6 Conditions You Can Cure While Sleeping

Most everyone knows that sleep allows the body to rest and heal after a long day’s work, but research has uncovered that with a little help from you, your body can even cure you of serious and uncomfortable ailments while you doze. If you suffer from any of the following pains and discomforts, you should consider hitting the sack to find relief.

1. Sinus Pain

Sleep is never particularly kind to the respiratory system, but when you are already suffering from sinus discomfort, sleeping can be particularly uncomfortable or difficult. As you have likely already discovered, sleepers who prefer to lie on their backs are much more likely to have their mouths fall open during the night, allowing the mouth and throat to dry out and disturbing snoring to commence. The drying effect of an open mouth can keep cold-related congestion around for much longer than usual, as hard, dry mucus is harder for the body to get rid of.

Instead, when you are suffering from sinus distress, you should try to sleep on your side with extra pillows. Your elevated head will allow your surplus mucus to drain away, drastically cutting back on the duration of your illness. To prevent neck and back strain in this position, make sure your armpit is supported with extra pillows, as well, and your knees are slightly bent.

2. Heartburn

You should avoid eating and drinking anything but water for a few hours before you head to bed, but even following this precaution, many sleepers endure debilitating acid reflux whenever they lie down. Untreated, heartburn can wreak havoc on the esophagus, teeth, and tongue, wearing away at unprotected tissues to cause ulcers, bleeding, and permanent scarring; in some cases, the powerful stomach acids can form deadly cancers.

To prevent your heartburn from developing into something more serious, you should sleep on your left side, which helps keep the link between the esophagus and stomach closed. Alternatively, you may find more relief by propping up your head and upper back with extra pillows. If this solution succeeds, you may want to invest in an adjustable bed base similar to Sleep Number, which will gently position the head and chest above the rest of the body without putting strain on the neck and back.

3. PMS or PMDD

Even as cramping and bloating makes you want to curl up and die, sleeping on your side in the fetal position will only worsen your symptoms of PMS. Stomach sleeping can be even worse, as it puts pressure on your tender breasts and uterus, causing more cramping and inflammation.

The best solution is to sleep flat on your back. Even when you aren’t suffering from PMS, placing a pillow beneath your knees is a more comfortable way to sleep on your back, as it lessens the tension on your lower back.

4. Digestive Trouble

Sleep and digestion are closely linked, and most doctors find that when their patients are experiencing digestive distress, they are also undergoing a period of irregular sleep patterns. While you doze, your body is working feverishly to promote healthy bacterial growth in the intestines to allow for efficient digestion, so when you aren’t getting enough quality sleep, your gastrointestinal tract usually has trouble keeping up with demand.

To help ease digestion, you should sleep on your stomach with your arms raised. However, you should note that stomach sleeping often leads to a painful neck position due to your need to breathe. You can rectify this issue with a specially designed pillow that holds your face in a doughnut hole, like you may have seen connected to massage tables.

5. Shoulder Pain

The shoulder is one of the largest and most complex joints in the body, so it makes sense that you can injure it in a variety of ways, from poor posture to heavy handbags. Side sleeping is another major cause of shoulder pain — but side sleeping is also a major remedy.

The most common side-sleeping pose has the bottom arm bent with the hand tucked under the head. This position can pinch the nerves that control the shoulder, arm, and hand, causing damage and discomfort. A better way is to extend both arms straight in front of you and wrap them around something soft, like your sleeping partner or a pillow, to sleep in a hugging position. While one shoulder is sore, you should let it recover by lying on the opposite one until everything is healed.