Best Sleeping Position for Snoring: What Works, What Doesn’t, and How to Stay in Place

Changing your sleeping position is the only snoring remedy that costs nothing, requires no products, and works from the first night. For many people, it’s also the most effective.

The reason is simple: gravity changes how your airway behaves depending on how you’re positioned. On your back, gravity pulls your tongue, jaw, and soft palate backward into the airway, narrowing it and creating the tissue vibration that produces snoring. On your side, gravity pulls these structures sideways instead — keeping the airway open.

Research backs this up. A systematic review published in the Journal of Personalized Medicine (2024) confirmed that non-supine sleeping positions consistently reduce snoring in position-dependent snorers. A separate study in Sleep and Breathing found that positional therapy reduced the apnea-hypopnea index by 54% and supine sleeping time by 84%.

The challenge isn’t knowing what position is best. It’s staying in that position all night.

How Each Sleeping Position Affects Snoring

Side Sleeping — Best for Snoring

Side sleeping is the single most effective position for reducing snoring. When you lie on your side, your tongue and soft palate fall to the side rather than backward into the airway. The space behind the palate stays open, airflow remains smooth, and the tissue doesn’t vibrate.

Left side vs right side: For snoring specifically, either side works equally well — the airway mechanics are the same. If you have nasal congestion or a deviated septum, sleeping with your wider nostril facing down may help. Left-side sleeping has additional benefits for digestion and circulation, so default to the left if you have no nasal preference.

The problem: Most side sleepers don’t stay on their side all night. Studies on positional therapy consistently find that people roll onto their backs during deep sleep without realising it. You fall asleep on your side, your snoring-free partner drifts off — then two hours later you’re on your back and the snoring resumes.

Back Sleeping — Worst for Snoring

Back sleeping (supine position) is the primary driver of positional snoring. Gravity pulls the tongue base and soft palate directly backward, narrowing the upper airway at its most vulnerable point. The narrower the airway, the faster air moves through it, and the more the surrounding tissue vibrates.

A study published in Scientific Reports (2015) found that positional therapy — specifically avoiding the supine position — was successful in 68% of patients, reducing overall snoring severity significantly.

Exception: Back sleeping with significant head elevation (30-45 degrees) can partially counteract the gravitational effect. More on this below.

Stomach Sleeping — Reduces Snoring but Has Trade-offs

Stomach sleeping (prone position) does reduce snoring for most people. With your face down, gravity pulls the tongue and palate forward and away from the airway. The problem is everything else: stomach sleeping forces your neck into a rotated position for hours, which can cause neck pain, back strain, and nerve compression. It also puts pressure directly on your face and sinuses, which can worsen nasal congestion.

Our recommendation: Don’t switch to stomach sleeping specifically for snoring. The musculoskeletal downsides outweigh the snoring benefit, especially when side sleeping achieves the same airway benefit without the physical strain.

Elevated Sleeping — The Head-of-Bed Approach

Elevating your upper body uses gravity to your advantage regardless of whether you’re on your side or back. When your head and torso are angled upward, the tongue and soft palate are less likely to fall backward into the airway. Elevation also promotes sinus drainage and reduces the blood pooling in nasal tissue that causes nighttime congestion.

A 2022 study published in Sleep Science and Practice tested a 12-degree upper body incline on 25 snorers and found a 7% reduction in snoring duration, 4% fewer awakenings, and a 5% increase in deep sleep time. These are modest numbers, but the intervention required zero effort beyond adjusting the bed.

Important: Elevation means raising from the upper back, not just propping your head up with extra pillows. Stacking pillows under your head bends your neck forward, which can actually narrow the airway and make snoring worse. Use a wedge pillow or raise the head of your bed frame.

The Best Position Combinations for Different Snoring Types

Not all snoring responds to position changes equally. Here’s which combination works best for your specific situation:

Positional Snoring (Back-Only Snoring)

What it is: You snore on your back but not on your side. This is the most common and most position-responsive type.

Best position: Side sleeping. This alone may eliminate your snoring entirely.

How to confirm: Use a snoring tracker app (like SnoreLab) for a few nights. If your snoring timestamps correlate with periods when you rolled onto your back, you’re a positional snorer.

Congestion-Related Snoring

What it is: You snore because your nose is blocked — from allergies, a cold, or chronic congestion.

Best position: Side sleeping + head elevation (20-30 degrees). The side position prevents mouth breathing, and the elevation promotes sinus drainage. Combine with a nasal strip or nasal spray for maximum effect.

More detail: Our guide to nasal congestion and snoring includes a full bedtime routine that combines positioning with nasal clearing.

Deviated Septum Snoring

What it is: Structural narrowing in one nasal passage causes chronic one-sided blockage that worsens at night.

Best position: Side sleeping with the wider nostril facing down. This uses gravity to keep your better-breathing passage open. Combine with head elevation and an internal nasal dilator on the narrower side.

More detail: Our deviated septum and snoring guide covers this in depth.

Weight-Related Snoring

What it is: Excess tissue around the neck and throat narrows the airway, particularly when lying flat.

Best position: Side sleeping + maximum head elevation (30-45 degrees). This combination takes as much gravitational pressure off the airway as possible. A wedge pillow is better than stacked pillows for maintaining this angle comfortably.

Alcohol-Induced Snoring

What it is: Alcohol relaxes throat muscles more than normal, causing tissue to collapse into the airway.

Best position: Side sleeping with elevation. Position helps, but the muscle relaxation from alcohol limits how much positioning alone can do. The most effective fix is to stop drinking 3-4 hours before bed.

How to Stay on Your Side All Night

Knowing side sleeping is best means nothing if you roll onto your back at 2 AM. Here are proven methods to maintain your position, ranked from simplest to most effective.

The Pillow Barrier

Place a firm body pillow or a row of regular pillows behind your back. This creates a physical wall that makes rolling onto your back less likely. It’s the easiest method and works for many light-to-moderate positional snorers.

Limitations: Determined sleepers push through pillows during deep sleep. This method reduces back-sleeping time but doesn’t eliminate it.

The Tennis Ball Method

Attach a tennis ball to the back of a snug t-shirt — either by sewing a pocket or placing it in a sock pinned to the shirt. When you roll onto your back, the ball creates enough discomfort to trigger a position change without fully waking you.

Evidence: A study in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine compared the tennis ball technique to an electronic position trainer and found both were equally effective at reducing supine sleeping time and snoring in the supine position.

Limitations: Can disrupt sleep quality due to the repeated discomfort signals. A study on long-term compliance found that many users abandon this method within a few months due to back soreness and sleep disruption.

Anti-Snoring Positional Pillows

Purpose-built pillows that use contouring, side bolsters, or raised edges to encourage and maintain side sleeping. These are more comfortable than the tennis ball approach and designed for nightly use.

Options:

• Contoured side-sleeping pillows with a cutout that cradles your shoulder, preventing roll-over
• Wedge + body pillow systems (like MedCline) that elevate and support side positioning simultaneously
• Adjustable loft pillows (like Coop Home Goods Original) that let you customise height for optimal neck alignment in the side position

Limitations: Effective for maintaining initial position but can’t prevent all rolling during deep sleep.

Electronic Positional Trainers

Wearable devices (worn around the chest or neck) that detect when you roll onto your back and deliver a gentle vibration — just enough to prompt a position change without fully waking you. These are the most effective positional therapy method with the best compliance data.

Evidence: The Sleep and Breathing review found these devices successfully reduced supine sleeping time by 84% on average, outperforming both the tennis ball method and pillow barriers.

Options: Night Shift Sleep Positioner and Philips NightBalance are the most studied devices. They typically cost $100-300.

Best for: Confirmed positional snorers who’ve tried simpler methods without success, or people whose snoring is significantly impacting their partner’s sleep.

Pillows That Help With Snoring

The right pillow supports your chosen position and keeps your airway aligned. The wrong pillow can undermine everything else you’re doing.

Wedge Pillows

A wedge pillow elevates your entire upper body at a consistent angle, typically 20-45 degrees. This is the most effective pillow type for snoring because it uses gravity to keep the airway open without bending the neck.

Best for: Back sleepers who can’t switch to side sleeping, anyone with nasal congestion that worsens lying flat, and CPAP users who need head elevation.

What to look for: A gradual incline from base to peak, memory foam or high-density foam construction, and a washable cover. Avoid very steep wedges (over 45 degrees) as they cause sliding down during the night.

