# What side should you sleep on? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 6, 2000, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-should-you-sleep-on/39985 "2000-11-06T19:10:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SuperNova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SuperNova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNova)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-should-you-sleep-on/39985/1 "2000-11-06T19:10:16Z")
I seem to recall once reading a study that sleeping on one side as opposed to the other was easier on your heart or something. Anyone know if this is true, and what side it is? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-should-you-sleep-on/39985/2 "2000-11-06T21:17:24Z")
Reputable physicians seem to recommend that pregnant women should sleep on their left sides to ensure proper fetal blood supply. Sleeping on the right side is still better than sleeping on the back. Other than that, the only things I could find are quackish and kooky homoepoathic-type crap, which seem to recommend left as often as right, depending on which “expert” you listen to. ---
**Author:** ![johnson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@johnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnson)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2000, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-should-you-sleep-on/39985/3 "2000-11-07T02:44:39Z")
I believe sleeping on the left side is also better for those with GERD. ---
**Author:** ![IBBen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85f322/32.png) [@IBBen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IBBen)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2000, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-should-you-sleep-on/39985/4 "2000-11-07T02:54:29Z")
…and sleeping on either side is better than sleeping on the back for babies with TERD. ---
**Author:** ![Sea\_Sloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Sea\_Sloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sea_Sloth)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2000, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-should-you-sleep-on/39985/5 "2000-11-07T03:19:28Z")
HA!!! ---
**Author:** ![Palm\_Cove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@Palm\_Cove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palm_Cove)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2000, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-should-you-sleep-on/39985/6 "2000-11-07T03:23:46Z")
What side should you sleep on? Sleep on the side without the wet patch. If you can get away with it :-} ---
**Author:** ![peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peace)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2000, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-should-you-sleep-on/39985/7 "2000-11-07T04:33:04Z")
It sounds exactly like a question I heard many years ago: If you have a long beard and sleep on your back, do you put it over the covers or under?" People with diseases should sleep as it feels comfortable. So should do heathy ones. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2000, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-should-you-sleep-on/39985/8 "2000-11-07T13:50:07Z")
Johnson wrote that GERD sufferers (folks whose sphincters allow stomach contents to backflow to the esophagus and sometimes into the throat) would benefit from sleeping on the left side. I disagree, and here’s why. Check an illustration of the stomach in Gray’s Anatomy or on a package in the antacid aisle of a drugstore. You’ll find that the esophagus meets the stomach on the left side. When you lie down on your left side with a half-full stomach, the entry port will be “underwater,” and any belching will bring up liquid into the esophagus. If you lie down on your right side, the partially digested food will settle on the right side of the stomach and the entry port will be above the “waterline.” If the sphincter opens to belch off excess gas pressure, only the gas will enter the esophagus. ---
**Author:** ![mrblue92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@mrblue92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrblue92)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2000, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-should-you-sleep-on/39985/9 "2000-11-07T15:55:43Z")
> [@](#): > > If you have a long beard and sleep on your back, do you put it over the covers or under? Over. “The cold air makes it grow.” - Santa Claus, _Miracle on 34th Street_ (1934, IIRC) ---
**Author:** ![mrblue92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@mrblue92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrblue92)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2000, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-should-you-sleep-on/39985/10 "2000-11-07T15:58:20Z")
Rats, 1947. ---
**Author:** ![Zor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/848f3c/32.png) [@Zor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zor)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2000, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-should-you-sleep-on/39985/11 "2000-11-07T16:17:56Z")
For the normal healthy person, it is recommended by doctors that you sleep on your right side, but only if you really pester them about it. Sleeping on your right puts less pressure on the heart, allowing it to do its job with less stress. The benefit is very small, but if it makes you sleep better at night, then I suppose it’s worth practicing. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2000, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-should-you-sleep-on/39985/12 "2000-11-07T16:22:19Z")
If you want peaceful, uninterrupted sleep, pick the side away from the phone. ---
**Author:** ![G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.B.H.Hornswoggler)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2000, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-side-should-you-sleep-on/39985/13 "2000-11-07T18:01:12Z")
If you’re a newborn baby, the current concensus is that you should sleep on your back. But if you have enough muscular control to type in a question here, I think the point is moot.