Sleeping on the Floor
Sleeping on the floor is not generally an excellent situation (unless you are like Dillon, who frequently takes floor naps), though sometimes you have to do what you have to do to receive your proper rest.
Perhaps you just moved into a home, and your mattress has not been delivered yet, or perhaps you have the short end of the pole and need to sleep on the ground on your next vacation since there are not enough beds.
There are people in different areas of the world who prefer to sleep on the floor, known to help prevent neck and back pain. Irrespective of the scenario, here's a step-by-step guide on comfortably sleeping on the ground.
How to Sleep on the Floor
Regardless of why you have picked the floor as the place to catch your z's, here's a step-by-step guide on the most suitable way best to sleep on the ground comfortably.
Step 1: Find a Soft Surface
If you have to sleep on the floor, you should at least find a soft surface to sleep. A carpeted floor is far more comfortable and easier to sleep over than hardwood flooring.
Hard surfaces might make it difficult for you to fall asleep and irritate pressure points. Therefore, find a place flush with carpeting or rugs.
If there are no carpeted spaces available for you, ensure you take more precautions during step two.
Step 2: Padding, Blankets, and Much More Blankets
The next step would be to bring in additional padding for support. Extra cushioning is helpful for your spine and pressure factors, and it is going to make the whole sleeping on the ground thing a bit more enjoyable. Try and find something thicker to put on, like a quilt or a sleeping bag.
If you don't have either of those things available for you, you can pile blankets on top of each other as a last resort.
You really only want to be sure your blanket mattress is inviting enough to your spine but soft enough to where it does not irritate your stress points.
Once you have your make-shift mattress started, find a nice warm blanket to cover yourself with so that you stay cozy throughout the night.
The floor is significantly colder than a mattress or a sofa, especially if you reside in a cool climate – so be sure to bundle up!
Step 3: Use Pillows for Your Head and Joints
When setting up your temporary floor bed, you'll want to have at least two cushions available – but they are not only for your head.
One will be used to support your noggin' while another will offer a cushion to your knee and perhaps your hip joints.
Now, it's not like you are recovering from knee surgery – you are not trying to lift your knee into the air. Instead, you want thinner cushions merely to supply a little additional cushion and keep your joints from pressing against the hard floor.
In regards to the extra pillow cushioning, however, it all depends on your preferred sleeper kind.
Step 4: Manage Your Sleeping Position
When you go to bed on a mattress, what place do you sleep in? If you are mostly a side sleeper, like 68.7 percent of those people in our sleep study, you will want to keep a pillow resting in between your knees so that they are not touching.
This gives them more comfort and support so that you're more inclined to sleep during the night without disruptions.
For the stomach sleepers out there, you would be better off using a thin pillow under your buttocks and a thicker one below your knees.
This may lift the lower half of your body only a bit, so your back is in proper alignment, and your knees are restrained from rubbing against the floor all night.
If you plan on sleeping in your back, your tailbone and shoulder blades can become painful rubbing against the floor.
With that in mind, you might choose to put a small pillow or folded towel under these regions, in addition to under your knees, to keep alignment and prevent soreness.
Step 5: Get Comfortable
You won't get your sleep if you don't feel comfy right away, so adjust your position until you feel you're comfy enough to doze off.
You can even shift the pillows around as soon as you get comfortable to ensure they are still supporting the parts of your body that require cushioning.
If you're in a condition where your floor bed is more of a long-term arrangement, do not be concerned if you feel a bit sore the first night or two.
Like anything, practice makes perfect, and you will find out how to make sleeping on the floor more convenient for yourself through experience and trial and error.
Does Floor Sleeping Help Back Pain?
Back pain is no joking matter and is among the most frequent complaints individuals make to their physicians. About 65 million people in the U.S. report back pain, with 16 million of these becoming chronic.
If you suffer from back pain, you might be thinking about sleeping on the ground to find some relief. However, before you do this, you must understand how to sleep on the ground properly to avoid creating your back pain much worse.
Additionally, it is crucial to know that sleeping on the ground might not help your back pain whatsoever.
Suppose you're sleeping on a mattress that's much too soft to offer you the support you require for sleeping on a hard surface such as the floor may offer some relief, at least briefly.
However, there are other things you can do before resorting to the ground, like adding plywood under the mattress, including a box spring, putting the mattress on the floor, or getting a platform bed frame which might increase your comfort and provide you the support you want.
As with most things, there's a happy medium when it comes to mattresses. Research demonstrates that medium-firm mattresses are best for improving pain.
Negative Consequences of Sleep on the Floor
If you're sleeping on the floor because of the lack of a mattress budget, there are many affordable mattress alternatives on the marketplace today. The truth of sleeping on the floor is that while it can work for some people, it includes a list of painful and uncomfortable possibilities.
It May Cause Back Pain
You may be sleeping on the ground for an assortment of reasons, including to ease back pain, but did you know that floor sleep can cause back pain?
According to Healthline, sleeping on a really firm surface, such as the ground, can induce your spine into an unnatural position. Also, it can cause increased stress in your pressure points.
While more research is required into the effects of firm surfaces on the backbone, there's reason to think that firmer surfaces such as floors may cause back pain.
Floors Can House Allergens
If you're napping on a carpeted floor and have found an increase in allergies, we all know why! Carpets accumulate pollutants such as dust mites, mold, dander, dust, and even bacteria from spills and mishaps. For those who have ever pulled the old carpet from a house, you understand exactly what we're discussing.
Suppose you're a floor sleeper and often have allergy symptoms such as sneezing, stuffy or runny nose, itchy eyes, coughing, difficulty breathing, and fatigue.
In that case, you might want to think about alternate sleeping arrangements. If that's not possible, try to improve the barrier between yourself and the carpeting.
The Floor Could be Cold
Have you ever noticed how dogs like laying on the ground during a hot summer day? This is because hard floor surfaces are frequently the coolest portion of a house during hot weather. If you are sleeping on the floor throughout the summer, you may like the coolness.
As the winter weather comes around, your formerly cool sleeping surface may become a supply of cold and distress as the chilly floor surface reduces your body temperature.
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