Sleep often doesn’t come easily without lying face down. Some even prefer watching a series while resting on their stomach. But is this position actually good for your health?
Even when people worry about not getting enough sleep, they rarely think about how they are sleeping. Yet, the quality of your sleep and how your body feels after waking up depend heavily on your sleeping position. You may sleep on your right side or left—both are generally fine. However, if you sleep by putting pressure on your stomach, that is, lying face down, you may end up facing several problems.
What problems can occur from sleeping face down?
Neck and spine pain
It's difficult to sleep in the same posture for 7-8 hours straight. Naturally, this starts causing pain and discomfort in various parts of the body. If you lie face down for a long time, you will face such problems too. You may have neck pain.
The neck muscles may get strained. Even stiffness can develop in the lower back. This can reduce the flexibility of the spine. And if you have the habit of sleeping face down day after day, these types of pain and discomfort can become chronic. Then the pain won't subside quickly.
Impaired blood circulation
Sleeping face down creates pressure on the chest and stomach. Sleeping in this posture causes problems with deep breathing and creates obstacles in oxygen circulation in the body. Moreover, when lying face down, the entire body weight falls on the stomach and the nerves and blood vessels become compressed. As a result, blood circulation to the lower part of the body gets obstructed. So you may face problems like numbness in the feet when you wake up in the morning. However, sometimes if you suffer from sleep apnea, sleeping in this posture can be beneficial.
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Sleep doesn't improve
Sometimes sleeping face down continuously doesn't give good sleep at night. There's a risk of sleep getting disrupted. Moreover, indigestion often occurs. Even the skin faces pressure and wrinkles form. So it's better to avoid sleeping in this posture.
