Research has found that spending the night this way might affect your most vital organ.
You toss and turn to get comfortable enough to fall asleep some
nights. On others, you may be so exhausted that you barely hit the sheets
before you're out cold. But no matter what happens at the end of each day, our
focus is usually so set on actually drifting off that we pay very little
attention to how we're lying down when we go to bed. While it may seem that the
worst that may happen if you fall asleep in the wrong position is a sore neck
or spine, studies have found that sleeping in one position may harm your heart.
Read on to find out how you should be settling in for a whole night's rest.
Research suggests that sleeping on your left side could harm your
heart.
While more research is needed, some scientists have examined how
sleeping in different positions could affect your heart, according to
Healthline. An electrocardiogram (ECG) was used to monitor electrical activity
in the heart as 40 subjects, 18 of whom had been diagnosed with heart disease
and 22 of whom were considered healthy, switched between sleeping on their
backsides and sides in a 1997 study. The individuals who slept on their left
side reported the most significant changes in their ECG ratings while sleeping.
Other studies have found physical effects on the heart while
sleeping on your left side.
In a separate study released in 2018, ECG was used to track the
heart data of nine people. Participants sleeping on their left sides had
significant changes in their heart's electrical activity, just as they did in
the 1997 study. However, an imaging technique known as vectorcardiography was
used in this study. It showed that the heart turned and shifted while in that
position, which the researchers believe could help explain changes.
According to Healthline, almost no ECG changes were recorded when
participants slept on their right side. According to imaging, the heart is held
securely in place while sleeping by a small layer of tissue between the lungs
known as the mediastinum.
However, both studies soon concluded that more research into how
sleep posture affects heart activity generally is needed. While some patients
with congestive heart failure have reported breathing difficulties or
discomfort while sleeping on their left side, there is no conclusive evidence
that sleeping on your left side raises your risk of heart disease if you don't
already have one.
Some sleep experts suggest that sleeping on your left side could
help blood flow to your heart.
On the other hand, some experts believe that sleeping on your left
side is not only not harmful but beneficial to its function. According to W.
Christopher Winter, MD, medical director of the Martha Jefferson Hospital Sleep
Medicine Center in Charlottesville, Virginia, it has to do with how blood
circulates.
Because the blood flows to the heart through the right atrium on
the right side of the body, sleeping on your right side may pressure the
organ's prominent blood veins. In a 2016 interview with CNN, Winter said that
"sleeping on your left side with your right side not crushed is thought to
increase blood flow back to your heart potentially."
Doctors say some people with heart conditions may want to avoid
sleeping on their back or left side.
Those who have already been diagnosed with heart disease will
obtain various advice on sleeping postures. While your physician should provide
all recommendations in these cases, some doctors think sleeping on their left
side could benefit.
"When possible, people who have had heart failure or other
heart conditions should sleep on their right side. Right-side sleeping lets the
heart rest in place with help from the mediastinum, preventing the disruption
of your heart's electrical current," Tri-City Cardiology in Mesa, Arizona
writes, echoing the findings of the previous studies. "It will aid in the
prevention of breathing problems and discomfort while sleeping."
However, they still warn that rolling over onto your back can still create another problem, saying that the position "can worsen sleep apnea, and people with sleep apnea are more likely to experience heart disease." Instead of causing back pain by sleeping on your stomach, experts recommend sleeping on your back with your head raised with pillows, which allows easy breathing and reduces heart pressure.