The dangers of long-term side sleeping

Everyone likes to maintain their favorite posture when sleeping at night, and some people can even maintain the same posture all night long. In fact, if you maintain the same posture for a long time when sleeping, it will have an impact on people's bodies, especially on children. Some of them may even affect children's bone development. Many people like to sleep on their side. So, what are the dangers of long-term side sleeping?

If you sleep on your left side often, you are less likely to have stomach pain. On the contrary, sleeping on the right side can easily cause stomach acid to rush back into the esophagus, which in severe cases can also cause problems such as sore throat, coughing, asthma, and chest tightness. If this continues for a long time, it will also lead to esophageal cancer.

Researchers point out that this is because sleeping on your side affects the position of the esophagus and stomach. When you sleep on your right side, your stomach is higher than your esophagus, and stomach acid can easily flow back into your esophagus. It is not easy when sleeping on the left side.

In addition to esophageal cancer, many diseases are caused or aggravated by improper sleeping posture. For people suffering from certain diseases, it is necessary to pay attention to sleeping posture.

Heart disease: If the heart's compensatory function is still good, you can lie on the right side. If heart failure has occurred, you can adopt a semi-recumbent position to alleviate breathing difficulties. Avoid lying on your left side or prone.

Cerebral thrombosis: If you suffer from arteriosclerosis and sleep on your side, the blood flow disorder will inevitably be aggravated, so you should change to sleeping on your back.

Lung disease: People with diseases on both sides of the lungs are best to sleep on their backs. If the left lung is diseased, it is better to sleep on the left side; if the right lung is diseased, it is better to sleep on the right side.

Hypertension: Patients with hypertension, especially the elderly, should sleep in a semi-recumbent or side-lying position. They can use a 15-cm-high rectangular wide pillow to support both the head and shoulders.

Cholelithiasis: It is not advisable to sleep on the left side. Because the gallbladder is located in the upper abdomen and is shaped like a small wine bottle. When the human body lies on the left side, the "mouth" of the gallbladder faces downward and the "bottom" faces upward. In this way, the gallstones can easily fall into the "bottleneck" under the action of gravity and become incarcerated, causing biliary colic. Therefore, you should sleep on your back or on your right side as much as possible.

Low back pain: It is best to sleep on your side so that your muscles can relax completely, avoiding muscle tension, stimulation or compression of nerves, which may cause or aggravate low back pain.

Otitis media: Pus will fill the ear canal on the affected side. In order to ensure smooth drainage of the pus, you can lie on the affected side to promote the discharge of the pus.