What is the best sleeping position to choose?

It is very important for a person to use sleep time to restore the body. It is better to make the bedroom dark and well ventilated, choose the most comfortable bed, and the body position should be correct. Improper sleep in an uncomfortable position can cause pain in the neck, chest and lower back. And, of course, cause snoring. What position in a dream is considered correct, what position - the most useful - let's try to figure it out.

The general opinion of experts is that the body seeks to rest in a position in which it is easiest to breathe. Breathing on your stomach is easy and simple - only this position is recommended to reduce snoring. However, despite this, sleeping on your stomach is considered a bad habit. The fact is that sleeping in this position contributes to the development of osteochondrosis and provokes the occurrence of pathological degenerative changes in the vertebrae, causing severe pain. The sleeper has to turn his head to the side in order to breathe calmly. In addition, when the head is turned, the vertebral artery is squeezed, which causes a violation of the blood supply to the brain, its hypoxia and can cause headaches.

If the sleeping person bends his leg and puts his hand under his head, he exacerbates the wrong position, because the muscles of the neck and shoulders tense up, and the spine unnaturally curves. With the habit of sleeping on your stomach, sooner or later back pain will definitely appear.

Women are not advised to sleep on their stomach beauticians. In this position in a dream, wrinkles on the neck and folds on the chest appear earlier, which are then difficult to get rid of. There may also be swelling in the morning.

Sleep on your back

Sleeping on your back reduces the amount of air that enters your lungs, which results in a louder inhalation sound. Therefore, sleeping like this is not recommended for those who have a tendency to. This is perhaps the only contraindication.

For everyone else, sleeping on your back is a good sleeping position. The spine in this position takes a neutral position and the body is not distracted by anything, restoring strength well. In this position, the intervertebral discs open and straighten out, which is a good prevention of chondrosis. However, the pillow should be flat so that there is no extra load on the neck, and the mattress should be of medium hardness. You also need to make sure that the head does not tilt back. If desired, you can put additional rollers. This is the most correct body position during sleep for patients suffering from scoliosis, injured and hypertensive patients.

It is also the most useful posture for those who care about their appearance. During sleep in this position, the face does not come into contact with the pillow, so the formation of wrinkles is excluded. The facial muscles of the head relax and better oxygen access is provided to the skin. As a result, in the morning you have a fresh look, and wrinkles will appear much later.

In this position, nothing presses on the stomach and other organs in the abdominal cavity. Therefore, the risk of reflux of the contents of the stomach into the esophagus and the onset of an unpleasant state of heartburn is reduced. This is very important, because most of the acid in the stomach is produced at night and it can cause disease in the esophagus. Therefore, if you have a tendency to heartburn, you need to choose sleeping positions on your back.

Sleep on your side

Sleeping on your side is also a natural and correct sleeping position. This is the instinctive position of the fetus, characteristic of a relaxed person. This is the correct and best sleeping position for those who have pain in the spine - it takes its natural curves and rests. It plays a big role on which side you sleep - sleeping on the right side provokes heartburn. Sleeping on the left side puts extra stress on the heart and is contraindicated in people suffering from hypertension. In addition, if you rest on one side all the time, there is a risk of getting wrinkles on the side in contact with the pillow.

It should be noted that sleeping on the side will not be useful for owners of a large bust. In this position, with a long rest, many folds form on the bust. If a woman throws her hand behind her head or puts it under the pillow, then wrinkles are located both on the bust and on the shoulder. To sleep well on your side in this position, you need to choose the right pillow so that your neck does not suffer.

If you sleep on your side, you need to stretch your arms along the body, because the hand under the pillow causes bending and, as a result, pain in the spine and neck. It is inconvenient for someone to stretch their arms along the body, then additional pillows, sleep rollers or large soft toys will come in handy.

