Is sleeping on the stomach good for you?

 

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A post shared by Araya Holistic Pain Management (@araya_hpm)

In a video, she explained:

*Laying on your stomach puts undue pressure on the spine because you naturally sink deeper on the torso.

*Also, you can’t really properly sleep face down unless you have a massage table — to help keep your spine neutral. As such, you end up twisting your neck the whole night; this causes a lot of torsion (twisting of the body) into your spine that can lead to a lot of neck pain in the future.

According to Dr Joydeep Ghosh, internal medicine, consultant, Fortis Hospital, Kolkata, when sleeping on the stomach, the maximum weight is on the center of one’s body. “This makes it hard to keep an impartial backbone role while you are sleeping. Stress at the backbone will increase strain on different systems of your body,” Dr Ghosh told indianexpress.com.

Dr Ghosh also agreed that sleeping on the stomach disrupts the position of the neck. “The position places your head and backbone out of alignment while twisting your neck. You won’t be aware of the harm after one episode of belly sleeping, however, through the years, neck issues can develop,” he noted.

However, if you still need to sleep on your stomach, Dr Khanita suggests using a firm mattress and putting a pillow under your pelvis. “Honestly, it is better to sleep on your side, or on your back to keep the spine neutral,” she stressed.

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