Sleeping Positions

     The position in which you sleep could be impacting your health in several ways. The best sleeping position depends on your situation. Sleeping in the wrong position can cause or aggravate neck or back pain, obstruct airways to your lungs, aggravate other ailments and some research even suggests that sleeping in the wrong sleeping may cause toxins to filter out of your brain more slowly. 

 

Stomach Sleepers - About 7 percent of people sleep on their stomach (the prone position). It may help ease snoring, but iy may aggravate other medical conditions. The neck and spine are not in a neutral position and this may cause neck and back pain. It can also put pressure on nerves and cause numbness, tingling, and nerve pain. 

Freefall Position - Again, about 7 percent of people sleep in this position which is a variation of the stomach position except that their heads are turned to the side and usually their arms wrapped around or tucked under a pillow. 

Back Sleepers - aka the supine position, this position has its advantages and disadvantages, too. It may cause some people may experience low back pain and it can also make existing back pain worse. Snoring or sleep apnea can also be aggravated. Health benefits to sleeping on your back are the your head, neck, and spine are in a neutral position so you're less likely to experience neck pain. Having your head slightly elevated is best for heartburn. 

Soldier Position - These sleepers lie on their backs and their arms are down and close to the body. Approximately 8 percent of people sleep like this. It's a bad position if a person snores. 

Starfish Position - These are people who sleep on their backs with their arms up over their heads. Only about 5 percent of people sleep like this. It has the same disadvantages as the back and soldier position. 

Side Sleepers - This position is the most popular and is also known as lateral sleeping. I's good for snorers although it, too, can result in snoring, and it can be good for those who have some forms of arthritis. However, curling up on your side may also prevent you from breathing deeply because it restricts the diaphragm. On the other hand sleeping on your side could be good for your brain. 

     Our brains clear out waste more quickly while we sleep and it is unclear whether or not the sleep position influences this waste removal. But one study performed on rats suggests side-sleeping might clear brain waste more efficiently than other postures. So, if you're a rat this is a good position for sure. 

     There is a downside of sleeping on your side if you're old...you press down on your face and it may both cause wrinkles and cause the skin on your face to expand. If you are a woman it's even worse...it hasn't been scientifically prove, but rumor has it that over time breast ligaments stretch causing breast sag. 

Fetal Position - Approximately 41 percent of people sleep on their side curled up with their knees bent. Some studies suggest that more women than men sleep in this position, but that's open to debate. It's good for pregnant women because it improves circulation for both the mother and fetus. It can cause hip pain though.

Log Position - This is sleeping on the side with arms down next to the body. About 15 percent sleep this way. If you have arthritis, you may wake up in pain. 

Yearner Position - These people who make up 13 percent of sleepers, sleep on their sides with their arms outstretched in front of the body. It may be good if you have breathing problems, but bad if you suffer from arthritis. 

 

     In the 1970s and 1980s, some researchers claimed sleeping postures could predict if someone were impulsive, feminine, anxious, self-confident and even whether they could be hypnotized, but more recent studies have reduced those theories to bunk. 

     However, sleeping positions can be associated with well-rested sleepers and so these people wake up less crabby and irritable and are more alert during the day. Over a ten year period 22,000 American and Japanese adults were followed and those who slept poorly tended to become less conscientious while those who slept best were the most extroverted and the least neurotic.