Sleeping on your stomach may feel relaxing, but it can cause back and neck pain as well as worsening heartburn and acid reflux symptoms. To ensure an uninterrupted night’s rest on this position, make sure that your spine remains straight by propping it up with a pillow or mattress support.
Sleeping on your stomach also wreaks havoc with your neck, which can eventually result in herniated disks or testicular torsion for men. Additionally, sleeping this way also puts stress on their penis and testicles and may compress their penis and testicles, potentially leading to torsion of their testicles and testicular torsion in men.
How Does It Affect Your Health?
Sleeping on your stomach may be the preferred sleeping position for many, but it can have serious negative health repercussions, from wrinkles to back ache. While sleeping this way may help decrease snoring and symptoms of sleep apnea, it can cause or worsen neck and back pain due to forcing the spine into an overarching position while placing pressure on joints and muscles – as well as often raising or tucking their arms under pillows that lead to shoulder ache.
Sleeping on one’s stomach can reduce blood flow to the face, leading to premature wrinkles and fine lines as well as clogged pores that lead to breakouts. Furthermore, sleeping this way puts extra strain on abdominal areas already experiencing indigestion, leading to further issues there.
Sleeping on your stomach also puts a strain on the neck muscles that could eventually lead to soreness or more serious neck conditions over time, placing extra strain on shoulder muscles that could result in rotator cuff issues or other shoulder ailments.
Sleeping on your stomach doesn’t need to be problematic if you use the right products and methods. Begin by selecting a firm mattress which helps align the spine, without sinking too deeply underneath your abdomen, followed by placing a thin pillow under your head to keep it from tilting too far forward.
How Can You Avoid It?
Sleeping on your stomach places additional strain on your back, neck and shoulders – leading to additional tension that could result in aches and pains in the morning. Nolah chiropractor Andrew Bang offers some strategies to help stomach sleepers avoid this type of sleep position-induced tension.
Stomach sleeping requires you to twist your neck sideways for several hours at a time, which puts undue strain on the facet joints in your neck and can put undue strain on them for long stretches of time throughout the day – like taping your finger into full flexion all day long, it can leave stiffness and soreness when removed in the morning.
Sleeping on your stomach has another drawback – stretching the skin for hours at a time and increasing wrinkle formation over time. A 2016 study discovered that those sleeping on their tummies incurred more facial wrinkles than those sleeping on their sides or back.
One way to reduce stomach sleep-related discomfort is investing in a mattress that allows you to rest with a neutral spine alignment, such as one featuring firm support without sinking hips and an anti-neck strain pillow underneath your head. 2) Keep legs together rather than lifting one leg above another as this twists your spine, and practice light yoga or stretching exercises both prior to going to sleep and in the morning in order to strengthen muscles and improve posture.
How Can You Change Your Preferred Sleeping Position?
Sleep positions are personal preferences, but it is important to keep in mind that different positions offer unique advantages. Sleeping on either your back or side tends to be healthier than stomach sleeping as these positions allow your spine to maintain a neutral position and thus lessen hip and back pressure. Furthermore, sleeping on your stomach puts tremendous strain on the neck which may cause pain as well as alignment issues in your spine or facial wrinkles due to constant pressure between your face and the pillow or mattress.
Stomach sleeping has long been associated with acid reflux and may contribute to snoring or worsen sleep apnea. If this position becomes frequent for you, try placing a pillow or towel roll under your stomach to provide support and avoid strain in this position.
Change can take time – especially if you’ve been sleeping on your stomach for some time – but changing it’s worth the effort in terms of relieving back and neck pain, improving spinal alignment and relieving hip/lower back strain. Firmer mattresses or adding pillows under knees may help support correct spinal alignment while alleviating pressure on hips/lower back area; you should find one that makes you most comfortable waking up feeling relaxed yet refreshed and rested.
What Can You Do About It?
Sleeping on your stomach might provide some benefits, like reduced risk of back pain or snoring; however, it’s not an optimal position for your spine. Lying flattening out the natural curve of the spine causes strain; twisting of neck and head may aggravate herniated discs as well.
Stomach sleeping puts undue strain on both the hips and knees, leading to joint pain and discomfort. If stomach sleeping remains your go-to position, try placing a pillow between your knees or elevating it in order to stop your legs bending awkwardly while asleep – either of these methods will reduce stress on joints and hips while making sleep less unpleasant overall.
Sleeping on your stomach may also compress your scrotum for extended periods, restricting blood flow and impairing sperm production. Therefore, for best results it’s advisable to sleep either side or back.
Though it might be challenging to break years of sleeping on your stomach, you can gradually shift to new sleep positions over time. Selecting suitable mattress and pillow sets may help with spinal alignment and alleviate back pain in stomach sleepers; Casper offers mattresses and pillows tailored for every type of sleeper to ensure you find restful restful restful sleep.
