How To Change Sleeping Position For Better Sleep?

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Sleeping position isn’t something we often think about a lot as long as we feel comfortable. But have you ever woken up with terrible back pain or neck pain? If you have, then there’s a chance it’s due to your sleeping position.

Apart from back pain, your sleeping position might also be responsible for several other health concerns like heartburn, snoring, high blood pressure, and more, making it essential for you to change your sleeping position.

According to research, an adult changes their position around 1.6 times within an hour, which makes the entire process of changing your sleeping position extra tricky.

But no worries, in this article, we will suggest several ways to help you change your sleeping position and who should consider changing your position.

 

 

2 Methods To Change Your Sleeping Position

Switching your sleeping position from one to another can be pretty stressful for everyone. But, switching from an unhealthy position to a healthier and more beneficial position is entirely worth it.

This process of changing the way you sleep requires proper methods and consistency as you can’t change your sleeping position overnight. So, here are two beneficial ways to change your sleeping position.

 

1. Tennis Ball Technique

Take a tennis ball and sew it around the top of your pajama. If you want to change your sleeping position from back sleeping to side sleeping, sew it in the back, while if you’re going to change from stomach sleeping to side, then, sew it in front top.

This method prevents you from rolling around at night and helps you stay in the desired sleeping position all night.

Even though initially people might feel a bit uncomfortable with the tennis ball around, studies have shown that this method is quite effective.

However, you need to consistently use this method to stick with your desired sleeping position. Usually, the results of this method might not stick for a very long time, and maybe after a while, you would require to use this technique again.

Using a tennis ball isn’t mandatory-you can use other objects as well, such as a bolster, toy, or any object that is small enough to sew around and prevents you from rolling around.

 

2. Positional Therapy

Positional therapy can be described as a modern, high-tech version of the Tennis ball method. This method uses a strapped device around your chest area, and it helps you sleep on your side.

If you try to roll around in a different position, this device vibrates as it contains a vibrotactile-feedback which ensures you stay in the correct position.

This method is a behavioral strategy for treating those people who have positional sleep apnea.

It is a condition that can cause struggle in breathing. Some people face sleep apnea when they sleep on their back.

However, when they sleep on their side, their breathing becomes better and comes back to normal due to which these strapped devices are recommended.

This is a very useful method that can help you to change your sleep position. However, this device is only suitable for those people who aspire to shift from stomach or back sleeping to side sleeping.

 

When Should You Think Of Changing Your Sleeping Position?

Now that we have talked about ways to change your sleeping position, let’s look into the reasons, who and when should you consider changing your position:

Pregnancy

Pregnancy

Pregnancy is a very delicate time, and it’s essential for women to change their sleeping position to side-sleeping along with their knees bent down.

This way, you can relieve the belly pressure and enable blood flow. You should not sleep on your stomach or your back as it increases pressure on your belly which can be harmful during pregnancy.

 

Back Or Shoulder Pain

Shoulder Pain 

If you’ve got pain in your back or shoulders, you should shift to a back sleeping position. Back sleeping can promote a healthy spinal alignment and also help in treating vertebrae issues.

Besides changing your sleeping position, you should also use an excellent supportive mattress to treat back and shoulder pain. A Memory Foam Mattress is considered the most suitable mattress for back and shoulder pain issues.

Apart from back sleeping, you can also consider shifting to side-sleeping for back pain, as it also helps in providing good support to your body by keeping your spine aligned. You can also add a thick pillow near your spine for extra comfort.

 

Snoring

Snoring

If you are suffering from snoring, then you need to switch to a side sleeping position. According to research, back sleeping can develop the chances of snoring due to increased compression of airways.

However, when you change from back to side sleeping, the compression of your airways decreases and might result in a reduction in your snoring.

 

Acid Reflux And Heartburn

Acid Reflux

Left Side-Sleeping is excellent for people suffering from acid reflux problems.

You should particularly exclude sleeping on your back if you have acid reflux because when you are sleeping on your back, the acid tends to leave from the stomach and flow freely with nowhere to go, and this might cause heartburn to back sleepers.

However, when you sleep on your side, specifically the left side, gravity work in your support, and acid tend to return back to your stomach faster also; in this position, the acid is less likely to go back up to your throat.

According to research, people who sleep on their left side are less likely to suffer from heartburn issues.

 

FAQs

1. What is the best sleeping position? 

Side-sleeping is recognized as the best sleeping position as it provides several benefits like preventing back pain, acid reflux, being safe during pregnancy and more.

 

2. Why shouldn’t people sleep on their stomachs? 

Sleeping on your stomach produces more disadvantages than advantages, such as neck pain, causing pressure in the spine, wrinkles, and more, due to which this isn’t considered the ideal sleeping position.

 

You May Also Like To Read:

Which Mattress Is Good For Your Health?

How Your Mattress Could Be Negatively Affect Your Sleep?

Is A Hard Or Soft Mattress Better For Back Pain?

 

Conclusion

Sleeping positions play a crucial role in our well-being. A healthy and maintained sleep position provides you with good peaceful sleep and takes care of your body by providing the support and correct alignment it deserves.

You can change your sleeping position and shift onto your ideal or desired position by following the above-mentioned methods.

If you have any queries regarding your sleeping position, then let us know in the comments.

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