How our bed and sleeping positions can harm our health!

 

Our spines are curved, not straight or flat. So why do so many people sleep on a flat bed? Is it just perceived to be normal? Is it because stock standard flat beds are easy to manufacture, market and transport?  Many people find it difficult getting a good night’s sleep that they look for solutions through music, aromatherapy, CPAP machines etc. Many people fail to consider: The bed they are sleeping on and the positions they are sleeping in.

Sleeping on a flatbed is NOT conducive to our bodies as it generally promotes tension of muscles, constriction of blood and lymphatic vessels, hinders digestion, restricts the flow of air in our airways and compresses internal organs. It doesn’t matter whether we are lying flat on our back, stomach or sides usually leads to pressure, tension, discomfort or pain during the night forcing us to turn either consciously or subconsciously in search of relief and comfort.

 

Sleeping on your back on a flat surface: Most people say to me: “I can’t sleep on my back”. My usual response is “Neither can I” or “Agreed, I can’t sleep flat on my back either!”

Sleeping on flat on our backs is particularly uncomfortable for most people. Trying to sleep in this manner can cut circulation to the body, restricts breathing and misaligns the spine. Sleeping flat on our backs also hinders healthy breathing further by maximizing the impact of gravity by restricting lung expansion resulting in minimal oxygen absorption into the blood. As a result, most people turn to sleep on their sides (most of us have been trained to sleep this way from birth) as this mentally takes us to a familiar and safe space mentally. Unfortunately, side sleeping can have a detrimental impact on our health.

 

Side Sleeping on a flat surface: When we sleep on our sides, our spine is twisted with our hips and neck misaligned. Over time this can speed up degeneration, lead to pain and contribute to poor quality sleep.

When we sleep on our sides, our body weight (regardless of how slender or bulky our bodies are) compresses blood vessels both large & small cutting blood flow to internal organs, spine and the body’s extremities (arms, hands, legs and feet).
Our bodies don’t respond well when important internal organs such as the heart, stomach, liver & kidneys are compressed. Our organs can’t function optimally if they are compressed and the flow of blood is restricted.

Side sleeping hinders normal breathing as our body weight compresses the lungs’ ability to expansion resulting in less oxygen being absorbed into the blood. This means less oxygen is delivered to where it’s needed in the body.

 

Stomach Sleeping on a flat surface: Sleeping on your stomach can place tremendous pressure on your neck and shoulders while restrict airflow and hindering breathing.

At Solace Sleep we are here to help if you experience pains or lack of sleep please call us for Free on 1800 270 935 and an expert will assist you.