To get the best benefits of sleeping with the head elevated, experts suggest you should aim to sleep with your head raised about six to nine inches above your heart.
Elevating your head in bed prevents airway collapse, which reduces the frequency and intensity of sleep apnea. Additionally, it reduces snoring and can help you breathe if you are congested with the common cold. Elevating your upper body can also relieve back pain by eliminating pressure points.
Your head position should be only slightly raised so that it's at a similar angle as when you're standing. Using a cervical pillow or a memory foam pillow can help support your head or neck. If you regularly snore or deal with sleep apnea, you may want to try sleeping on your side instead of your back.
The elevation of the head of bed (HOB) to a semirecumbent position (at least 30 degrees) is associated with a decreased incidence of aspiration and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).
Many benefits are tied to elevated sleeping, including reduced acid reflux, improved heart health, and better circulation, which can improve restless leg syndrome symptoms. In our article, we review how sleeping on an incline can alleviate the symptoms disorders and medical problems that affect sleep.
Sleeping on an incline prevents or alleviates the symptoms of common ailments like acid reflux (GERD), heartburn, headaches, and snoring while you experience deeper, more restorative sleep. This sleep position also helps reduce sinus congestion and improves circulation which also improve sleep.
Keeping your head elevated can prevent mucus from pooling in your sinuses at night. It can also relieve sinus pressure. Lie on your back and use an extra pillow to ensure that your head is at a slightly higher angle than the rest of your body.
The recommended amount of head up tilt is 10°, or about a 9-inch elevation of the head of the bed. In the investigators' hands this degree of tilt produces a significant but only modest decrease in blood pressure.
* Semi Fowler's position: head of the bed raised 30-45 degrees. Semi Fowler's Position can be used when the patient faces difficulty breathing or is undergoing breathing treatments and when drainage occurs after an abdominoplasty.
This position is used for patients with breathing difficulties. Place the head of the bed lower than the feet. This position is used in situations such as hypotension and medical emergencies. It helps promote venous return to major organs such as the head and heart.
For side sleepers, you should use a pillow that keeps your head in a neutral position, your neck and shoulders should form a 90 degree angle. If you sleep on your side and suffer from lower back pain, try putting a pillow between your knees when you sleep. This will help relax the lower back.
The notch above the sternum is called the suprasternal notch. These two areas should be level when lying on your side. If the philtrum is lying higher than the suprasternal notch then your pillow is too high. If the philtrum is lying lower than the suprasternal notch then your pillow is too low.
Body size and preference are likely to influence pillow size, but usually the pillow should maintain a height of 4 to 6 inches to support the head and neck (and shoulders when lying on the back).
The recommended sleeping direction per vastu shastra is that you lie down with your head pointed southward. A north-to-south body position is considered the worst direction.
As per Vastu principles, the best direction to sleep are east and south directions so that the head is towards east or south while the legs point to the west or north. It is also the scientific way to sleep.
Standard Fowler's position, also known as sitting position, is typically used for neurosurgery and shoulder surgeries. The bed angle is between 45 degrees and 60 degrees. The legs of the patient may be straight or slightly bent. This position is often used for head, chest, and shoulder surgeries.
Current guidelines recommend that mechanically ventilated patients be kept in a semirecumbent position with the head of bed elevated 30 degrees -45 degrees to prevent aspiration and ventilator-associated pneumonia.
Adjust bed height to approximately waist height to allow you to stand comfortably with your back straight. Lower the bed rails to get as close to the patient as possible to help decrease the stress on your back.
Specifically, sleeping on the side or back is considered more beneficial than sleeping on the stomach. In either of these sleep positions, it's easier to keep your spine supported and balanced, which relieves pressure on the spinal tissues and enables your muscles to relax and recover.
Head of bed elevation (HOBE) is a commonly used therapeutic intervention in mechanically ventilated patients associated with a reduction in the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia. HOBE has also been shown to improve oxygenation and hemodynamic performance.
Sleeping with an open window can negatively impact your health as well. While cold air itself can't make you sick — colds and flus occur because germs overwhelm a person's immune system — it can potentially dry out nasal cavities, resulting in increased mucus production and a possible sinus infection.
This change in the air pressure can cause sinus or ear pain. If the cold air is dry, it can dry out sensitive sinus membranes, making headache and migraine pain even worse.
Elevating your legs while you sleep can help your circulation and prevent swelling. It's best to elevate your legs above the level of your heart. Wedge-shaped pillows make this easier to do. You can also use pillows or folded blankets you have on hand to elevate your legs in bed to help circulation.
The researchers noted that tilting people 7.5 degrees in bed reduced OSA severity by 31.8% on average. This incline level also helped reduce shallow breathing and improve sleep efficiency. Research from 2020 studied the effect of different bed inclines on people who snored regularly.