Find out: What is the Ideal Position to Sleep For Your Body
Sleeping, in other words, is resting in a single position for a couple of hours. This means we must find out the ideal position to sleep if we truly care about the betterment of our health.
Most of the people around the world usually sleep in an improper position!
The inappropriate sleeping positions feel good, but in reality, they are the enemy of our health.
Medical experts consider the back, side, and fetal as the healthy sleeping positions for us.
Related article: Make yourself sleep on your back by following these tips!
However, out of these positions, there should be one which you have to choose according to the situation.
Let’s find out…
What is the Ideal Position to Sleep For Your Body
This blog post explains which sleeping position is ideal for you and why!
Sleeping on your back:
Training yourself to sleep on your back is the best thing you can do because that’s the best and most ideal position to sleep!
It helps your body than any other position.
However, only 8% of the people around the world are used to this position.
The typical reason behind this could be difficulty in switching from their old position to a new position.
(Check this article to learn how to make yourself sleep on the back!)
Benefits of sleeping on your back:
Here are some top verified reasons why you should consider switching to this position!
Treats the Back Pain:
The most highlighted feature of this position is that it provides better support to the back.
It lets your neck, head, and spine to remain at the straight/balanced position which means that there would be no additional pressure applied to these parts of the body if you sleep on your back.
Also check: How To Get Rid Of A Crick In Your Neck
Cures the Acid Reflux:
The back position also helps in preventing acid reflux (A digestive disease in which stomach acid irritates the lining of the food pipe.)
This means that you can keep yourself protected from acidity, burning, and chest pain caused by acid reflux.
Be sure to use a pillow that elevates your head so that your stomach can rest below your esophagus to prevent acid from coming up to your digestive trap.
Other posts you may like:
- How To Tell If Chest Pain Is Muscular
- How To Get Rid Of Chest Pain When Breathing
- Getting Chest Pain While Sneezing? The Pain is Real! Here’s how to fire it up!
Avoids Facial Wrinkles:
Sounds confusing?
Experts say that sleeping on your back also enhances facial beauty.
Laying all night with the face open and free in the air may help in reducing facial wrinkles.
This could be true because sleeping with the face free from any coverage can provide better oxygen to the skin which is necessary for a healthy and refreshed look.
The side effect of sleeping on your back:
Apart from numerous benefits, still, there are some reasons for not sleeping on your back. [alert type=”warning” icon-size=”normal”]Sleeping on your back may cause your tongue to block the breathing tube, which can be a dangerous situation for the victims of apnea (a situation that causes breathlessness!) [/alert]
Also, if you sleep on your back, you may also experience excessive snoring. [alert type=”info” icon-size=”normal”]Note: Ask the doctor if you have a back injury before sleeping in this position.[/alert]
Sleeping on your side:
After the back sleeping position, this is the second most advantageous sleeping style for us.
The side sleeping position is one of the widely used positions around the world.
Sleeping on your side means your torso and legs are proportionally straight.
Experts recommend sleeping on your left side to get all the worthy benefits.
Benefits of sleeping on your side:
Here are some top benefits of sleeping on your side!
Reduces acid reflux:
Sleeping on your side helps in bypassing acidity, heartburn, and other digestive issues. Laying on your left side lets the food digest properly.
Avoids neck pain:
As our spine is elongated in the back position, this position helps to avoid neck pain. However, it is not that much effective against the neck pain than the back sleeping position.
Reduces the snores:
Snoring happens when the body can’t release the air easily from the nose and throat.
Interestingly, sleeping on your side keeps the airways open which lets the person sleep peacefully with very little chances of snores.
Effective against sleep apnea:
The side sleeping position is regarded as one of the best solutions for sleep apnea.
That’s because, in this position, the airways are not affected much from the blockage which makes our body to breathe peacefully during the sleep. Thus, this position helps to prevent breathlessness in the night time.
Side effects of sleeping on your side:
Here are some reasons why you shouldn’t sleep in this position!
It may cause wrinkles:
Sleeping on your side pushes half of the face against the pillow which may cause wrinkles on the skin. It can also pressurize the facial veins which may lead to the numbness on the face.
Nose pain:
Sleeping on your side means that half of your face including your nose is pushed to the pillow or mattress which may cause pain and blockage in the nose.
However, if you sleep on your side correctly, with better safety of the nose, you can keep yourself safe from such side effects.
Numbness in arms:
Side sleepers usually feel numbness in their arms. All because, whether you sleep on the left or right side, one of the arms usually gets victimized of the pressure which leads to severe numbness and sometimes pain in the entire arm.
Pressurizes stomach & lungs:
Similar to the issues in your arms, you may also experience some problems in your stomach and lungs.
More specifically, when you sleep on your left side, both organs get pressurized which may cause normal to severe pain in your stomach & lungs!
Sleeping on the fetal position:
This style is just like a baby in the womb which is adopted by around 41% of the adult position. This sleeping position usually seems wrong, but in reality, it provides a number of benefits to those who are used to this.
Benefits of the fetal sleeping position:
Here are two (out of many others) mind-blowing benefits of fetal sleeping position.
- Good in pregnancy
- Reduces the snores
Good in pregnancy:
This position helps improving blood circulation in the body and fetus.
It prevents the uterus from getting pressed against the liver.
This all happens because, in the fetal position, you are on your side and torso is curved and the knees are bent. [alert type=”info” icon-size=”normal”]Important note: During pregnancy, you should not force or bend your bodies hard when sleeping in this style. The recommended way of sleeping in the fetal position is to keep your body loosed and avoiding the knee touching with the stomach.[/alert]
Reduces the snores:
No snores mean a peaceful night!
Thankfully the fetal sleeping position is smart in reducing the excessive snores.
Keep your body easy and loosed to avoid snores and other unusual issues in the body. [alert type=”info” icon-size=”normal”]Note: Avoid curling your body too tight or you’ll experience the pain and stiffness in the morning.[/alert]
Side effects of fetal sleeping position:
Apart from many benefits of this position, here’s one side effect of it as well!
Causes joints pain:
People suffering from arthritis or joints pain should avoid this position.
That’s because bending your body for consecutive hours causes pressure to the joints which may result in severe pain.
Moreover, aged peoples may feel difficulty while walking after waking from a fetal position.
Experts recommend doing some exercises in the morning and putting a pillow between your knees to reduce strains on your hips.
The bottom line:
To the end, it is highly recommended to adopt an ideal position to sleep for your body, according to your need, to spend a healthy and stable life.
Just because the improper and wrong sleeping style can cause you severe complaints and abnormalities in your body.
Therefore, be it the back, side or fetal position, it’s up to you to identify and choose the best style to keep your body safe from overall body issues.
If you have got any other question(s) in mind, please let us know by commenting below or by contacting us here.
Cheers!
