay w/this ... TY

[MKhamala]

Thank you for this. I already slept with just one thin pillow, and I am now sleeping with no pillow at all. I usually sleep on a mix of my back and sides, but without a pillow I have stuck to sleeping on my back. Sometimes this is comfortable and seems to help, and sometimes less so, as I wake up with shoulders tensed and rounded anyway. As far as you're concerned, is the no pillow a good or bad idea?

[foriamtaylah]

Thanks Tim. I will be trying the pillow under the tummy right now- wish me luck! This pain came out of no where so I’m thankful for the free chiro tips to save the day. Subscribed 😊

[divyanshuranjan]

Your videos helped my mother quite a lot. Thank you very much.

[cheery-hex]

Appreciate you not just saying to stomach sleepers 'just stop sleeping like that'! lol... we like real solutions too :D

[KAV]

That's wonderful thank you .I will follow the last posture

[annezanten]

Great video!! Finally I understand how my neck hump developed. I also have Scheuermann, so extra bad hump😢
I use the “backmitra” and lay on it every day for 20 minutes to open my chest and line up my neck and upper back.

[MsBob]

Hi I really appreciate these videos! No-one ever explained the cause of the hump before as fat protecting the spine. Wow! That makes sense! I love when people that know share their knowledge like you are! Hey I am a side sleeper. Any tips for side sleepers? Also could you demonstrate the exercises to do before bed that you went through before addressing stomach sleepers. I can try to get it from watching a few more times but thought I would ask! You are doing wonderful job! Thank you so much!!!

[alisskanetos]

Thank you! I sleep on my back only and nowadays with a very thin pillow due to lower back, hip and neck pain and been doing so for about 7 years, been active all my life even been lifting weights...still a neck hump...might be because I do spend some time in front of the computer....I am in my early 50's

[JolynJessica]

will try this for a while and let you know what happens. looks and sounds promising.

[ruchachuri]

hey im a student in 12th grade and im thinking of PT as my career. Your videos help a lot so thanks. I wanted to ask do you practice or recommend yoga to any of your patients?

[blessedlonewolf]

Thank you!!! Great video and very clear instructions!! Love the scapular traction. <3

[mariegan]

Thank you so much! I'm gonna let my teen son practice this. 🙋