Benefits of sleep & advantages of different sleeping positions – Dr. Gurudatta H K

Lots of people ask me what is the right position to sleep. Well sleep is so important for us because it relaxes our brain, it helps our brain to process all the information what we have gone through and there are a lot of proteins which are released during the sleep that will help to repair ourselves. so that is why sleep is most important. It has also been found in several studies that if you don’t sleep sufficiently say for 6 to 7 hours there are some genes which are activated for ageing. So if you’re sleeping well you’re automatically ageing process becomes much more graceful. Remember sleep is so important for that much amount of time we should also understand no other activity can replace sleep or deprivation of sleep cannot be replaced by anything else today. Coming to the point that which is the best position for us to sleep studies are indicated any one position cannot do that sleeping potion recommended by any expert or professional. We can just sleep in all different positions. most of around sixty or seventy percent have been seen to sleep on either right or left side. So fifteen percent on the abdomen, some 16-17 percent on the back. every position has its own advantages and disadvantages. We cannot recommend that this is the best position to sleep, this is the worst position to sleep. so i will briefly tell you few things like what are the advantages of each one of the sleeping position. Sleeping on the back is very good for your back, especially people suffering from lower back and neck problems and all. Sleeping on the back is always advisable. But there is a flip side to it. Sleeping on the back can create lot of issues with the respiration and digestive issues. So we cannot recommend this is the best position. For some it may be good, for some it may not be good. Coming to sleeping on the abdomen. So that is very good position to prevent any kind of snoring. But it is not good for your neck because you have to turn your neck either to right or left and for long period of time to sleep on that position it can cause strain on your neck. But it is very good for the lower back health. Sleeping on the abdomen has its own advantages and disadvantages. It will prevent any kind of snoring. The reason behind that is that the airway is not blocked and you don’t breath through your mouth. But it has its flip side. The neck is strained. But it is good for the lower back because the disc spaces are maintained well. Sleeping on the right side of our body is very good for the heart and circulation. This is recommended so that it will reduce the pressure on the heart, it is easy for the blood circulation, to prevent any cardiac conditions and hypertension. Sleeping on the left side is good for metabolism and lymphatic drainage. Lymph is one of the fluid which is circulating all over the body as a scavenger. So that will help better circulation when you are sleeping on the left side. So all the four sides of sleeping has its own advantages and disadvantages. So i will recommend you try to change the positions. Without knowledge we generally tend to change the positions during sleep. So we cannot hold one position all the time because it causes pain. So it is always good to have all the four sides which ever you are comfortable with.

source