CHRIS TEMPEST
Osteopathic Consultant
Chris is a professional osteopath who qualified from the European School of Osteopathy with an Integrated Masters of Osteopathy (D.O. M.Ost.), so what he doesn’t know about your body isn’t worth knowing. Learn more about our team.
Most people know that sleeping in an elevated position is good for their health. However, most people don’t know that sleeping with their legs elevated can also have health benefits, and it is something they should try to turn into a daily habit.
You may be asking, why do I need to elevate my feet at night? In which ways can I elevate my feet? Can I elevate my feet too much? The good news is that you have come to the right place. This article contains all you need to know about elevating your feet and why you should do it, including using the best adjustable bases. At the end of this article, you will learn the good way to elevate your feet as you sleep and enjoy maximum benefits.
Table of Contents
Health Benefits of Sleeping with Your Legs Elevated
Sleeping with your feet elevated can solve numerous health conditions. Here are a few reasons why you should sleep with your legs elevated.
Swelling Reduction
Leg swelling is a serious condition that commonly affects pregnant women, people active in sports, and exercise. However, sleeping with your legs elevated reduces the strain on them and thus relieves swelling and leg pain.
It is not comfortable to sleep with swollen feet, so when the swelling goes down, you sleep better.
Increase Blood Flow
When blood flow reduces, it may lead to blood clots and built-up fluid, which causes inflammation. Sleeping with elevated legs improves blood flow; thus, reducing inflammation and ensuring that fluid that builds up is released efficiently.
Reduces the Appearance of Varicose Veins
Varicose veins are leg veins that are large, twisted, and often blue or black that can be seen on your legs and the back of the knees. They are not a beautiful sight, and they are mainly caused by faulty valves, which affect blood flow.
Although elevating your legs will not eliminate varicose veins, it improves blood circulation to your lower body and reduces the strain on the veins. That way, the swelling of the veins diminishes.
Reduce Deep Vein Thrombosis
Deep vein thrombosis results from blood clots forming deep in the veins in the lower extremities, such as the legs or pelvis. The clots can travel to the heart leading to serious heart issues. As we have mentioned above, sleeping with your legs elevated improves blood flow through blood vessels, thus preventing deep vein thrombosis from occurring.
Sciatica Benefits
The sciatic nerve is the longest in the body, so taking better care of it is better for your entire body. If you experience chronic back pain, it may be because your sciatic nerve is inflamed or compressed. So avoid lying flat instead, sleep with your feet and knees elevated to reduce the pressure exerted on the sciatic nerve by the lumbar discs.
Better Spinal Alignment
Raising your feet ensures that your spine is in a neutral position as you sleep. Therefore raising your feet will improve your posture in the long run because you won’t feel the pain you can experience from exerting too much pressure on your spine as you sleep.
Tips For Elevating Your Legs
Unless you elevate your legs properly, you will not enjoy any overall health benefits, and you will eventually do more harm than good. The three tips below are an excellent guide to proper leg elevation to enjoy the benefits associated with it.
How Long Should You Elevate Your Legs For?
Elevate your legs 3 times day, for 15 minutes each session
Elevating your legs once in a while won’t do you any good. So ensure you elevate your legs at least three times per day and extended periods are better than just briefly, so ensure they stay in that position for up to fifteen minutes.
Pillow Strategy
Raising your feet in the air is tiring, and it may put a strain on your back, plus your heart will be working harder to pump blood up to your feet. So use a regular pillow as a cushion for your feet; if you feel that one pillow does not offer your legs enough support, you can add another one to ensure your legs are elevated above your heart level.
You can also support your legs using the wall.
Rotate Your Legs and Ankles
Killing one bird with two stones is an excellent way of saving time, so while you raise your feet, ensure you rotate your legs and ankles. This leads to better blood circulation and encourages the release of built-up fluid.
The Best Way of Elevating Your Legs
Elevating legs is good for you, but sometimes you may feel uncomfortable or get tired of keeping them in place. The good news is, an adjustable bed frame is a perfect way of achieving your correct bed height, and sleeping with your lower half elevated.
You can even sleep with your head and legs raised in a zero-gravity position to improve blood circulation, back pain and improve the quality of your sleep.
An adjustable bed is a good investment for anyone experiencing chronic back pain, poor blood flow, and sleeping disorders such as sleep apnea and snoring. You can adjust the bed in multiple ways until you find the position that suits your needs as a side sleeper, front sleeper, or back sleeper.
Another great feature that you get with an adjustable bed is that you don’t have to apply the pillow strategy because the mattress cushions your feet perfectly. So do you see why we recommend an adjustable bed as the perfect solution for elevating legs and better health?
Conclusion
Sleeping is time for resting and rejuvenating, and that is why you should sleep comfortably and get the various health benefits of sleeping. Elevating your legs from the ground and giving them time to recover from a long day of activities is a perfect way of relaxing.
However, elevating your feet for too long may lead to feeling numb, and you may also get tired of holding them in place. However, with an adjustable bed, you raise your legs and feet and lay them on the mattress to avoid getting tired. This can still be done if you’re a front sleeper.
If you have and health conditions, consult with your doctor about if it is safe for you to elevate your legs and, if yes, how long you should elevate them for. Additionally, if elevating legs is part of a medically prescribed recovery plan, always follow your doctor’s instructions.
