Health for a lifetime >>>> How to choose a sleeping position?

How to choose a sleeping position?

When the human body gets tired, the brain turns on the mechanisms that make the person go to sleep. But whether a person gets enough sleep or not depends on what position the person chooses for sleep. A comfortable sleeping position will make it possible to relax the entire body, including the state of the internal organs, will allow you to recharge your batteries and wake up cheerful. But uncomfortable postures of the body during sleep will not allow either the muscular corset or the smooth muscles of the internal organs to completely relax, which will entail a number of health problems instead of the expected rest.

How to choose the right sleeping position so as not to waste expensive and desired hours of sleep, necessary to relax the human body and to “recharge” it with health?

Many comfortable positions for reading lying down, snacking lying down, watching TV, laptop, tablet or smartphone lying down and similar resting opportunities are completely unsuitable for a good sleep.

The “on the belly” position during sleep does not allow you to comfortably position your head, no matter how hard you try. You have to turn your head to one side, and this loads the cervical muscles and spine. Hence the development of various traumatic conditions in the cervical region and in the region of the belt of the upper extremities (shoulders, subclavian region). If you fall asleep on your belly with your face in a pillow, the natural processes of breathing are disturbed and the skin of the face “crumples” (mimic wrinkles deepen).

The “on the side” position during sleep is considered a good opportunity to unload the lumbar spine, but depending on how the body is located, on the left or on the right side, the work of the heart muscle is loaded, because the heart needs to work during sleep. Due to the fact that the human heart is located slightly to the left of the middle of the body, sleeping on the left side is not recommended for people with myocardial and respiratory problems. When the body is positioned sideways during sleep, one has to look for the optimal position of the hand, towards which the body is turned, and the head, which has to be laid “on its side”. Putting your hand under the body, you can pinch the nerve in your hand and by morning get a problem with a numb hand that is not felt. And putting a hand under the head (under the cheek), you can press the facial nerve and by morning get numbness of half of the face.

It is believed that the lateral position of the body during sleep relaxes the body well, if you slightly bend the spine and bend the knees (both or one). A bent spine relieves the load on the intervertebral discs throughout the spinal column, and bent knees unload the lumbar spine.

The “on the back” position almost perfectly relaxes the muscles of all levels, it does not interfere with the respiratory movements of the chest, does not damage the skin of the face and neckline, does not cause numbness of the limbs, distributes the weight load on the body almost evenly, does not spoil posture. But at the same time, the muscles of the jaw, tongue, nasopharynx and larynx also relax to such an extent that many people experience “snoring”. Free breathing in some people increases so much that it can lead to an increase in blood pressure.

You can try to combine the position of the body during sleep, waking up and changing its position: from side to side, on the back, and so on. This will avoid stress on various parts of the muscles and evenly relax the limbs and cervical spine. For this reason, tossing and turning in your sleep is always helpful in creating a comfortable body position. And this is not a bad habit, as many people believe, but only an adaptive unconscious reaction of the body to inconvenience during sleep.