What are the advantages and disadvantages of sleeping on your back and ONLY on your back every single day for the rest of your life?
Sleeping on your back would be a more descriptive title.
I understand that some people have obstructive sleep apnea when sleeping on their back.
Here is a link.
I like to sleep on my bed.
(I’m terribly sorry, but you can’t gimme a hanging curveball and expect me not to swing)
Anyway, I fall asleep on my back, and eventually end up fetal position at some point. And I, too, suffer apnea
Edited title for clarity.
-xash
General Questions Moderator
My understanding is that everyone shifts sleeping positions throughout the night (or whenever they sleep for extended periods). You might be able to fall asleep only on your back, but I don’t believe you can prevent yourself from rolling over while sleeping.
There would probably be a similar risk to that of sitting in front of a computer every day, which means spending hours with your neck and back and shoulders in exactly the same position. There would probably be stress related to those parts.
I have obstructive sleep apnoea, but as is common with many people who do, I am also fat. Sleeping on my back is the only position I can do comfortably for any length of time. The weight of my belly makes any other position uncomfortable.
Advantage:
Sleeping on your belly is bad for your spine
Actually, I found during basic training in the Air Force that I could sleep the whole night through on my back and without moving.
The things you can do when you need to.
In all cases, for all body shapes and sizes? Cite?
Sleeping on my belly keeps my C-spine very well, with my head slightly turned to the side, of course. Keeps my shoulders back too. It also allows for multiple leg, arm and head positions with the rubber band action of the joints acting against the bed, which makes for great comfort. (I always make sure to hang my face off the side of the pillow to prevent my neck from flexing too much and from burrying my nose in the pillow.)
Thinking soley of vanity, I’d always heard that sleeping on your back is best for preventing facial wrinkles. And that sleeping on your side as I do can lead to permanent creases. This is pretty old beauty advice so I’m not sure I believe. (and I’ve tried it but sleeping on my back makes me dizzy - I don’t know how y’all do it)
Hmmm, maybe the preventing wrinkles advice isn’t bunk; here’s a link from a med center site.
So maybe I should give it another try. How do you back sleepers do it? Do you let your face turn to one side or do you keep it pointed up at the ceiling? When I’ve tried this I get dizzy and when I’ve accidentally truend on my back during sleep, I wake up with my arms up over my head so my head can rest on them. (but this generally makes my shoulders sore) Does sleeping without a pillow (or a special type of pillow) help? Do you need lumbar support?
I just lie on my back, face up, with my arms by my side. Sometimes I put my hands under my backside to prevent my arms from moving about (my arms tend to fall asleep if they are above the level of my body). You don’t want to have your head up at an angle in relation to the rest of your body, so I just take a thin, flat pillow and roll it a bit so it’s mostly supporting the lower part of my head and neck.
I don’t know about this dizzy thing. How can you be dizzy lying down with your eyes closed? Anyway, doesn’t it go away after a while?
I found that I could simply crawl in under the blanket, and assume the “attention” position while lying on my back - feet pointed of to the sides, though, so as not to untuck the blanket anymore than absolutely necessary.
I usually woke up dizzy, but that was because towards the end of training the weather turned cool and it was cool in the barracks at night. If my ears get cold, I get dizzy.
Dizzy might be an exaggeration. With no support for my head, I feel really spacy and discombobulated. It doesn’t go away unless I roll my head to one side which stresses my neck. Maybe I’ll try it with pillows to either side of my head.
Mort Fund, your comment about the feet brings up another issue. Whenever I’ve gotten a charley horse, it’s been because I woke up on my back (usually screaming in agony :)) acsenray, do you ever have the calf cramp problem?
I usually sleep on my side and have trouble falling asleep on my back, but was temporarily forced to sleep on my back not too long ago due to an injury. I was surprised that I indeed spent the entire night on my back; had I turned over onto either side, I would have been in a great deal of pain. Where there is a will, there is a way.
tremorviolet, not very often. Usually, I get a charley horse if I start stretching vigorously after a long period of inactivity. It can be in bed or during a long car or airplane ride as well. It doesn’t seem to be related to sleep, necessarily, in my case.
For some reason, if I lay on my back for very long, I get a weird queasy feeling in my stomach. I have to turn to some other position. Once I change to another position, the feeling get’s worse at first. But then it gets better.
It’s not a nauseous feeling. It’s more like a pain… it feels like something’s being tugged on or stretched out in my gut.
-FrL