Everyone wants a good night of sleep, but your go-to sleeping position can affect how restful your night is — and how your body feels the next day.

So which position is best: side, back or stomach sleeping?

Ellen Wermter, Better Sleep Council representative, family nurse practitioner and behavioral sleep medicine specialist, told CBS News it’s more about what works for you, not which is considered the “best” position overall — though each has some pros and cons.

“As far as advantages and disadvantages, it all of it depends on how you feel the most comfortable and pain free,” she said. “In general, we’re trying to maximize a couple of things: spine alignment and breathing.”

Here’s what to know about each position: 

Back sleeping

Certain sleep conditions like sleep apnea are “very positional,” Wermter said, which can make some positions — like back sleeping — worse than others.

“When you’re on your back, you have a lot of gravity working against you,” she said. “Your tongue tends to fall back, things tend to relax and you get more obstructions of the airway.”

So if you are prone to airway obstruction, it’s might not be the best option.

Back sleeping can also cause snoring, according to the National Sleep Foundation, since it can narrow your airways due to gravity.

The positive of back sleeping? It’s excellent for spine alignment. 

“It keeps everything in such a nice, neutral position. And your weight is very evenly distributed when you’re on your back — those are really big pros,” she said.

Side sleeping

Side sleeping, on the other hand, is “pretty good for breathing,” Wermter said. 

“The left side in particular is considered excellent for cardiovascular (circulation), the return of the blood flow — that’s why (it’s often) recommended for pregnancy as well,” she added.

Sleeping on your right side can also make heartburn and GERD — gastroesophageal reflux disease— symptoms worse, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. 

Side sleeping can also be OK for spine alignment, Wermter said, particularly when using pillows to keep things as neutral as possible.

“When you’re on your side, it’s really about filling in that little gap your neck makes,” she said. “The other piece is lining up the hips — putting a pillow between the legs is often comfortable or supporting a shoulder or an arm to keep that neutral alignment with the spine.”

Stomach sleeping

“Stomach sleeping is considered the most problematic because it is hard to get that neutral spine (and neck) position,” Wermter said. “Your face is sort of pressed into the mattress or the pillow, so you have to turn your neck to one side or the other.”

Superficially, you can also get more wrinkles from stomach sleeping because of the pressure of your face into your bed.

“So if that’s something you’re worried about, then that’s a negative for stomach sleeping,” she said.

If you’re not washing your pillowcases regularly enough, stomach sleeping can also lead to breakouts, according to Johns Hopkins. 

If you do stomach sleep, Wermter suggests choosing a flatter pillow (or none at all) in order to reduce your neck from being arched back more.

What sleep position should I use?

Listening to your body is key to finding what sleep position is best for you.

“If you’re gasping awake and you’re on your back, well that’s probably not the best position for you for breathing, or if you’re on your stomach and you’re feeling the pain in your neck, that’s probably not working for you,” Wermter said.

Position preferences can also change as you age or as you deal with things like surgeries, so be open to adjusting as needed. 

 “You do have to adapt to what’s going on in your life or what recovery you’re currently dealing with,” Wermter said, adding she’s personally switched from her previously preferred stomach sleeping to side sleeping as she’s gotten older. “It does change over time based on how flexible you are, how stiff you get.”

While it can be really difficult to train yourself into a different sleeping position, it can be done.

“Because our brains get so used to their comfort position, it can take some time and some persistence,” she said. 

Wermter also suggests using pillows to your advantage. In addition to testing out what height and size works best for your position of choice, you can also use them to prop or stabilize yourself in a particular position. 

Still struggling with sleep?

If no position is leaving you rested, consider what you’re sleeping on. 

“All of these positions are going to be best on a good sleeping surface. So if you’re starting with a mattress that doesn’t have good support anymore or is sagging, then even your best efforts aren’t going to be optimized,” Wermter said.

Consistent tossing and turning despite your best efforts could also mean you’re dealing with a sleep disorder, which can affect your energy level, mood, productivity and cognitive function, according to the National Sleep Foundation. 

