5 Health Benefits of Sleeping in Your Recliner
La-Z-Boy Southeast | July 21, 2022
Have you heard about the multiple health benefits of sleeping in your recliner?
It turns out there’s a reason you feel so great after a nap in your recliner.
Some people have even decided to ditch their mattress completely to reap the positive health benefits every night.
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As the inventors of the recliner, La-Z-Boy is a world-famous brand for patented comfort and design of furniture. At La-Z-Boy Home Furnishings & Décor, we work with customers to find the perfect recliner to fit their individualized needs. Many customers have benefitted greatly from sleeping in their recliners.
In this article and video, we’ll take a look at some of the health benefits you can experience by sleeping in your recliner as well as steps you should take to make sure you have the right recliner for your needs.
Health Benefit 1) Improved Circulation
There’s a reason it feels good to kick your feet up at the end of a long day. Sitting at your desk or standing for long periods of time causes blood to rush to your legs and feet.
You can give your lower body some relief by elevating your feet above heart level. This allows gravity to naturally reduce stress and inflammation.
Reclining your legs and feet jumpstarts your body’s circulation and helps you recover from daily fatigue. Plus, it’s great for your back!
Health Benefit 2) Back Pain Relief
Back pain is a common ailment that will likely happen to everyone at some point in their life. Our back and core muscles are constantly at work balancing our upper and lower bodies.
We can take this pressure off our back by reclining and elevating our feet.
Reclining removes pressure on our spine. And allows our core muscles to relax. This gives these overworked muscles a chance to recover.
Elevating your feet lets gravity send blood to the muscles and tendons of your lower back. This helps our backs heal and become stronger.
Sleeping in your recliner can treat and prevent lower back pain by resting your muscles and giving them the ability to stay healthy.
Health Benefit 3) Breathe Easier
Sleeping in your recliner opens up your diaphragm and helps you breathe easier.
This position has been found to relieve the symptoms of:
- Snoring
- Sleep Apnea
- Heartburn
- Acid Reflux
- Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)
Sufferers of heartburn, acid reflux, and GERD find relief in their recliner because sleeping in an upright position allows gravity to keep stomach acid down.
By breathing easier and keeping your stomach acid where it’s supposed to be, you’ll be able to get a full night’s sleep.
Health Benefit 4) Calm Your Nerves
Elevating your feet improves circulation, relieves back pain, and helps you breathe easier. Plus, it has positive effects on your nervous system.
Your nerves are constantly firing and working to move your body and get things done.
By reclining and giving your body a chance to heal, you’re also giving your nervous system a much-needed break.
You can benefit from a quieter and clearer mind by giving your nervous system time to relax.
Health Benefit 5) Better Digestion
Implementing deep, slow breathing while you recline will put your body in “rest and digest” mode.
In this state, your body will actively digest anything you’ve eaten while working to heal and repair your body. This allows your digestive system to fully process your food.
Letting your body rest and digest before bed leads to an improved overall quality of sleep.
Dr. David Shares His Advice
In an interview on the spruce, Dr. Dave David shared his medical advice on sleeping in your recliner to relieve back pain:
“Recliners can help with back pain for the simple reason that you take the weight off of your back. By reclining or lying down, you rest your spine. A reclining position is better than sitting up straight because when you sit up straight you are still contracting your muscles.
Elevating your legs and reclining and supporting your back helps. This can help in many other medical conditions, for instance, varicose veins.
The blood flow goes back to your heart and that is also good for inflammation.
Having a recliner with the capacity for multiple reclining angles helps more than anything else. About 68% of doctors recommend recliners for muscle strain as well as pregnancy-related back pain.”
Dr. David also shared the results of his patient’s experiences with sleeping in their recliners:
“A semi-reclined position can help with medical conditions where a person experiences difficulty breathing. For instance, a semi-reclined position decreases severity of sleep apnea. It also helps with snoring as well as with circulatory problems, and many people do find them more comfortable than beds.”
Choose the Right Recliner for Your Body Type
Resting in your recliner has many natural health benefits.
However, if you pick a recliner that doesn’t fit your body type you may experience unnecessary back, neck, and leg pain.
At La-Z-Boy Home Furnishings & Décor, we are committed to bringing you customized comfort so that you can take full advantage of the many benefits recliners have to offer.
You can make sure you prevent these avoidable aches and pains by downloading our guide to finding the perfect recliner for free.
We’d be happy to fit you for a recliner at any of our locations in NC, SC, and GA.
Still need to do research before making your purchase? Here are some additional resources to check out before you go recliner shopping:
