Elevating your legs with a pillow or bolster can help with spinal alignment, but it can also help prevent deep vein thrombosis, promote better blood circulation, and treat edema and other swelling.
While anyone who sleeps on their back can benefit from sleeping with their legs elevated, it's particularly advantageous for individuals with specific health conditions, including: Sciatica. Congestive heart failure. Kidney or liver diseases affecting blood circulation.
To improve circulation, you need to sleep with your legs above the level of your heart. This makes it easier for your heart to pump blood to your legs because the blood vessels are not restricted, which improves cardiovascular health. Try sleeping with your feet raised so they are above the level of your heart.
Sleeping elevated, with both your head and feet raised in the zero-gravity position promotes blood flow to your heart and helps your circulatory system work more efficiently.
If you feel your legs getting numb or a lack of blood flow, simply lower your feet for 20 minutes and prop them right back up. Some people worry about cramping. Sleeping with your feet up can cause the muscles in your calves and feet to become tense, leading to cramping or discomfort. This is a rare occurrence.
Just like reducing swelling, elevating legs allows blood that has pooled to drain away. This lowers the pressure on your veins as well, allowing them to benefit from a much-deserved break. Pressure can lead to varicose veins and other more serious vein issues if left unchecked.
Performing leg elevation therapy can help blood flow more efficiently and help reduce pressure on the lower extremities, giving the heart a rest. Moreover, when the foot is in this position, it can also help the body reduce inflammation and reduce swelling.
Elevating your injury for long periods of time can be especially risky if you have certain heart conditions or blood pressure issues. This is mainly because elevating your injury can lower your blood pressure and decrease the rate of blood flow throughout your body.
According to Willink, you have to “elevate your feet above your heart and then set your alarm for eight minutes, and afterwards he feels like “superman”. Science-wise, keeping your legs elevated can help blood flow, promoting faster sleep.
Set a time for anything from 5 to 20 minutes (start with just a couple of minutes if you have never practiced before). Sit on the mat side-on to the wall, then manoeuvre yourself to lie down so that your legs can stretch up the wall.
A commonly touted point for covering your feet up before bed is that it increases blood circulation. Unfortunately, for those who are wearing socks all day long and then covering their feet up at night may actually experience a decrease in flood flow.
One of the easiest ways to manage swelling is to elevate (raise) the swollen limb. The goal is to elevate the swollen limb slightly above the level of the heart. This helps the extra fluid move back towards the heart for circulation to the rest of the body.
Resting on your side, with your back mostly straight, can help cut down on sleep apnea. It can also nix neck and back pain since your spine stays aligned. Make it better: Place a soft pillow or folded blanket or towel between your knees to ease pressure on your hips.
Benefits to Leg Elevation
Elevating your legs takes the pressure off and gives your veins a break. Better blood flow: When you're standing or sitting with your legs on the floor, your veins are working extra hard to pump blood back to your heart.
“Elevating your legs brings a gentle stretch on the hamstrings, glutes, hips and spine. It also frees your body from any tension in the lower back area. It helps in reducing the curve of the lumbar spine and reduces tightness in the lumbar region.
The Position of Foot Drop – The normal, relaxed position of the ankle is with the foot in a downward position, away from the body. This position is commonly referred to as foot drop and is most evident when lying in bed.
Start with 20 minutes twice a day. This might do the trick. If not, go to 30 minutes or even an hour. You might need to do this three or even four times per day.
The amount of time needed in order for the elevation to be effective will vary from injury to injury, but for a typical leg injury, you'll need to raise your legs above your heart for three to four times a day and for ten to fifteen minutes at a time.
There are several ways to elevate your feet while you sleep. The easiest is to use an adjustable bed to raise your feet six to twelve inches above the heart. You can also sleep with a pillow, bolster, or thick blanket underneath your feet to get the desired height, although these props can move around while you sleep.
“There may be an increased risk of skin infection, especially if the socks used are made of synthetic material like nylon. Body temperature can rise due to excessive use of socks,” he said.
If you stick out your feet out of your blanket in the winter season then it might make you feel cold and you might have to get the feet back inside your blankets, this can eventually lead to disturbance in sleep. Use the right fabric bedsheets and blankets, flannel bedsheets in summers may not be appropriate.
Researchers explain why leaving your feet outside the covers while sleeping can help you sleep better, Yahoo Health reports. Sleep researchers know that right before you fall asleep, your body temperature starts to drop; in the deepest stages of sleep, your body is at its coolest, about one or two degrees below normal.