“It can also lead to more critical problems down the road, including conditions like high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and stroke,” the foundation’s website states. “If you’re regularly having trouble sleeping or experiencing daytime fatigue even though you thought you slept soundly through the night, it might be time to talk to a doctor about your concerns.”

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador blamed the United States in part on Thursday for the surge in cartel violence terrorizing the northern state of Sinaloa which has left at least 30 people dead in the past week.

Two warring factions of the Sinaloa cartel have clashed in the state capital of Culiacan in what appears to be a fight for power since two of its leaders were arrested in the United States in late July. Teams of gunmen have shot at each other and the security forces.

Meanwhile, dead bodies continued to pop up around the city. On one busy street corner, cars drove by pools of the blood leading to a body in a car mechanic shop, while heavily armed police in black masks loaded up another body stretched out on a side street of the Sinaloan city.

Asked at his morning briefing if the U.S. government was “jointly responsible” for this violence in Sinaloa, the president said, “Yes, of course … for having carried out this operation.”

The recent surge in cartel warfare had been expected after Joaquín Guzmán López, a son of former Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, landed near El Paso, Texas on July 25 in a small plane with Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.

Zambada was the cartel’s elder figure and reclusive leader. After his arrest, he said in a letter circulated by his lawyer that he had been abducted by the younger Guzmán and taken to the U.S. against his will. Zambada pleaded not guilty last week in New York in a drug trafficking case that accuses him of engaging in murder plots and ordering torture.

On Thursday afternoon, another military operation covered the north of Culiacan with military and circling helicopters.

Traffic was heavy in Culiacan and most schools were open, even though parents were still not sending their children to classes. Businesses continue to close early and few people venture out after dark. While the city has slowly reopened and soldiers patrol the streets, many families continue to hide away, with parents and teachers fearing they’ll be caught in the crossfire.

“Where is the security for our children, for ourselves too, for all citizens? It’s so dangerous here, you don’t want to go outside,” one Culiacan mother told the Associated Press.

The mother, who didn’t want to share her name out of fear of the cartels, said that while some schools have recently reopened, she hasn’t allowed her daughter to go for two weeks. She said she was scared to do so after armed men stopped a taxi they were traveling in on their way home, terrifying her child.

“Hugs not bullets”

During his morning news briefing, López Obrador had claimed American authorities “carried out that operation” to capture Zambada and that “it was totally illegal, and agents from the Department of Justice were waiting for Mr. Mayo.”

“If we are now facing instability and clashes in Sinaloa, it is because they (the American government) made that decision,” he said.

He added that there “cannot be a cooperative relationship if they take unilateral decisions” like this. Mexican prosecutors have said they were considering bringing treason charges against those involved in the plan to nab Zambada.

He was echoed by President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, who said later in the day that “we can never accept that there is no communication or collaboration.”

It’s the latest escalation of tensions in the U.S.-Mexico relationship. Last month, the Mexican president said he was putting relations with the U.S. and Canadian embassies “on pause” after ambassadors criticized his controversial plan to overhaul Mexico’s judiciary by requiring all judges to stand for election.

Still, the Zambada capture has fueled criticisms of López Obrador, who has throughout his administration refused to confront cartels in a strategy he refers to as “hugs not bullets.” On previous occasions, he falsely stated that cartels respect Mexican citizens and largely fight amongst themselves.

While the president, who is set to leave office at the end of the month, has promised his plan would reduce cartel violence, such clashes continue to plague Mexico. Cartels employ an increasing array of tactics, including roadside bombs or IEDs, trenches, home-made armored vehicles and bomb-dropping drones.

Last week, López Obrador publicly asked Sinaloa’s warring factions to act “responsibly” and noted that he believed the cartels would listen to him. But the bloodshed has only continued.

In an strange twist, last month Mexican prosecutors said they were bringing charges against Guzmán for apparently kidnapping Zambada — but they also cited another charge under an article of Mexico’s criminal code that defines what he did as treason.

