What's the matter with holding your head while sleeping

Everyone's sleeping posture varies due to personal habits. Some people like to curl up to sleep, some people like to sleep on their side, and some people have a more peculiar sleeping posture. They like to sleep with their hands on their heads. This position is actually not that comfortable. Why do they develop such a habit? To analyze the reasons behind this, we have to analyze it from the two aspects of habits and psychology.

From a physiological point of view, as long as the sleep is comfortable and of high quality, any posture is acceptable (of course, it cannot be too weird). It is normal to sleep with your head in your arms. Many people like to sleep with their heads covered or on their stomachs. Compared to them, sleeping with your head in your arms has almost no effect on sleep quality.

I just feel insecure when I sleep. First of all, we must realize that there are many people who sleep like this, and it is actually not a big problem. If you think this is not good, you can try yoga, meditation, etc. before going to bed, and get to the essence of the problem from a psychological perspective, so as to resolve the fear and anxiety in your heart and cure the root cause.

What is the correct sleeping position?

1. Ordinary people should choose the right side lying position

It is generally recommended to lie on your right side, bend your legs slightly, relax your whole body naturally, bend one elbow and place it flat, and place the other hand naturally on your thigh. In this way, the heart is in a higher position, which is beneficial for the heart to discharge blood and reduce the burden. At the same time, since the liver is located lower on the right side, lying on the right side can make the liver obtain more blood supply, which is beneficial to promoting metabolism. In addition, when lying on the right side, the outlets of the stomach and duodenum are both at the bottom, which is beneficial for the emptying of gastrointestinal contents. In a survey of centenarians, many of them reported that they most often lie in the right side arched position. An old proverb also says: "Stand like a pine tree, sit like a bell, lie like a bow" and "Lying on your side with your thighs bent increases your energy and strength."

2. Pregnant women should choose the left side lying position

The left side lying position is most beneficial to fetal growth and can greatly reduce pregnancy complications. If you lie on your right side, it will compress the inferior vena cava in the abdomen, affecting blood return, which will be detrimental to fetal development and delivery.

3. Sleeping positions for infants and young children

Infants and young children should change their body positions frequently with the help of adults and turn over every 1 to 2 hours. If you sleep in the same position for a long time, it can easily cause asymmetrical head development or deformities of the facial features.

4. Patient’s sleeping position

Patients with heart failure and asthma attacks should choose a semi-lateral or semi-sitting position, and raise the pillow and back at the same time; patients with pleural effusion caused by lung disease should choose the affected side lying position; heart disease patients with symptoms of blood stasis should generally not choose the left side lying or prone position; it is generally not advisable to choose the head-down and feet-high position, as they are prone to kidney diseases.

5. Others

(1) Sleeping at a desk

Sometimes, due to limited conditions for naps or for convenience, some people choose to sleep at a desk, which will cause temporary blurred vision after waking up, and their eyesight will be damaged if this continues for a long time.

(2) Prone sleeping position

This is a good position for people who drool easily while sleeping on their stomach. However, the disadvantage of prone sleeping position is that it puts pressure on the heart and may cause chest tightness. You can use a high pillow when sleeping to ensure smooth blood circulation in the heart.

(3) Curled-up sleeping position

Sleeping in a curled-up position can cause damage to your back and neck.

(4) Sleeping with your arms as pillow

Falling asleep with your arms as a pillow and sleeping for several hours without moving can directly cause compression injury to the radial nerve in the upper arm, leading to paralysis of the forearm, wrist, and fingers. This is exactly the principle of traditional Chinese medicine: "If the circulation is unobstructed, there will be no pain; if the circulation is blocked, there will be pain."