Confirm the usefulness of sleeping on your side and research by neuroscientists. Using the MRI method, the team of a scientist from the University of Helsinki, Aleksanteri Aspelund, examined the glymphatic pathways in the brain. In parallel with them, a similar study was conducted by the team of Professor Antoine Louveau from the laboratory of the University of Virginia Health System. Through these pathways, cerebrospinal fluid flows into the brain and replaces tissue fluid. The exchange of these fluids allows the brain to get rid of the waste products accumulated during the day: beta-amyloids and tau proteins. These chemicals raise the risk of developing Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

It happens that a person complains - “I can’t sleep on my left side, I’m suffocating, my heart starts to hurt.” This is a common symptom of chondrosis. Of course, just in case, you can be examined by a cardiologist, but most often such symptoms are produced by osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine, intercostal neuralgia, and vegetative-vascular neuralgia.

What is the best sleeping position for pregnant women?

Let's talk about the best position for a pregnant woman to sleep in, so as not to inconvenience the baby and sleep soundly herself. Until the 12-13th week, you can continue to sleep as comfortable. The only thing is that the posture on the stomach can become uncomfortable for the chest, which during this period becomes very sensitive. After the growth of the abdomen begins, it is no longer possible to sleep on it, it will be harmful to the child.

Sleeping on your back with the growth of the abdomen will also be wrong - the heavier fetus will put pressure on the internal organs. And after 25 weeks, the inferior vena cava, which carries blood from the lower extremities to the heart, will be squeezed. As a result, the expectant mother will feel dizzy, tachycardia and shortness of breath. And a longer squeezing of the vein can lead to hypoxia in the baby.

What is the best position for pregnant women to sleep in? All doctors are unanimous in their opinion - sleep on your side. If the question arises on which side it is better to sleep, gynecologists recommend better on the left. Why can't pregnant women sleep on their right side? On the right side, under the weight of the fetus, the kidney is compressed and the ureters are squeezed, which can lead to the development of pyelonephritis and other urological diseases.

Special horseshoe-shaped sleeping pillows, filled with polystyrene content, have been developed specifically to provide a pregnant woman with a special sleeping position. With such a product, it is convenient to lie in an embrace, throwing one leg over it and placing your big tummy on it.

A little about sleep accessories

No matter how you are used to sleeping, you should definitely take the time to choose a comfortable mattress. If lying on it is uncomfortable, then you will have to constantly change position. And this increases the risk of insomnia. It is better to choose semi-rigid products in which you will not “sink”, as in soft ones, and will not “lie down” on the sides, as on hard ones.

The use of small pillows helps to improve posture during sleep. If you are used to sleeping on your back, place a small pillow under your knees and another under your lower back. While resting on your side, you can hold a pillow between your legs. If you choose to sleep on your stomach, place a pillow under your lower abdomen. This will reduce pressure on the spine.

How to relearn how to sleep in a familiar position

People usually choose sleeping positions based on a habit, not a medical condition. Many people simply change body position and posture during sleep. If you are used to sleeping on your back and suddenly begin to snore with age, then, of course, you need to change your position in order to ensure good deep sleep for loved ones. Also, women who, without hesitation until the age of 30, can sleep as they like best, just to get enough sleep, by 35 they already begin to think about the mechanism of wrinkles and also change their sleeping position to a safer one.

There are such situations that a person has been sleeping on his back all his life and suddenly, with age, he began to develop apnea - stopping breathing during sleep. With this disease, it is categorically not recommended to sleep on your back. In addition, a retraction of the tongue can happen - also a very unpleasant stressful situation. Relearning to fall asleep on your side from the back pose is easy. You need to sew a pocket on the back of your pajamas and put a massage ball with spikes there. As soon as you turn on your back, the ball will wake you up.

On the contrary, to learn to sleep on your back, you need to support your body with additional pillows from all sides. Try putting soft pillows under your arms, near your back or lower back. 3 or 5 pillows will be enough to create comfortable comfort.

List of used literature:

• Levin Ya. I., Kovrov G. V. Some modern approaches to the treatment of insomnia // The attending physician. - 2003. - No. 4.
• Kotova O. V., Ryabokon I. V. Modern aspects of insomnia therapy // Attending physician. - 2013. - No. 5.
• T. I. Ivanova, Z. A. Kirillova, L. Ya. Rabichev. Insomnia (treatment and prevention). - M.: Medgiz, 1960.