Sleeping Position Adoption for Acid Reflux Alleviation: Best Sides Revealed
If you're battling acid reflux and having trouble catching some Zzz's, you're not alone in this struggle. Here's some helpful advice on how to manage acid reflux and ensure a restful night.
A better understanding of acid reflux and its underlying causes is the first step in tackling the issue. Acid reflux, also known as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), happens when stomach acid makes its way up into the esophagus. The primary symptom is heartburn, but acid reflux can also cause regurgitation, bloating, nausea, and belching. Approximately 13% of people worldwide experience acid reflux at least once a week.
Changes in sleep positions can significantly improve sleep quality and manage GERD symptoms. For example, resting on your left side can help alleviate acid reflux discomfort since gravity helps keep stomach acid inside the stomach. Avoid sleeping on your back or right side, as these positions can worsen acid reflux during sleep.
To alleviate acid reflux, it's crucial to find the ideal sleep position. Four recommendations to help reduce symptoms include:
- Left-side sleeping position: This position makes acid reflux symptoms more tolerable and helps maintain stomach acid in the stomach.
- Sleep at an incline: Elevating your upper body using a wedge pillow or adjustable bed can prevent nighttime heartburn by keeping stomach acid in the stomach.
- Avoid sleeping on your back: This position makes it easier for stomach acid to flow back into the esophagus.
- Avoid lying on your right side: Similar to sleeping on your back, this position increases the likelihood of reflux.
Sleeping on your left side offers several benefits for GERD management and better sleep quality. It's considered the best sleep position for GERD because it allows gravity to help keep acid in the stomach. This position can also help lessen the severity and frequency of acid reflux symptoms compared to sleeping on the right side.
Sleeping at an incline offers various advantages for reducing nighttime acid reflux and providing heartburn relief:
- Elevating the head and upper body with gravity helps prevent stomach acid from moving up to the esophagus.
- It helps acid return to the stomach more quickly, reducing the frequency of reflux episodes.
- Sleeping at an incline can alleviate the symptoms of GERD, such as heartburn and regurgitation effectively.
- Elevating the entire torso instead of just the head is vital for the position's effectiveness.
For sustained GERD management, lifestyle changes play an essential role. Lifestyle modifications include:
- Eating smaller meals and avoiding meals close to bedtime.
- Limiting or avoiding trigger foods, such as fatty, spicy, or fried foods.
- Maintaining a healthy weight to reduce pressure on the stomach and lower esophageal sphincter.
- Quitting smoking since it contributes to reflux symptoms.
- Elevating the head of the bed to reduce nighttime acid reflux.
- Experimenting with different sleeping positions to discover the most comfortable one for acid reflux relief.
If lifestyle changes alone don't deliver relief, medical interventions such as medications, surgeries, CPAP therapy, or consultations with sleep experts may be needed. With proper management, you can improve sleep quality and overall well-being.
- Chronic conditions like sleep apnea and insomnia, which are common health-and-wellness issues, might be exacerbated by acid reflux, as they all affect restful sleep.
- Sleeping positions have a significant impact on both GERD symptoms and mental health, with left-side sleeping found to be beneficial for managing acid reflux and promoting better sleep.
- Science continues to reveal that approaching sleep issues from multiple angles, such as adjusting sleep positions, making lifestyle changes, and seeking medical help if necessary, can significantly improve sleep and lessen the impact of medical-conditions like sleep apnea, insomnia, and cancer.
- A holistic approach to sleep health is essential, encompassing aspects like nutrition, exercise, mental health, and the management of sleep-related medical-conditions like GERD, to ensure overall health-and-wellness.
