Raising your knees while sleeping might be motivated by a desire to relieve discomfort and maintain a sense of calm. To avoid strain, keep your knees raised slightly while sleeping. When you have a knee problem, such as swelling, which can be caused by insufficient blood circulation, or even if you suffer from sleep disorders that make it difficult to fall asleep, you might prefer to lift your knees.
Sleeping with your knees up has a number of health benefits, including improved blood flow, prevention of infection, and reduction of knee swelling. There are other options besides raising your legs on pillows to keep your knees raised while sleeping.
How to Sleep with Your Knees Raised
Using pillows to support your knee is a simple technique to keep your legs elevated. By acting as a cushion, bean or wedge pillows help support your knee. Put one under your knee or knees to improve circulation and keep the legs elevated.
On the other hand, will not support your weight as effectively as thick and hard cushions. Pillows are a comfortable, low-cost, and portable option for keeping your legs elevated and your knees while sleeping. This will also help in solving restless legs syndrome and severe back pain.
Making Use of Adjustable Beds. As the name implies, this comfortable bed can be adjusted to raise or lower the ensemble’s lower or upper half. This means you have a better sleeping posture and quality sleep as a result.
By adjusting the foot elevation on an adjustable bed, you can get a better and easier night’s sleep with your legs raised. They help with sleep apnea, poor circulation, and acid reflux.
Mattress Raisers are mattresses that are used to raise the height of a mattress. These are intended to be placed under your mattress rather than evenly distributed on your bed. This helps to keep the cushion in place while you sleep. They keep your legs raised and limits leg movements regardless of your sleeping position.
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Benefits of Sleeping with Your Knees Raised
Allowing gravity to do the work for you improves oxygen and blood circulation, which keep the risk of developing a blood clot at bay. According to sleep experts, keeping your feet elevated leads to increased circulation, and it’s much better than going to bed in a side sleeping position. It also encourages spinal alignment and does wonders for your immune system functions.
Yoga practitioners have also been observed posing with their legs raised in order to replenish old blood from their feet by encouraging pumping blood through the whole body. Sleeping with your legs raised helps improve blood flow up to the heart. This is beneficial because nutrients are distributed throughout the body.
Keeping your knees bent as you sleep in a neutral position relieves pressure and conceals varicose veins. This provides relief by reducing strain on your veins, allowing for more uniform blood flow throughout your body, keeping any kind of leg pain at bay. Varicose veins can be reduced by preventing blood from collecting in the veins of your legs.
It aids in the relief of back pain. When you raise your knees, your back returns to its normal position, which helps to relieve back pain. Many of us are guilty of preferring to sleep in a fetal position, but it’s so much healthier to adjust to sleeping on your back with your knees up for a deeper REM sleep. Instead of being straight, the spine is bent. Sleeping flat can cause back tightness. This is why having a pillow underneath to prop yourself up and keep your knees raised. Sleeping in this position will help to alleviate any back pain caused in the lower spine.
It will also help to prevent a variety of health conditions. This includes sleep disorder, if you’re recovering from major surgery, kidney disease, issues with the sciatic nerve, issues with the lumbar discs, and many more. Daily tasks can wear the body down, resulting in painful legs, exhaustion, and a lack of blood circulation to the rest of the body. This can lead to blood clots and knee and foot pain. Raising the knees can help with sciatica, deep vein thrombosis, edema, and swollen feet, as well as any other medical condition in the lower legs.
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If you work in an environment where spend the majority of your day sitting at your desk, sleeping with your knees raised will be a lifesaver because it can reduce swelling. Back pain usually occurs when you are not sitting upright for an extended period of time, and this compromises the natural curve of your spine. Sometimes aging or a near-term pregnancy can contribute to back pain, making it beneficial to sleep with knees raised. It will relieve your pain and improve blood circulation throughout your body.
Many people choose to sleep with their knees raised simply because they find it to be a more comfortable position in which to get a good night’s rest. It is something that any experienced sleep physician or medical professional would advise. They might not be experiencing any back pain just yet, but they find it to be very refreshing. If you want to take some of the strain off your back and avoid more discomfort in the long run while you sleep, try propping your knees up on a firm pillow. This position may turn out to be the most effective way for you to get better rest.
Sleeping in a supine position is not an unusual thing to do. People who sleep on their sides or with their faces down may find this practice strange. It is acceptable to sleep on different sides of your body as long as it is comfortable for you. It might feel weird at first, if you’re used to being a side sleeper, but you’ll find that you’ll get used to it and it will fix the natural curvature of your spine.
Is Raising Knees When Sleeping the Same as Periodic Limb Movement Disorder (PLMD)?
No, they are not the same thing. When sleeping, one intentionally raises the knees with a pillow or a foldable bed. Raising your knee is a deliberate attempt to relieve back pain or other pains in your lower joints in your body.
PLMD, also called periodic limb movements, is the movement of your lower limbs while sleeping, such as your toes and ankles, hips and knees. People with this disorder do it unknowingly, and some identify it as restless leg syndrome, but it is only a problem if it interferes with your sleep.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did I Wake Up with a Sore Back?
You possibly have been sleeping in the wrong position. Falling asleep in the wrong position, especially if you have pre-existing issues like an iron deficiency, could result in pain in the lower extremities.
It can affect how you pump blood and the blood vessels will be affected negatively as well. Periodic leg movements might help with the circulation, but it won’t solve the problem of having back pain.
Try putting a pillow in-between your legs as you sleep. You can put the pillow under your thighs thereby elevating your knees while you sleep.
These practices will take pressure off your back and help you feel and sleep better. A pillow in-between your legs helps your pelvis to align properly and prevents the rotational movement of the spine.
Must I Raise my Knees Before I Can Sleep Well and Can it Treat Sleep Disorders?
No, it is not a golden rule for sleeping well. It is advised to raise your knees when sleeping if you are having back pain. It also helps blood circulation to the heart which helps blood carry oxygen and other nutrients around your body.
Final Thoughts
Raising your knees when you sleep is not a disorder, it’s just a way your body tries to find comfort. If you’re experiencing issues then you need to consult a sleep specialist to better understand what position works best for you.
However, if you find that it causes issues such as injury or pain, then you have to find another comfortable position. Just ensure you sleep comfortably, and get ready for a bright new day.
Read also: How to stop sleeping diagonally