Is it okay to sleep with your hands on your head?

Everyone has a different sleeping posture. Some people like to sleep lying on their backs, some like to sleep on their sides, and some like to put their hands on their heads when they sleep. In fact, sleeping with your hands on your head has no effect on your health. When people sleep, as long as they feel comfortable, it's fine. However, if your arms often feel numb when you sleep, it's best to adopt a sleeping method that is comfortable and suitable for you.

What is the healthiest sleeping position?

When people sleep, their postures are various and strange. But generally speaking, they can be divided into four types: supine, prone, left side and right side.

Supine position: prone to nightmares

This sleeping position is quite common, accounting for about 50% to 60% of the population. Sleeping this way will not put pressure on any internal organs of the body

But the disadvantages of the supine position are: some people are used to putting their hands on their chest, which will cause nightmares and affect sleep; some people are used to using high pillows, which is not good for the health of the cervical spine; fat people have looser soft tissues, and when lying on their backs, the root of the tongue is pulled back, which makes them prone to snoring and even sleep apnea.

Prone position: hurts breasts and heart

There are relatively few people who sleep in this position, accounting for about 5%.

When you sleep on your stomach, your body weight will compress the chest cavity, resulting in restricted movement of the heart and lungs, affecting cardiopulmonary function, and affecting breathing and circulation. People will experience feelings such as chest tightness, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, and discomfort in the precordial area. For female friends, prone position. It also compresses the breasts. The breast is compressed, affecting its blood circulation.

Lying on the left side: Increases the burden on the heart

20% to 30% of the population sleeps on their left side. As we all know, the heart is located on the left side of the entire thorax. If you sleep on your left side, the position of your heart is low. In order to ensure blood circulation throughout the body, the heart will have to do more work, which will increase the burden on the heart. Sleeping on the left side is especially not recommended for some elderly people or people with heart disease.

But for women in the middle and late stages of pregnancy, sleeping on the left side is the best sleeping position. If you lie on your back, the enlarged uterus will compress the inferior vena cava, resulting in a decrease in the amount of blood returning to the heart, which can cause supine hypotension. Right side lying position is also not recommended. Because in the middle and late stages of pregnancy, the enlarged uterus is in a right-rotated state, which will compress the right ureter, causing ureteral dilatation and even hydronephrosis, so pregnant women in the middle and late stages of pregnancy are recommended to lie on their left side.

Sleeping on the right side: a healthy sleeping position for everyday life

This sleeping position is a healthy sleeping position that most people recognize, mainly because it does not compress the heart; the openings of the stomach to the duodenum and the small intestine to the large intestine are both open to the right, which is conducive to the normal operation of the gastrointestinal tract and digestion; the liver is located in the right upper abdomen and its position is low when lying on the right side, which is conducive to blood perfusion of the liver and the metabolism of nutrients in the body.

Therefore, lying on the right side is better for your health. And for women in early pregnancy, the uterus is small, so it is better to lie on the right side.

What is the specific sleeping position for physical illness?

Nasal diseases

Patients with deviated nasal septum and nasal polyps should sleep in the opposite direction of the deviation, on the side without nasal polyps, to keep air flowing smoothly through the mouth and nose and avoid dizziness, dry throat and other discomforts when waking up in the morning.

Cervical spondylosis, lumbar disc herniation

Lying on your back or side will aggravate vertebral artery spasm and even affect blood supply to the brain. It is recommended to sleep flat on a hard bed.

Coronary heart disease

Lie on the right side. People with coronary heart disease should lie on the right side to reduce the amount of blood returning to the inferior vena cava and help the heart rest. Chest and lung diseases: by condition

Emphysema

You should lie on your back with a pillow to keep your airway open. Asthma patients should not lie flat during an asthma attack, but should lie half-reclining to alleviate breathing difficulties. Patients with symptoms of hemoptysis should lie on their side to prevent blood clots from blocking the bronchi and causing difficulty breathing.

Low back pain

It is recommended to sleep on your side and place a U-shaped full-body pillow between your knees to support your body weight and help your arms position more comfortably.

Cerebral thrombosis

When lying on your back, the pillow should be 5 cm high, not too high or too low. Ensure that the carotid artery is not compressed and the brain has adequate blood supply.

Heart failure

It is best to half lie and half sit, which can not only improve lung blood circulation and reduce lung congestion, but also increase oxygen intake, which is beneficial to relieve uncomfortable symptoms such as palpitations, depression, and asthma.