Did you know that more than 60% of people prefer sleeping on their side?

Fortunately, the benefits of sleeping on the side extend to more than just the comfort of the individual. Sleeping on your side is beneficial for your comprehensive health, including improved spinal health, reduced snoring, reduced risk of back pain, and no heartburn.

To answer your questions, we have prepared a guide. Read below and understand what side you should sleep on, which is the right latex mattress for you, and what other things you should consider. 

Sleeping On Side

Sleeping on your side is associated with so many health benefits. Below we have explained the 5 benefits of sleeping on the left or right side.

1. Relief From Back Pain

If you consistently experience pain in your lower back, then it may be due to the wrong sleeping position. When you are sleeping on your stomach, then you are putting too much pressure on your back and spine. This causes chronic pain in the lower back. Switching to side sleeping, in this case, may offer relief from back pain.

2. Reduced Sleep Apnoea Risk

People tend to snore more when sleeping on their back than on their sides. This is because when you are your back during the night, your tongue falls and covers your throat, which leads to snoring caused by an obstruction. 

On your side, your lungs and throat have a clear passage, which helps breathe easily. Hence, even your physician may suggest sleeping on your side if you have sleep apnoea, a breathing disorder causing breathing issues when sleeping.

3. Better Gut Health

Did you know that your sleeping posture impacts your digestive health? 

When you are sleeping on your back, gas doesn’t exit your system easily. For this reason, these people may experience constipation, heartburn, bloating, and gastrointestinal issues. 

Sleeping on your side helps your system to clear gas, hence, reduce gastrointestinal issues.

4. Better Brain Health

When we are sleeping, our body is removing waste from the system. Similarly, while our brain eliminates waste throughout the night and day, it does more of this action at the night. Research says that your brain is able to properly remove waste when you are sleeping on your side. If you are on your back or stomach during sleep, this action is not that efficient.

5. Pregnancy Support

Our heart is able to properly pump blood on your side. This helps pregnant women. Therefore, it is suggested that pregnant women sleep on their side. This also prevents your baby from exhibiting vein pressure. We can say that this sleeping position is much safer than sleeping on your back during pregnancy. 

Tips For Enhanced Side Sleep

When you are sleeping on your side, you may want to improve comfort. Isn’t it? For this, the first step is to choose the right latex mattress and adjust your pillow. Below we have explained both the factors.

1. A Latex Mattress

When you are using a soft and durable latex mattress, you wake up feeling fresh. While naturally many people choose a soft mattress, medium firmness is desirable for reducing pain in your back and neck. 

The reason why a soft mattress may not offer optimum support is that heavier body parts like shoulders and hips may sink into the mattress more than other body parts. Therefore, your spine has to do more work maintaining the alignment than it should normally do. This results in back pain in the morning. 

On the other hand, if you use too hard a mattress or a mattress with more firmness, it may not offer proper cushioning to the body. This leaves a gap between your curves and the mattress. As a result, this makes your spine do more work for proper alignment. 

Hence, it is best to use a latex mattress with a medium firmness to support side sleepers. This latex mattress fills your curves and helps you support your entire structure. 

Apart from this, natural latex mattresses are better for your health. They don’t radiate fumes or sag a lot with time. You can enjoy the comfort of this latex mattress for more than 20 years.

2. New Pillow

Sleeping on your back leaves less gap between your neck and the mattress. Hence, you can easily support your neck when sleeping in this position. 

However, when you choose to sleep on your side, the gap between your mattress and neck is more. If you fail to properly fill this gap with the right pillow, your alignment is not proper, which puts pressure on your spine.

In this case, you should avoid using feather pillows, as these are optimum for back sleepers. Instead, purchase a natural latex pillow to support your structure during sleep. 

Conclusion

Sleeping on your side offers support during pregnancy, improves your back pain, and reduces the high risk of sleep apnoea. However, when you start sleeping on your side, ensure that you take care of your face and shoulder. You need the right mattress to support your body weight. Add to this, the right pillow and optimum natural material for the pillow to avoid harmful chemicals getting in contact with your face when sleeping on the side.

Keeping these factors in mind, search for the right latex mattress, select a soft pillow, and develop the habit of sleeping on your side.