Sleep Positions and Your Health
How do you sleep? Curled up in a ball? On your back? On your stomach? The position in which you sleep is sometimes a major factor in how well you sleep.
Take snoring for example. Usually, snoring occurs when you sleep on your back. It happens because the soft palate, uvula, tongue, tonsils and/or muscles in the back of your throat rub against each other and vibrate. So, when your spouse yells at you to roll over, this is good advice because you usually don’t snore when you are lying on your side! Raising the head of your bed four inches, by placing a wedge under your mattress, can help too.
Recent studies indicate that sleep position may also affect blood pressure. Researchers found that a shift in sleep position from back to stomach actually lowered systolic blood pressure.
"This may be helpful for a handful of people with cardiovascular issues," observes Dr. Timothy Harrington, "However, sleeping on your back or side is much better for your spine, especially your neck."
Every new mother is cautioned about her newborn’s sleeping position, with good reason. Babies who fall asleep on their stomachs seem to be at greater risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The American Academy of Pediatrics affirmed this in a statement released in 1992, recommending that all healthy infants be placed on their backs to sleep.
Dr. Tim Asks...
