Is it true that sleeping on the floor is useful?

There is a belief that the tougher the surface for sleep, the better for the spine. We decided to check if it is reinforced with scientific data.

According to survey VTsIOM, about half of Russians sleep tightly at night - 60% of men and 41% of women reported their satisfaction with the quality of sleep. At the same time, according to the joint study of VTsIOM and Sechenov University, 37% of respondents experience Chronic lower back pain. Similar data Received And as part of the HH.ru survey in the Krasnodar Territory - 44% of respondents with processing at work complain of back pain and lower back. In another survey, it turned out that of all who complain of back pain, 57–71% Noticed Also, morning stiffness in the back and night pain at rest. In search of relief, people are experimenting, in particular they try to sleep on the floor. In 2020, the popular blogger Vladislav Petrenko as a challenge decided To sleep on a bare floor for a month. According to him, “magic occurred” - the pain in the back left, the morning awakening became easier and more pleasant, and the posture was smoother during the day. Sleep on the floor Consult With a sedentary lifestyle and those who risk “earn scoliosis in front of the computer” (myth The fact that scoliosis can be earned, we analyzed earlier). Supporters sleep on the floor writethat "an even position makes the neck, the head and spine straighten and stretch, which helps to correct posture."

Although the spine is called the vertebral column, it looks little like a perfectly straight pillar. The spine is not one long bone, but design From individual bone blocks - vertebrae - and cartilage between them, performing amortization functions. The human spine consists of 32–33 vertebrae (seven cervical, 12 breast, five lumbar, five sacral, connected to the sacrum, and three-four coccygeal), between which 23 intervertebral discs are located. The most mobile are the cervical and lumbar spine, and it is in them that pain most often occurs. Throughout the length of the spine, muscle groups are located - flexors and extensors that allow us to make a variety of movements. In many ways, it is the overstrain of these muscles leads to non -specific back pain. By the word “non -specific” doctors mean those pains that are not caused by a specific disease, injury or anomaly of the development of the spinal column. That is, in most cases, back pain is muscle pain.

As already mentioned, the spine is not a straight line, and for its normal functioning you do not need to try to turn it into a perfectly even straight line. The most Correct The pose for sleeping is in which the natural bends of the spine are preserved even without the help of muscles. If in the process of sleep the spine acquires an unnatural bend, the muscles strain and try to return it to a normal position. It turns out that during such a dream, these muscles will not rest, therefore, the next morning, most likely, they will remind of themselves. This means that the easiest way to get rid or not to acquire muscle pain in the back caused by overwork of muscles during sleep is to provide the most physiological pose.

In 2021, Italian scientists Spent The meta -analysis, which included 39 studies to determine which the rigidity of the berth is most effectively reduced by the pain in the back. True, they did not consider a dream on the floor, but examined the extraordinary medical mattresses. It turned out that the most effective pain in the lumbar region relieves medium stiff mattresses. When resting on such a surface, the shoulders and hips push the mattress slightly stronger, and the lower back only applies, which ensures the preservation of all natural bends of the spine. Too hard surface does not give the shoulder girdle and hips to “drown”, so the lower back muscles remain in tension all night. Similar efficiency for back pain Show And water mattresses - they alleviate the symptoms are much better than stiff, while their advantages over conventional mattresses of medium stiffness are not yet proven by doctors. At the same time, it is the most optimal for people with an excess body weight that is the most stiff mattresses, due to greater weight, the shoulders and hips push the middle mattress much more than it anatomically necessary.

For other diagnoses that cause back pain, doctors also Developed The most suitable sleep options. So, with osteoarthritis, it is best to sleep on the side, pressing his knees to the chest, and with degenerative diseases of the intervertebral discs, sleep on the stomach on a more solid mattress with a flat pillow under the stomach and hips is suitable. However, under any of the diseases, a dream on the floor is not called as a suitable one.

Probably, the idea of ​​the benefits of sleep on the floor went from anthropological and historical observations. Representatives of those civilizations that are still sleeping on the ground, indeed, they suffer less from back pain, Demonstrated Article Michael Tetley 2000. In his expeditions around the world, the scientist noted what poses for sleep are taken by those peoples that traditionally do not use the usual beds and mattresses. These poses are significantly different from those that a person living in a house takes in a dream.

At the same time, the author in his article does not take into account other differences between representatives of civilizations practicing sleep on Earth. In particular, their level of mobility and physical activity is much higher than that of a city resident, which cannot but affect their muscles and a musculoskeletal system. Another important difference in sleep on the ground from sleep on the floor is that the floor is much firmly worse than the Earth.

Finally, it is worth remembering that the floor, especially with carpet Coating is a very dusty place. Astmatics or allergic sleep on the floor can threaten an exacerbation of the disease. Moreover, according to the laws of physics, the cold air goes down, and the warm air rises up, so the floor is always the cool part of the room. Conducting experiment On 14 Japanese volunteers who slept on a wooden floor in a sleeping bag, scientists noted that those who put corrugated cardboard under a sleeping bag were stronger. They explained this by the fact that too low the floor temperature gives the body to wake up earlier than necessary for a good rest. Therefore, if you still want to practice a dream on the floor, it is worth taking care of its additional heating.

Sleep Foundation experts also Markthat the dream on the floor can be associated with a great risk of injury for the elderly and those who have violated mobility, since the rise in the position of standing from a low surface gives a large load on the back. A dream on a higher bed is suitable for them.

Thus, the experiments show that the mattress of medium rigidity is best coped with muscle pain, since it allows the spine to maintain natural bends and does not overeat the muscles. In urban conditions, the dream on the floor is unlikely to have any therapeutic effect, because, unlike the natives, all their lives sleeping on Earth, residents of megacities simply do not know the right poses and rather overwhelm muscles and earn additional problems than benefit their body.

Image on the cover: NATY Sweet from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, CC by 2.0Via Wikimedia Commons

Most likely not true

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