Have you been sleeping right these years?

This is the 3916th article of Da Yi Xiao Hu

One third of a person's life is spent sleeping, and a person will die if he does not sleep for five days. Sleep is a necessary process of life and an indispensable part of health. However, the wrong sleeping posture is very harmful to human health, especially to the spine!

Sleeping on your back, sleeping on your stomach, or sleeping on your side, which one should we choose?

1. Prone position

Because the body is lying prone, the head is tilted to one side, which is obviously very unfavorable to the balance and physiological curvature of the neck, and affects breathing. Therefore, sleeping prone is an unhealthy and unscientific sleeping position and must be corrected.

2. Side-lying position

(1) When sleeping on the right side, the heart is located on the left side, which does put less pressure on the heart, which is beneficial for blood circulation and digestion of food in the stomach, but it can also easily cause acid reflux and sagging skin.

(2) Although sleeping on the left side helps the stomach contents to be discharged into the lower digestive tract and aids digestion, it puts pressure on the heart and stomach, which can easily lead to unstable sleep.

Lying on one side for a long time will cause an imbalance in the force on the spine, which is not conducive to the treatment and rehabilitation of spinal diseases.

Therefore, for patients with spinal diseases, sleeping on the side is not the best sleeping position. So what kind of sleeping position is more conducive to the health of the spine? Let’s take a look at the supine position.

3. Supine position

Sleeping on your back is a sleeping position recommended by many doctors because it can better maintain the natural curvature of the spine and is suitable for people with spinal pain.

Choosing the right pillow is also important!

In addition to paying attention to your sleeping posture, you also need to choose the right pillow. Many people don't use pillows or use pillows that are too high when they sleep, which is actually wrong.

So how do you choose a pillow that suits you?

The ideal pillow should meet the physiological curvature requirements of the cervical spine, and the shape of a gold ingot with a low center and high ends is preferred. The pillow should not be too high or too low, and you should never "sleep comfortably". From a medical point of view, the best pillow height is 8-10 cm, and the highest should not exceed 15 cm. It should be the same width as the shoulders, and should not be sloped. The head should not bend sideways when lying on the side. The rough standard is that the pillow height for supine lying is about one fist, and the pillow height for side lying should be one fist plus two fingers.

How to use the pillow? When sleeping on your back, place it on the back of your head. When sleeping on your side, you can add a U-shaped pillow to maintain height without pressing on your ears.

The best pillow material is buckwheat shell or cassia seed, which is elastic and moderately soft. A pillow that is too soft is only suitable for back sleeping and cannot maintain a normal height when sleeping on the side.

Next, let’s take a look at how to choose a suitable mattress for yourself?

Mattress: Choose a mattress with moderate hardness and softness. When you lie down, you should not sink more than 5 cm. And it should keep our spine in a straight line.

The spine is the foundation of human health and the source of life. 80% of the body's diseases are related to spinal problems. Many seemingly ordinary actions in life can cause damage to the spine. Only when the spine is healthy can all our activities return to normal track. Don't let your spine get too tired. This is the first principle of health preservation.

Author: Shanghai Seventh People's Hospital

Spine and joint surgery

Ling Yan