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Sleep is a divine gift that helps you recuperate after a stressful and busy day. You might have noticed how restless and temperamental you feel when you do not sleep properly. Since time immemorial, we have considered sleep to be therapeutic, but did you know that your posture also is as important as sleep itself?
You might be someone who does not move even an inch while you are asleep or who changes your position every minute. Everyone has their favorite sleep position, but is it the best for your health?
In this article, we will uncover if back or side sleeping is better for your health! Let us dive in without further ado.
Which Position Is The One for You?
There is no standard answer to the topic we are discussing in this article because every sleeping position has its own set of merits. In order to find out which position will prove to be beneficial for you, let us first take a look at some of the issues and then the position that can help alleviate them!
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Pain in Neck And Back Regions
If you are prone to these conditions or are suffering from them currently, do not sleep face up. Sleeping face up can further worsen the conditions, so avoid this position.
Sleeping on your back can be beneficial for your lower back pain. Since this position helps you maintain your spine alignment, you can avoid spine soreness after a peaceful night’s sleep!
However, it is best for you to explore various positions and mattresses before choosing the one for you. If you are confused about where to look, do not worry because TheSleepSavvy has got you covered with both tips and sleeping equipment!
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Snoring and Sleep Apnea
Sleep Apnea can be a hazardous condition that leads to pauses in breathing. In severe cases, this condition can expose you to a sudden cardiac arrest as well! How does that happen? Well, when a person is afflicted by obstructive sleep apnea, their airways collapse, leading to these pauses.
Side sleeping is hence recommended over the back sleeping for people troubled by sleep apnea and snoring. Side sleeping ensures that your airways are unobstructed. This not only ensures that your sleep apnea does not obstruct your peaceful sleep but also aids you in reducing snoring.
Who does not want a cure for snoring? We are sure that you might have had sleepless nights where you try muffling those snoring sounds echoing in your room. If you are tired of your partner, friend, or family member snoring the whole night, you now know what to do! The secret to a peaceful night of sleep is…side sleeping!
Of course, this posture does not eliminate these conditions, but it does alleviate them to a certain degree.
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Wrinkles
What!! You may be horrified to find out that some sleeping postures are linked to wrinkles! Wrinkles are a gigantic nightmare, particularly if you are worried about your appearance. Here is a short homework for you. Tonight, sleep in a side posture or simply lay down on your tummy. The following day as soon as you wake up, observe yourself in a mirror.
You will notice creases on your face. Although they seem pretty harmless, these little daily creases can provoke chronic changes in skin and breakouts! So if you desire that wrinkle-less skin, embrace the back sleeping posture.
So these were some of the common problems along with the best suitable sleep positions. Let us study the merits of these postures in-depth now.
Benefits of Sleeping on Your Back
We hope that you are already aware that the back posture of sleeping works miracles for both neck as well as back pain. However, are you aware of why this posture is so beneficial? Imagine that you applied pressure on your hand. Depending on the magnitude of the pressure, you will sense varying degrees of discomfort and pain.
Apply the same logic to your spine, neck, and back. Applying pressure to these regions causes soreness and discomfort. To lift that pressure and help these body parts relax, simply prefer back sleeping. Voila! This is how you can combat pains in these parts!
In addition, it also lifts pressure from your head region, thereby aiding in subduing tension headaches. Tension headaches are very often mistaken to be migraines; however, this is untrue.
Look out for symptoms such as neck stiffness, blurring of vision, and pain in one side of your head and your eyes if you want to find out if you are having tension headaches.
One other benefit is that when your head is aligned in such a position that it is elevated above your heart, mucus pooling up in the sinuses reduces. Besides, it also prevents acid reflux. You might have noticed doctors suggesting people sleep on thick pillows or stack multiple pillows to keep their heads elevated if they have acid reflux issues.
Benefits of Side Sleeping
This sleep posture is excellent for pregnant women because it helps the heart to pump blood throughout the body. In addition, it also helps reduce the strain on veins that carry blood back from the legs to the heart.
In addition, this posture helps is known for improving the health of your brain because it eases the process through which your brain flushes out the toxins.
It also helps in keeping the digestive system healthy and active. Side sleeping posture also enables your guts to get rid of the gas. In a nutshell, side sleeping gives your body a faster way to flush out waste from different parts of your body!
Final Words
Both positions offer you myriads of health benefits, and it would be wrong for us to decide which position is better. After all, you know your body better than anyone else. So, carefully consider all these points mentioned in the article, and establish that one position which just is perfect for you! All of this ultimately helps you remain healthy by maintaining your REM cycles.
