How does sleeping on stomach impacts your health?

No matter how much comfort you feel while sleeping on stomach, it can have an adverse impact on health. Although sleeping on the stomach helps lessen sleep apnea and snoring, it's difficult on the neck and back.

That may result in restless nights and discomfort throughout the day. When you're pregnant, you should take extra care to choose your sleeping position and, if at all possible, avoid sleeping on your stomach.

Only 16% of adults report sleeping on their stomachs, making it the least common sleeping posture. The terrible truth is that although lying on the stomach could be the most comfortable posture for you, it's also thought to be the unhealthiest.

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Sleeping on stomach effects

Sleeping on stomach may cause neck pain. (Image via Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio)

People who prefer to sleep on their stomach frequently claim that they cannot sleep in any other posture. However, it's imperative to switch up your sleeping position, as sleeping on the stomach can result in headaches, neck, back, hip and shoulder problems.

The neck rotates constantly throughout the night if you sleep on your stomach, as you have to shift your head one way to be able to breathe. That reduces blood flow to the head and neck, which can lead to pain and headaches.

The need for an arch in the lower back when sleeping on the stomach makes it difficult to elevate the head and shoulders high enough to breathe. As a result, the ligaments, muscles, bones and joints are not able to line up properly, and the spine is compressed.

The problem may be caused by stomach sleeping if you awaken with a tight back, painful backache or numbness and tingling in the legs or feet.

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Is sleeping on the stomach bad?

Sleeping on the stomach is bad for many reasons. (Image via Unsplash/Kinga Howard)

The body is in a terrible position when you sleep on your stomach, which is why it's not good for the spine. The neck is compressed by the weight of the body when the head is tilted to one side or the other.

Muscles, ligaments, joints, tendons, nerves and spinal disks are compressed as a result. That can eventually cause the spinal disks and joints to age more quickly. Some of the most severe cases of degenerative disk degeneration are caused by sleeping on the stomach over time.

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Sleeping on stomach during pregnancy

Sleeping on stomach in pregnancy is uncomfortable for many. (Image via Unsplash/Maddi Bazzocco)

In the early stages of pregnancy, sleeping on the stomach is acceptable, but you will eventually need to shift over. Sleeping on the stomach is usually acceptable up to the point where the belly expands, which is between 16 and 18 weeks.

Sleeping on stomach becomes very painful for most women once their bump begins to show. However, avoiding sleeping on stomach isn't simply a matter of feeling good; it's also a matter of safety.

During pregnancy, sleeping on the side is the most comfortable position. As it allows the most blood to flow to the fetus, sleeping on the left side is particularly beneficial. Moreover, it also keeps the kidney functioning healthy.

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Sleeping on stomach after eating

The way you sleep at night has an impact on gut health, as it improves digestion and lessens heartburn. People with GERD or those at risk for acid reflux experience more episodes when they sleep on their stomach.

As the digested food is more easily transferred from the small to the large intestine when we sleep on the left side, it has more positive effects on health. A walk after supper, light dinner and elevated head end of the bed are beneficial practices for people with GERD.

Pay attention to not sleeping on stomach and falling asleep immediately after having a meal apart from your sleeping position. To prevent acid reflux, there should be at least a two-hour window between dinner and bedtime.