A sleep researcher explains how sewing a tennis ball into your sleep shirt can reduce snoring and improve sleep by keeping you off your back.
Why this low-tech fix works for many people
Sleep researcher Harald Hrubos-Strøm has spent nearly two decades studying why people struggle to get quality rest. His advice might surprise you: sometimes the best sleep interventions are mechanical, not medical.
“Many people with snoring and breathing interruptions can do simple, mechanical things themselves.”
One of his recommendations sounds almost too simple to work. Sew a tennis ball into the back of your sleep shirt.
Why sleeping on your back is bad for your breathing
The tennis ball trick targets a specific problem: positional sleep apnea. When you sleep on your back, gravity pulls your tongue and soft tissues backward, partially blocking your airway. This causes snoring and, in more serious cases, actual pauses in breathing called apneas.
“Most people have more breathing stops when they sleep on their back. Sleeping on your side can have a big effect.”
Obstructive sleep apnea affects an estimated 936 million adults worldwide, according to a study published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. Many of these cases go undiagnosed because people dismiss their symptoms as “just snoring.”
But sleep apnea does more than annoy your bed partner.
“Sleep apnea is not just snoring. The breathing stops can have consequences if untreated, because they affect oxygen supply to the cardiovascular system.”
Those repeated drops in oxygen put stress on your heart and blood vessels. Over time, untreated sleep apnea increases risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.
How the tennis ball method works
The concept is straightforward. When you roll onto your back during sleep, the tennis ball creates enough discomfort to make you shift to your side without fully waking up. After a few weeks, many people find their bodies learn to stay off their backs automatically.
“Imagination sets the limits. Some sew a tennis ball into their t-shirt, others use a backpack to avoid lying on their back. It sounds simplistic, but it works for many people.”
Here’s how to set it up:
The ball should sit high enough on your back that it’s uncomfortable when you roll over, but not so high that it hits your neck.
Some people prefer commercial alternatives. Positional therapy devices range from inflatable belts to electronic sensors that vibrate when you roll onto your back. But the tennis ball costs almost nothing and requires no charging.
The lifestyle factors for better sleep
There are several habits that worsen sleep quality, particularly for people prone to snoring and apnea.
Alcohol tops the list.
“Alcohol is a clear factor that makes sleep worse. Alcohol relaxes the muscles in the airways, which increases the risk of snoring and breathing stops.”
That nightcap might help you fall asleep faster, but it fragments your sleep architecture and makes airway collapse more likely. A meta-analysis in Sleep Medicine Reviews found that even moderate alcohol consumption reduced sleep quality and increased sleep apnea severity.
Weight gain also compounds the problem. Excess tissue around the neck and throat narrows the airway. Lack of physical activity weakens the muscles that keep your airway open. These factors create a feedback loop: poor sleep leads to weight gain, which leads to worse sleep.
The good news? These are modifiable. Research shows that a 10% reduction in body weight can reduce sleep apnea severity by 26%, according to data from the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study.
When you need professional help
Not everyone can fix their sleep problems with a tennis ball and lifestyle changes. Hrubos-Strøm is clear about the warning signs that require medical evaluation.
“If you have pronounced tiredness during the day, don’t feel rested in the morning, or your partner tells you about breathing stops at night, you should get it investigated!”
Moderate to severe sleep apnea often requires treatment with a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine, which delivers pressurized air through a mask to keep the airway open.
“CPAP often gives dramatic improvement. For those who can’t manage it, there are alternatives like a sleep apnea dental appliance, positional measures, or in some cases surgery.”
The Epworth Sleepiness Scale is a simple screening tool you can take online. Scores above 10 suggest excessive daytime sleepiness that warrants further investigation. Your doctor can refer you for a sleep study, which can now often be done at home with portable monitoring equipment.
The morning matters more than the evening
Many people obsess over bedtime routines while ignoring what happens after they wake up. Hrubos-Strøm suggests reversing that focus.
“The best single pieces of advice I can give for better sleep are to find joy in physical activity, get daylight early in the day, and become friends with your bed.”
Morning light exposure helps regulate your circadian rhythm by suppressing melatonin production and signaling to your body that it’s time to be alert. This sets up better sleep pressure for the following night. En studie found that morning light exposure improved sleep quality more than evening light restriction.
“Sleep is not a luxury. It is a basic prerequisite for energy, mood, and health. If you take care of your body during the day, you do your sleep a big favor at night.”
Slutresultatet
The tennis ball trick won’t work for everyone. If you have severe sleep apnea, you need proper medical treatment. But for the millions of people with mild positional snoring or breathing issues, this 5-dollar intervention might be the thing that finally lets you (and your partner) sleep through the night.
Pick up a tennis ball, find an old t-shirt, and give it two weeks. Your body will either adapt to side-sleeping or reject the method entirely. Either way, you’ll have useful information about whether position plays a role in your sleep problems.
And if you’re still waking up exhausted after making these changes? That’s valuable data too. It tells you it’s time to stop experimenting and get a proper evaluation.
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