This article will be about the different sleeping positions and their pros and cons. The Starfish position has you lying on your back with your head facing up and arms bent up on both sides of your head with your legs spread apart. This position makes acid reflux feel better but can activate sleep apnea. Free fall position has your arms kept beneath your pillow with your stomach facing the ground, It could seem comfortable at first but this position can lead to tossing and turning often in bed and can lead to neck and back pain.
The soldier’s position with your arms by your side, represents a soldier. This can cause snoring and prone to sleep apnea, but this position can unfortunately lead to thickening in the carotid artery which pumps blood to everything above your shoulders. As you age your body changes and the usual sleeping positions you use may start to feel uncomfortable so changing your sleep positions would be normal, and research shows that children change sleep positions twice as much as adults over 65 years old.
Men and women have different priorities and studies show that women prefer to be in a fetal position twice as much as men. Sleeping on your back is a very rare position to find, research shows that only 8% of people prefer to sleep like this but other research shows up to 18% like to sleep this way.
What seems to be the most beneficial is the side position because it keeps your spine naturally aligned, keeps your airways clear, and helps with sleep apnea, snoring, and acid reflux. The most favored way to sleep is the fetal position which is favored by more than 40% of people, especially among females as stated previously. It’s a great way to fall asleep in the fetal position because your spine rests in its correct alignment and research says that laying on your side does a greater completion of cleaning up waste than in any other sleeping position.
Research says that laying on your stomach is only to be found as 17% of people’s favorite making this seem to be a quite hated sleeping position. It is said to be the worst sleeping position there is, it has only 2 pros which help with sleep apnea and snoring but is prone to difficulty breathing, spine misalignment, and back and neck pain. The Combination position, or random positions, this kind of sleeper is commonly found in kids as said before and combination sleepers don’t tend to have a specific favorite sleeping position.
Finally, The greatest sleeping position you can choose from is the side sleeping position. This position has little to no negatives and has many positives and is overall the most beneficial to your body. As an additional fact, even though there is no evidence to prove it, it can be theorized that gravity helps to get rid of waste and the stomach’s natural position is on the left side where it can digest more efficiently.
Conclusion
These are all the ways the different ways the different positions can positively or negatively benefit you and an article from talkspace.com says “New research suggests our preferred sleep positions influence the brain’s ability to get rid of metabolic waste, which ultimately affects our overall cognitive function and the manifestation of neurological disease.” This means that choosing the correct sleep pattern will help you and affect your cognitive function.
Related Stories
https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/best-sleep-positions
https://www.cnet.com/health/sleep/sleeping-positions-what-they-are-and-how-they-affect-your-health/
https://www.delmarvapain.com/blog/how-your-sleeping-position-can-impact-your-overall-health
Take Action
https://hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/choosing-the-best-sleep-position
https://www.ncoa.org/adviser/sleep/sleeping-positions/
