Elevating your legs is very important to improved health, here is why it matters.........
Elevating the legs isn’t just something that’s prescribed for someone suffering from an ankle injury. For adults of all ages, there are clear advantages to propping up your legs at least 6 inches above your heart while sleeping. For many who have certain health conditions, leg elevation may be prescribed several times per day, as well. Read on to learn the benefits of sleeping with your legs elevated above your heart.
Improves Blood Circulation
Many health problems are associated with poor blood circulation, and the conditions are known as vascular diseases. The vessels in our bodies move blood with every heartbeat. Arteries transport blood away from the heart and the blood returns to the heart through veins. Circulation of the blood is essential to health. In fact, tissues can die in any part of the body where blood doesn’t flow.
When you have a problem with circulation, there are various methods of treatment that a doctor may prescribe. One piece of advice from physicians typically given for the improvement of blood circulation is to sleep with the legs elevated.
Sleep is essential to our health and well-being. It is while we are catching some z’s that the body does important work, including the following:
- Strengthens the immune system
- Repairs muscles and tissues
- Regulates hormones
- Processes and manages memories
- Blood pressure drops to its lowest level as the blood circulates
After you’ve been walking, sitting, and/or standing for a full day, proper blood flow while you’re sleeping is a natural and essential healing process. When you elevate your legs through the night, you are able to start the day with no swelling in your legs or feet. It’s much easier to be ready for the day when you’re feeling light on your feet.
Sleeping with the Legs Elevated Improves Spinal Alignment
With your legs propped up at night, your spine is perfectly aligned. Spending the night in this healthful position helps to improve daytime posture and could help you avoid future discomfort. By sleeping with your legs elevated, you can enjoy temporary back pain relief and could feel improvement in the symptoms of such conditions as a slipped or herniated disc, arthritis, and scoliosis. Excess tension in the body is alleviated with your legs elevated. Note that neck and back pain will typically worsen if you sleep on your stomach because it strains the joints and muscles. Also, the neck can’t properly align when you sleep on your stomach.
Part 2 to be published next.......
How elevating during sleep can help Sciatica, Deep Vein Thrombosis, Varicose Veins, etc,