I heard that sleeping on your left side can cause stress on your heart. What is your typical sleeping position? There is a lot of knowledge in this.

Reviewer of this article: Chen Haixu, Deputy Director and Master Supervisor of the Second Medical Center of PLA General Hospital

One third of a person's life is spent sleeping, and sleeping position has a great impact on health. I often hear people say that sleeping on the left side will put pressure on the heart. Is this true?

Shi Haifeng, deputy chief physician of the Department of Cardiology at Beijing Hospital, said that the human heart is perfectly protected by the rib cage, and even if it is hit by external violence occasionally, it will not cause substantial damage to the heart. The so-called sleeping on the left side will compress the heart, which is wrong.

What is the best way to lie down when sleeping?

Two types of people are recommended to sleep on the right side

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Most heart patients

Although the saying that "lying on the left side will compress the heart" is wrong and has no effect on ordinary people, lying on the right side is indeed better than lying on the left side for most heart patients.

The human heart is not located in the middle, but 1/3 is on the right and 2/3 is on the left. Shi Haifeng, deputy chief physician of the Department of Cardiology at Beijing Hospital, said that when lying on the left side, because the heart is below the midline of the body (center of gravity), more blood returns to the heart due to gravity, and the burden on the heart is greater than lying on the right side.

Therefore, in order to reduce the burden on the heart, it is recommended that heart patients lie on their right side.

In the same way, if a heart patient raises his upper body and lets his lower limbs hang down, the amount of blood returning to the heart can be further reduced, thereby alleviating the burden on the heart. This is why many heart failure patients cannot lie down to sleep and feel uncomfortable, so they have to sit halfway.

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People with gastritis and poor digestive function

Zhi Jiehua, deputy chief physician of the Department of Gastroenterology at the First People's Hospital of Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, said that our stomach is located above the entire abdomen and on the left side. For some people with stomach inflammation and poor digestive function, it is recommended to lie on the right side, which helps the absorption and digestion of food in the stomach.

Three types of people are recommended to sleep on their left side

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People with acid reflux and heartburn

For patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease who have heartburn and acid reflux, lying on the left side with an angled position can relieve symptoms.

Liu Fan from the Department of Gastroenterology at Peking University People's Hospital said that raising the head or the head of the bed, using bed wedges, etc. while sleeping can speed up acid elimination and reduce esophageal acid exposure time by 9% to 52%; at the same time, lying on the left side can reduce the occurrence of reflux events and reduce esophageal acid exposure time by 13% to 76%.

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People with excessive stomach acid

People with excessive gastric acid secretion are also recommended to rest in the left side lying position.

Zhi Jiehua, deputy chief physician of the Department of Gastroenterology at the First People's Hospital of Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, said that if you rest on your right side, the esophagus will be lower than the stomach, and gastric acid will reflux into the esophageal cavity, which may cause the patient to choke or even suffocate.

Moreover, excessive gastric acid secretion can easily cause stomach discomfort, so it is recommended that people with excessive gastric acid secretion try to rest on the left side, which can greatly accelerate the flow of gastric acid into the digestive tract.

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People in late pregnancy

It is recommended that pregnant women in the second and third trimesters lie on their left side.

Wu Qiong, from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Peking University Shougang Hospital, said that for women in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, if they lie on their backs, the enlarged uterus will compress the inferior vena cava, resulting in a decrease in the amount of blood returning to the heart, which can cause supine hypotension. This will reduce blood supply to the placenta and, in severe cases, can cause intrauterine hypoxia in the fetus.

Lying on the right side is also not recommended because in the middle and late stages of pregnancy, the enlarged uterus rotates to the right, which can compress the right ureter, leading to ureteral dilatation and even hydronephrosis.

Three types of people are recommended to sleep on their backs

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People with cerebral thrombosis

Mao Zhiqi, chief physician of neurosurgery at the General Hospital of the People's Liberation Army, said that the best sleeping position for cerebral thrombosis is lying on your back. The pillow should be 5 cm high, not too high or too low, to ensure that the carotid artery is not compressed and the brain has adequate blood supply, which is conducive to recovery from the disease.

Sleeping on your side may aggravate blood circulation disorders, especially slowing down blood flow in the neck, which is easy to gradually gather at the damaged part of the arterial intima and form blood clots. To eliminate this hidden danger, it is more appropriate to sleep on your back.

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People with bad joints

Yuan Feng, an orthopedic doctor at Shanghai Oriental Hospital, said that from the perspective of joint health, supine sleeping is recommended. This is because the body's force-bearing area is the largest when lying on the back, and it is not easy to cause local compression. Sleeping curled up can easily cause the legs to be unable to straighten, lying on the side may cause rotator cuff tearing, and sleeping while hugging may damage the arm nerves.

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People with lumbar disc herniation

Shi Dai, deputy chief physician of the Department of Orthopedics at the Affiliated Hospital of Yangzhou University, said that for patients with lumbar disc herniation, sleeping on your back can effectively relieve the discomfort in your waist. When we lie flat, the neck can maintain a certain physiological curvature, the waist can be tightly attached to the bed, the blood circulation in the upper limbs will be smoother, there will be no numbness, the lumbar spine will be more comfortable, and the lumbar disc herniation will be improved in the long run, and the number of pain attacks will become less and less.

Source: Health Times