Sleep is essential to good health. It helps improve digestion, soothe backache, and decrease the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
But, according to medical experts, your choice of sleeping side can have serious ramifications for your health. They recommend that those suffering from certain medical conditions avoid sleeping on their right sides while resting.
Compression of the vena cava may reduce healthy blood flow to your unborn fetus in late gestation and increase acid reflux and heartburn symptoms. It could also exacerbate acid reflux symptoms during late pregnancy.
Poor Blood Flow
While sleeping, your blood is being pumped around to meet your body’s needs. Unfortunately, sleeping on your right side could disrupt this process and put undue strain on the veins that transport blood from legs and feet to heart – potentially leading to varicose veins in those veins that carry it back home.
Sleeping on your right side increases the likelihood of acid reflux and snoring. Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), which is associated with sleep apnea, can also worsen by lying on one’s right side while sleeping. Sleep apnea may worsen with sleeping on one’s right side as well.
Switching to sleeping on the left side may help alleviate these difficulties. A chiropractor can assist in choosing an excellent mattress designed to relieve pressure on shoulders and hips – then, with that done, sleeping comfortably on your left side should leave you waking up feeling rejuvenated every morning – all at an affordable cost for better health!
Acid Reflux
Sleeping flat on your back exposes you to stomach acid that can work its way into your esophagus and cause heartburn, potentially harming its lining and making GERD symptoms even worse. Sleeping on your left side helps mitigate this problem by keeping stomach acid from seeping into your esophagus so easily.
Researchers studying people with GERD were surprised to find that sleeping on their right sides caused more heartburn than sleeping on their left sides, possibly because stomach acid can relax more quickly when lying down on this side, leading it into your esophagus and creating havoc.
One theory suggests that sleeping on your left side may help prevent acid from entering the esophagus by placing your body in a more neutral position, eliminating acid reflux as a frequent issue for side sleepers and relieving symptoms of heartburn. Switching positions could also reduce pressure on livers while increasing heart efficiency while alleviating heartburn symptoms; pregnant women are recommended sleeping this way as it reduces liver pressure while helping the heart pump more blood efficiently; additionally it may help prevent snoring from being caused by obstruction in airways that cause breathing interruptions while sleeping, making this position an effective tool in protecting obstructed airways that causes breathing interruptions during sleep resulting in interruptions during restful REM sleep apnea syndrome obstructive sleep apnea syndrome with symptoms that causes breathing interruptions during restful REM sleep apnea as symptoms; thus switching positions may help avoid or alleviate heartburn symptoms by sleeping on one of two sides (usually sleepers) sleep on either side with either acid reflux symptoms caused by side sleeping on one of two sides (typically the opposite), thus switching off one’s left side may prevent or alleviate heartburn symptoms by switching the left side sleeping position from blocking pressure on liver pressure to pumping blood more efficiently allowing it can even prevent or alleviate heartburn symptoms as it allows blood more efficiently from pumping through.
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Heartburn
Acid Reflux or GERD sufferers know that acid reflux can prevent a restful night’s rest and even cause long-term damage to their stomach and esophagus if left untreated, yet by changing your sleeping position you can minimize acid reflux while sleeping.
Studies show that sleeping on your right side increases your likelihood of experiencing GERD symptoms at night. Many of these can be alleviated simply by switching sleeping positions – the left-side sleeping position keeps the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) closer to its original position above stomach contents, making it less likely for acidic contents from your stomach to leak back up into your esophagus and cause irritation.
If you suffer from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), sleeping on your left side may help ease breathing at night. This is because this position opens your airways more freely while simultaneously decreasing snoring and mild apnea episodes.
Sleeping on one’s left during late gestation is also highly recommended by research, according to one smaller study conducted in Auckland, New Zealand. According to this research, major blood vessels squished by sleeping on your right can limit oxygen and nutrients reaching the baby, increasing premature birth risk as well as other potential health concerns. One smaller study concluded that women sleeping on their left during the last trimester halved their risk of stillbirth compared with sleeping on their right during this timeframe.
Snoring
Those who prefer sleeping on their back may find they snore more when lying on their right side, due to tongue relaxation into the back of your esophagus and restricting airways. Light snorers may not notice much change here, while heavy snorers might find relief by sleeping on their left.
Switching sides may also help if you suffer from sleep apnea. This condition causes episodes in which breathing stops repeatedly throughout the night, leading to reduced oxygen levels. Studies show that sleeping on your left side reduces these episodes while improving nightly oxygen levels.
Scientists have also discovered that sleeping on your left side may help the glymphatic system flush away waste products from your brain, potentially decreasing your risk for dementia, Parkinson’s disease and other neurological conditions.
Most health experts advise sleeping on your left side unless otherwise directed by your physician. This position reduces pressure on key blood vessels, provides relief from acid reflux and chronic heartburn symptoms, alleviates IBS/Celiac disease symptoms and decreases snoring as well as increasing oxygen levels within your body. If this position proves too difficult to sleep in for you, try placing a pillow under or between your knees to aid the transition to sleeping on its left side.
