"How am I paralyzed?!”
Xiao Chen, a 29-year-old designer, often works overtime on weekdays, and in the summer, he falls asleep blowing a fan after work.
The next morning, as soon as he woke up, he found that his whole body was so stiff that he couldn't even get out of bed.
The family hurriedly carried Xiao Chen to the hospital. Xiao Chen was diagnosed with a herniated lumbar intervertebral disc, resulting in compression of the dural sac.
The reason is that he likes to tilt his body when drawing, which is caused by poor posture, coupled with work fatigue, blowing an electric fan overnight, and the intervertebral disc has an accident!
In life, the importance of sleeping position is often overlooked, and many people are "how to be comfortable". As everyone knows, it is such a casual way, unknowingly destroying his spine and causing all kinds of serious diseases.
Sleeping position is an important factor affecting physical health and sleep quality, especially for patients with certain diseases, adopting a protective sleeping position can avoid aggravation of the condition and help the body recover.
So, what kind of sleeping position should be adopted for patients with different diseases?
Stomach problems
The vent of the stomach to the large curvature, the stomach to the duodenum, and the small intestine to the large intestine are all on the left side, and sleeping on the right side can avoid squeezing these parts, especially for patients with gastric ulcers, gastritis and various digestive disorders, which can reduce the pressure on the stomach and promote the digestion of food at night.
Varicose veins
Varicose veins of the legs, also known as "earthworm legs", are usually caused by poor blood flow, it is recommended to elevate the affected limb when sleeping, so that the position of the horizontal line is higher than the height of the heart, this posture is conducive to promoting the return of blood in the lower limbs and avoiding excessive congestion of blood vessels in the lower limbs.
Lower limb fractures
It is said that it takes 100 days to break the muscles and bones, and patients with lower limb fractures should pay attention to rest and are recommended to lie down. If you are used to sleeping on your side, you can put a pillow between your legs to prevent dislocation caused by excessive adduction of the joint.
Cerebral infarction
Patients with cerebral infarction often have insufficient blood supply to the brain tissue, so it is recommended to sleep on their backs with a moderate height of the pillow to avoid squeezing the carotid arteries on both sides of the neck to ensure adequate blood supply to the brain and promote recovery.
Purulent otitis media
Purulent otitis media is an infection of the middle ear cavity caused by bacteria invading the tympanic cavity, and purulent discharge may flow from the external auditory canal, so it is recommended to sleep on the side of the affected ear to facilitate the flow of purulent secretions.
Nasal polyps, deviated septum
For patients with a deviated septum and nasal polyps, in order to maintain the patency of the mouth and nose, reduce the frequency of mouth breathing at night, and avoid uncomfortable symptoms such as dizziness and dry throat when waking up in the morning, it is recommended to adopt a specific sleeping position - sleeping in the opposite direction of the deviated septum or on the side without proboscis polyps.
Cervical spondylosis, lumbar disc herniation
If you have cervical spondylosis or a herniated lumbar disc, the best sleeping position is to lie flat on your back. Sleeping on a hard bed can provide better support and avoid lying on your side that can aggravate vertebral artery spasm and affect blood supply to the brain.
Coronary heart disease
In order to reduce the burden on the heart of patients with coronary heart disease, it is recommended to sleep on the side, and pay attention to the high head and low feet, such a sleeping position is conducive to reducing the amount of blood returning to the heart of the inferior vena cava, so as to reduce the burden on the heart.
Thoracic and pulmonary disease
People with asthma who are unable to lie flat during an asthma attack should be placed in a semi-recumbent position to reduce the symptoms of shortness of breath. If the patient's symptoms include hemoptysis, the affected side should be placed in the decubitus position to prevent the blood clot from blocking the bronchial tubes and making it difficult to breathe.
If you have emphysema, it is best to lie on your back with a high pillow while sleeping, which is conducive to keeping the airway open and avoiding difficulty breathing.
Heart failure
Patients with heart failure have decreased heart function and blood supply to the whole body is also affected, so a half-lying and half-sitting sleeping position is the most appropriate. This posture helps to improve blood circulation in the lungs, reduce blood congestion in the lungs, and increase oxygen intake, which has a positive effect on relieving uncomfortable symptoms such as heart palpitations, chest tightness, and wheezing.
Don't think that only sick people have requirements for sleeping positions, in daily life, ordinary people sleep in a variety of positions, and some of them have an impact on health.
Sleeping on the stomach: the head and neck are tilted to one side, which induces cervical spondylosis
People who are accustomed to sleeping on their stomachs are more likely to dream, because sleeping on their stomachs will affect the oxygen supply to the brain, and in the case of insufficient oxygen supply, the brain will become confused and begin to think unconsciously, and all kinds of strange dreams appear.
In addition, when sleeping on the stomach, the head and neck remain in a sideways position for a long time, and the muscles will be highly tense and fatigued, which may induce cervical spondylosis.
Curled up to sleep: Excessive traction of the back muscles, causing hunchback, backache, etc
Curling up to sleep can bring a sense of security, but it is full of damage to the lower back, and sleeping in a ball will lead to excessive stretching of the back muscles, which is not only easy to cause muscle strain, but also may lead to deformation of the cervical spine and lumbar spine.
Lying on the side: The spine is in a state of rotation, inducing a herniated lumbar disc
Many people are used to sleeping on their side, but this position is not healthy.
When the human body lies on the side, the lumbar spine and spine will be in a state of "rotation", and in the long run, the pressure between the adjacent annular collagen fibers in the intervertebral disc will increase, thus inducing lumbar spine problems.
First of all, sleeping on your stomach and curled up to sleep, these two sleeping positions, Uncle does not recommend everyone to try. It's better to lie on your back, and you can sleep on your side if you want to, but you should also pay attention to it.
The root cause of the harm of lying on the side is that it causes the lumbar spine and spine to "rotate", so in addition to the head pillow, there should also be a pillow between the legs. This posture keeps the spine at the same level and reduces the pressure on the muscles.
As for supine sleeping, it is advisable to choose the right pillow and keep it at the same height as your fist after pressing. In addition, you can also put a pillow under the knee and in the crook of the leg, so that the pelvis can maintain a normal physiological angle, avoid excessive forward leaning to cause pressure on the lower back and back muscles, the muscles can be fully rested and recovered, and the quality of sleep will also be improved.
One-third of a person's life is spent in sleep, don't let a wrong posture affect your health, from tonight, choose a comfortable and suitable sleeping position for yourself.
References:1] Yang Tianlun. Use a protective sleeping position when you are sickFamily Health: Popular Science of Medicine, 2018, 0(4): 56-56
2] Hongyan, Song Bin. Poor sleeping posture can cause chronic low back pain[J].Trade Union Expo,2020,(24):56-58