Nowhere in the statement does it mention that the younger Guzmán was a member of the Chapitos — “little Chapos” — faction of the Sinaloa cartel, made up of Chapo’s sons, that smuggles millions of doses of the deadly opioid fentanyl into the United States, causing about 70,000 overdose deaths each year. According to a 2023 indictment by the U.S. Justice Department, the Chapitos and their cartel associates used corkscrews, electrocution and hot chiles to torture their rivals while some of their victims were “fed dead or alive to tigers.”

El Chapo, the Sinaloa cartel’s founder, is serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison in Colorado after being convicted in 2019 on charges including drug trafficking, money laundering and weapons-related offenses.

Last year, El Chapo sent an “SOS” message to Mexico’s president, alleging that he has been subjected to “psychological torment” in prison.

Beirut, Lebanon — The White House has warned both Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group against “escalation of any kind” following this week’s synchronized pager and walkie talkie explosions targeting Hezbollah members, but overnight, Israeli warplanes carried out dozens of strikes across southern Lebanon, and Hezbollah has continued firing back.

There were loud explosions and fires ignited by what the Israel Defense Forces said were strikes targeting hundreds of active Hezbollah rocket launchers in Lebanon early Friday. 

It appeared to be one of the most extensive Israeli attacks on Hezbollah’s stronghold in southern Lebanon since the two sides started trading fire 11 months ago, with Hezbollah claiming its rocket attacks on northern Israel as support for its allies Hamas and the Palestinian people.

Hezbollah struck northern Israel again in a counterattack, killing at least two soldiers, according to Israeli officials.

The deadly escalation in violence followed a televised address from a weary-looking Hassan Nasrallah — the leader of Hezbollah — who admitted this week’s pager and walkie talkie explosions had delivered a “severe blow” to the powerful group, which like Hamas has long been designated a terrorist group by Israel and the U.S.

Nasrallah accused Israel of not only violating “all red lines” with the explosions, but of a “declaration of war.”

Israel has not publicly claimed the complex attacks, but CBS News learned that American officials were given a heads-up by Israel about 20 minutes before the operations began in Lebanon Tuesday, though there were no specific details shared about the methods to be used.

For two terrifying days in Lebanon, thousands of low-tech communications devices — many used by Hezbollah members — exploded simultaneously across the country, wounding over 3,000 people and killing at least 37, including children, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

In his address, Nasrallah vowed that Israel would not achieve its goal of enabling the return of tens of thousands of people displaced from their homes in northern border towns. Even as he spoke on Thursday, however, sonic booms echoed above Beirut as Israeli fighter jets roared over the city, flexing Israel’s military might.

But as the U.S. warning Thursday indicated, the next moves — be they further retaliation from Hezbollah or ground operations by the IDF against the group — could have major consequences.

“Ultimately, if they [Israel] do invade, they would have to occupy” southern Lebanon, regional analyst Makram Rabah told CBS News. “This would lead to a kind of a slow, depleting war for Israel, and this would, more importantly, legitimize Hezbollah.”

But hundreds of Hezbollah fighters were likely injured by the explosives attacks, which almost certainly left the group’s communications networks in complete disarray. And despite warnings from Israel’s defense chief of “a new phase” in the country’s war with Iran’s so-called proxy groups, and one IDF division already being transferred there from Gaza, there’s also been no major Israeli build-up of forces or hardware along the Lebanon border seen yet.

So, the prospect of all-out war between Hezbollah and Israel — which could potentially put U.S. forces across the Middle East in direct danger — may not be as close as some fear.

contributed to this report.

Imtiaz Tyab

Imtiaz Tyab is a CBS News correspondent based in London and reports for all platforms, including the “CBS Evening News,” “CBS Mornings,” “CBS Sunday Morning” and CBS News 24/7. He has extensive experience reporting from major global flashpoints, including the Middle East and the war on terror.