It is a normal event to take a short rest or even sleep all night on our couch. Whether taking a quick nap, watching a movie, or staying up all night and sleeping on a friend’s couch, this practice is what people constantly do.

While few claim that they find sleeping on a sofa more comfortable, some complain of neck and back pain after a not-so-relaxed sleep.

So, is it wrong to sleep on a couch? If you said yes, then you are right because sleeping on the sofa negatively affects the quality of sleep in some ways.

Quality of sleep and its impact on us.

The old saying “quality over quantity” is particularly accurate when we talk about sleep. Even if you have a full 8 hours of sleep, you still won’t feel like you did if it was not a comfortable and a nice sleep.

For us to recover our energy after a tiring day, our bodies must go into REM (Rapid Eye Movement) cycle. REM is the deepest phase of our sleeping process.

The phase is divided into few stages of non-REM sleep, then followed by the deep sleep that nearly all of our dreams take place.

Without having an adequate evening of sleep, the Rapid Eye Movement cycle is not attained sufficient times, or sometimes not at all.

When Rapid Eye Movement sleep is interrupted or not reached, it will cause our body to drive into the deep cycle directly instead of going through all the stages properly.

This scenario causes weakness and makes it laborious for us to wake up, even after a complete eight hours of sleep.

How sleeping on the sofa compromises sleep quality.

The most apparent reason that the sofa is not the ideal place for extended sleeping is its purpose because couches are specifically made for sitting.

The thick polyurethane foam that is used to create couch cushions is intended to oppose lasting patterns made by having the entire weight of a person in one place.

Meanwhile, the design of the mattress in Deal Wiki is intended for an equal distribution of a person’s body weight, and sleeping on the sofa causes unequal stress on the body.

As a result, your body will suffer from several pains and aches because your spine becomes out of proper positioning.

While taking a quick rest sometimes may not have negative effects for long periods of time, chiropractors professionally suggest into not making it a daily thing.

Fighting the impacts of sleeping on the sofa.

Whether you unintentionally fell asleep on the sofa, or you did not have another choice, you’ll need to try few stretches and exercises to ward off the harmful impacts of sleeping on the couch. These are excellent ways to relieve discomfort and help realign your spine:

Neck stretches: These exercises are rather basic. Sit with your legs crossed and your back straight, slowly drop your head down to have your chin touch your chest. Gently roll your head to the left, now back to the center, and next to the left, while having your chin tucked.

Upper back stretches: There are a lot of useful back stretches that you can learn through a simple google search. A basic stretch is to sit having both your legs in front of you.

Having a leg stretched on the floor, and place the other one over it to rest it on your knee. Try turning the opposite direction from your extended leg, attempt to look back as far as you conveniently can while having your elbow resting on the curved leg.

Lower back stretches: In a standing stance, gently bend forward at your waist, attempting to touch the ground while maintaining your legs straight. To attain a deeper stretch, try to cross one leg in front of the other before you do the stretch.

Takeaway

Getting sufficient quality sleep on a cozy mattress will guarantee that you wake up feeling revitalized, untroubled, and even improve memory function.

The next time you need to sleep on the couch, the stretches mentioned above can help to stop the harmful effects. However, long-term sleeping on the sofa will eventually require professional attention and will have long-term negative impacts in your daily life. If you want to experience the best sleep, always opt for bed over the sofa.