Side-Sleeping Pillows

A dedicated side-sleeping pillow has higher loft than a standard pillow to fill the gap between your shoulder and head, keeping your spine aligned in the lateral position. Proper alignment prevents neck strain and makes side sleeping comfortable enough to maintain all night.

Best for: Side sleepers who wake with neck pain or who keep rolling onto their back because the side position is uncomfortable.

What to look for: Adjustable loft (so you can match it to your shoulder width), medium-firm support, and a contour that supports the neck without pushing the head forward.

What to Avoid

Very flat pillows on your back. A thin pillow while back sleeping lets the head fall further back, opening the mouth and narrowing the airway. If you must back-sleep, use a pillow thick enough to keep your chin from dropping.

Very thick pillows on your side. A pillow that’s too high pushes your head upward, kinking the neck and potentially narrowing the airway from the side. The pillow should keep your head level with your spine, not angled.

No pillow. Sleeping without a pillow on your back is the worst configuration for snoring — maximum head extension, maximum airway narrowing.

When Position Alone Isn’t Enough

Sleep position is one factor in a system. If you’ve optimised your position and still snore, consider these additions:

Add a nasal strip or dilator. Position addresses the gravitational component; nasal strips address the nasal airflow component. Together they cover two of the most common snoring causes.

Add a nasal spray. If congestion is compounding the positional issue, a corticosteroid spray used daily can reduce the swelling that narrows your airway.

Try mouth taping. If you side-sleep but still mouth breathe, mouth tape keeps your lips sealed and maintains nasal breathing. Only use this if your nasal passages are clear.

Saline rinse before bed. Clear mucus and allergens before lying down so your nasal passages start the night as open as possible. Our neti pot guide covers technique and best practices.

Run a humidifier. Dry air swells nasal tissue and increases congestion. Keeping bedroom humidity at 40-60% supports nasal breathing throughout the night.

Evaluate with a doctor. If position changes, nasal products, and environmental adjustments don’t reduce your snoring after 2-3 weeks, the cause may be structural (enlarged tonsils, long uvula, tongue-base collapse) or medical (obstructive sleep apnea). A sleep study can identify what position data and home remedies cannot.

FAQs

Does sleeping on your side really stop snoring?

For positional snorers — people who snore primarily on their back — yes, side sleeping can eliminate snoring entirely. Studies show it’s effective in roughly 68% of positional snorers. However, if your snoring is caused by nasal congestion, a deviated septum, or throat-tissue issues, side sleeping alone may reduce snoring but not stop it completely. It’s most effective when combined with nasal remedies.

Which side is better for snoring — left or right?

For snoring specifically, there’s no meaningful difference between left and right side sleeping. The airway mechanics are the same either way. If you have a deviated septum, sleep with your wider nostril facing down. If you have no nasal preference, the left side has additional benefits for circulation and digestion.

Is it bad to sleep on your back if you snore?

Back sleeping is the worst position for snoring because gravity pulls the tongue and soft palate backward into the airway. If you can comfortably sleep on your side, switching is the single most impactful change you can make. If you can’t side-sleep, elevating your head 30-45 degrees with a wedge pillow partially counteracts the gravitational effect.

Do anti-snoring pillows actually work?

Wedge pillows and contoured side-sleeping pillows can reduce snoring by improving airway alignment and encouraging non-supine sleep. They’re not magic — a pillow alone won’t fix snoring caused by severe congestion or sleep apnea. But for positional snorers, the right pillow can make a meaningful difference, especially combined with other measures like nasal strips or positional trainers.

How do I stop rolling onto my back during sleep?

Start with a pillow barrier behind your back. If that’s not enough, try the tennis ball method (a ball attached to the back of a t-shirt). For the most effective solution, an electronic positional trainer vibrates gently when it detects supine sleeping — studies show these reduce back-sleeping time by up to 84%.

Should I sleep sitting up to stop snoring?

Sleeping fully upright (like in a recliner) is uncomfortable and not sustainable. However, sleeping at a 30-45 degree incline with a wedge pillow or adjustable bed frame provides the gravitational benefit without the discomfort of being fully vertical. A 12-degree incline alone has been shown to reduce snoring duration by 7% and increase deep sleep by 5%.