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Journalism of Courage
The human body is fascinating, to say the least. And to imagine that millions of cells are working in tandem to help us function every day is food for thought. As such, in keeping with our quest to better understand how our body works, we turned to one of the most common topics after weight — yes, that’s height. So, have you ever noticed yourself appearing to be a little taller in the mornings? There are a mind-boggling number of reports on the internet suggesting that it is a natural phenomenon to feel taller in the mornings. Is it so? If yes, how and why? We reached out to experts to find out more about this interesting topic.
“Yes, it is true that most people are slightly taller in the morning than in the evening. This is because of the effect of gravity on the human spine throughout the day,” Dr Ankit Batra, orthopaedic surgeon, Sharda Hospital told indianexpress.com.
According to Dr Batra, when we stand upright, gravity compresses the discs in our spine, causing them to flatten and lose a minuscule amount of height. “As we move and bear weight during the day, this compression gradually adds up, and by the end of the day, we have lost some height,” said Dr Batra.
Simply put, as we go about our daily activities, such as standing, sitting, and walking, the spinal column is compressed due to the gravitational force acting on the body. This compression can cause the spinal column to lose some of its height, said Dr J Harikishan, senior general physician, Kamineni Hospitals, Hyderabad.
Moreover, during the day, our intervertebral discs, which act as shock absorbers between the vertebrae, get compressed due to weight-bearing activities, said Dr Harikishan. “As a result, they lose water content and become thinner, contributing to a reduction in height,” he mentioned.
However, when we sleep horizontally in a non-gravity position, the discs have a chance to rehydrate and return to their normal height, making us slightly taller when we wake up, elucidated Dr Batra.
Let’s say a person’s actual height is 170 cm. “When they wake up in the morning, they might measure around 170.5 cm or even up to 171 cm due to the decompression of their spinal column during sleep. As they go about their daily activities, their spinal column compresses, and their height gradually decreases. By the end of the day, they might measure around 169.5 cm or even lower,” explained Dr Harikishan.
Calling it “normal to experience slight height changes throughout the day”, Dr Harikishan said that one has the “maximum height in the morning” and “minimum height in the evening”.
Notably, this change in height is usually small, around a quarter to half an inch, and can vary between individuals, said Dr Batra. “Additionally, it is more pronounced in younger people who have more fluid in their spinal discs, reducing with age as the discs become less hydrated and lose their elasticity,” said Dr Batra.
More in the series:
Know your body: Is earwax a type of sweat?
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