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  • According to a number of health professionals, lying on your side is
  •  healthier than on your back.
  • Sleeping on your side can allegedly help with digestion, heart health,
  •  and respiratory problems.
  • A study from the British Medical Journal suggests that lying on your
  •  left side could prevent stillbirth.
There's nothing more frustrating than going to bed for a good night's 
sleep only to wake the next morning feeling even more tired than you did
 before you turned in. Whether it's snoring, an over-active mind or 
digestive issues, there can be many causes behind a restless night - but 
they could all be cured by changing just one thing, according to sleep
 experts: laying on your side. 
Changing your sleeping position to be on your side can have multiple 
benefits for many different reasons. 

Those with snoring or lung issues can benefit

 from lying on their side 

Many who suffer from sleep apnoea — dangerous breathing interruptions 
during sleep — or simply snore very loudly, tend to find it's not only they 
who suffer but that their partner is left tossing and turning too. Lying on
 one's back is definitely a factor that can aggravate this problem. 

"Almost all people who snore, start in a back-lying position," explained 
Maurer. 
Berlin, also recommends that those suffering from respiratory diseases
 position themselves better at night by lying on their sides. 
"The lungs simply work better standing up," says Blau. 
To avoid turning back over onto your back at night, Maurer recommends 
sewing tennis balls into a sleeping cap or wearing a backpack at night . 

Lying on one's side is also better for those with 

heart or stomach problems 

According to Joachim Maurer of the German Society of Otolaryngology, 
Head and Neck Surgery, choosing the right sleeping position plays a part
 not only in how comfortable you are during sleep but also in the health of 
your heart, brain, stomach and respiratory system. 
Dietrich Andresen, cardiologist and emergency physician at the Hubertus 
Protestant Hospital in Berlin, explained that people who are struggling with
 "left heart failure" should lie on their right side in order to relieve the heart — which is, after all, a muscle. 
And even those who suffer with heartburn or reflux can find relief in lying 
sideways. Because the stomach is situated slightly to the left side of the body,
 the transition of food from the oesophagus to the right side of the stomach
 becomes smoother. 

Even the brain works better during sleep if you

 lie on your side 

Even if you don't struggle with any of the aforementioned ailments, it's still
beneficial to the body to lie on your side. Hans Förstl, who runs a clinic for
 psychiatry and psychotherapy in Munich, explained that the brain is 
flushed out during sleep. 

"In good sleep, a kind of 'washing' in the brain seems to take place at
 night." 
Harmful substances are thought to be flushed out the brain and removed
 through the body's immune system during the night, but previous
 laboratory tests with mice and rats show that this system only works 
reliably when the animals choose a position in which they're lying on 
their sides. 


Changing position mid-sleep isn't just harmless 

but totally normal 

Despite these recommendations, you shouldn't be worried about lying on 
your side; rather, you should focus on finding a position to sleep in that
 feels comfortable. Andresen also says that most people with heart problems
 automatically assume the correct lying position in any case. 
Maurer recommends you don't go out of your way to alter your sleeping
 habits, as long as you wake up in the morning and do so without pain. In the
 end there's little use in forcing yourself to fall asleep on your side if you're
 not comfortable, as you change position approximately 10 times per night,
 according to Maurer.