Believe it or not, decades of space exploration had uncovered a hidden secret of how to make a person grow taller, ironically by accident. Astronauts that had been to space mission for a period of time reported that they grew two to four inches taller while dwelling the zero gravity environment. Well, if you plan to become an astronaut we encourage you to do so, but if you do it solely for the purpose to grow taller, we would like to inform you that, you can actually simulate the same effect right in your own bedroom.
Now, we are not trying to be funny here, and nor this is not an article to endorse you to buy billion dollar Russian gadgets to turn you bedroom into a high tech zero gravity lab. We are here to tell you that you can grow inches like the astronauts simply by sleeping. If you still think we are trying to crack a lame joke here then do a simple experiment on yourself.
Measure your height regularly (you probably already did) and determine your mean height, you do this by taking the measurements randomly twice or three times a week, then calculate the average height. Then choose one fine day, when you have the mood and time to measure your height right before you sleep and immediately after you wake up the next morning. Compare the difference between average height, and the height just after you woke up, you will discover that you grow an inch or so taller, and even more so comparing to the height just before you sleep.
What happened to the astronauts and what happens to you when you sleep is one and the same thing, the principles are the same. Flip open a human anatomy atlas or Google up to study the structure of the human spine, or otherwise known as the vertebra column, you will learn that our normal spine is made up of 33 vertebrae (each little segment is called vertebra), in between the vertebrae there are inter-vertebrae discs, elastic disc structures made up of cartilages tissues. They function like cushions, absorbing compressive forces and expanding the spine back to its original length once the compressive forces such as gravity are removed.
Now, if you are wondering how the special exercise program designed by our team of orthopedic experts works, let us give you an insight. Many people, even though they exercise regularly, they fail to properly mobilize their spines and as a result, the inter-vertebrae discs are constantly being compressed. Long term compression of the inter-vertebrae discs decreases their elasticity. As the condition persists, the spine as a whole cannot be restored to its original length, making a person shorter and shorter. And if you think height is the only issue here, you are wrong, more serious complications can later appear, to name a few, chronic back pain, headaches, easy fatigability, impotency, weak bladder or even digestive problems.
OK, enough of the detour and back to our discussion about sleep and grow taller. The only time on earth when the gravitational force has nil effect on your spine is when you lie down horizontally i.e. sleeping. Sleeping is virtually the only chance for your spine to stretch back to its original length and shape. Gravitational force is also a reason why we recommended you to maintain a good body weight through diet in our previous article.
As you are ready to put on your shoes to exercise next time, remember this fundamental principle, the less weight you carry, the less downward force you put on your spine, and the more your abs, legs and back muscles can keep your spine in optimal length and shape. In other words, the less the burden you put on your spine, the better and more natural it is for your posture.
The principle that we are trying to apply here is, try our best possible to maintain the stretchable nature of inter-vertebrae discs. While it is impractical nor good that we avoid carrying anything heavy in order not to apply downward force on our spine altogether, our team of experts have come up with stretching exercises to help you flex and extend your spine to help maintain the stretchable nature. On top of that, we also stress the importance of good sleeping posture, which we will concentrate on in the last part of this article.
Talking about sleep, you sure need a mattress. Not too long ago, the TV is clogged with commercials that start by telling you the importance of a good sleeping posture, showing you scenes of good looking couples and beautiful models waking up smiling and feeling great then, they will tell you to buy their mattress. While we applaud them for their ingenious advertising strategy and Hollywood standard scenes, we have to frankly say that they don’t know a single thing about good sleeping posture.
Few who purchased these mattresses actually waking up smiling and feeling great, while the rest are just merely victim of a scam. They don’t wake up fully energized like what is promised in the commercials nor, they feel “afresh early in the morning” having realized that they spent thousands of hard-earned dollars on a mattress that doesn’t work.
To get a correct sleeping posture, the solution lies in the pillows, not the mattresses. And no, we are not trying to sell to you any state of the art pillows. In fact, a number of researchers found, it is better to sleep without pillow than with a pillow under your head. You must be puzzled right now and thinking, you feel absolutely comfortable with a pillow under your head, how can it possibly hurt your spine?
Try to picture this, when you lie down on a flat surface with your head alleviated over a pillow, it will unnaturally bend your neck forward. As time goes by, this unhealthy posture will turn your spine into the shape of an arch. Now, can you figure out the cause of your chronic back pain? Sleeping on a pillow will decrease the ability of your spine to stretch back into its natural length.
Don’t just put all the blame on your pillow, for your spine to be able stretch fully, your legs needed to be straight and arms should be relaxed and laid on either side or crossed over your stomach. While you can slightly turn your head left or right to adjust to a most comfortable sleeping position, you must align your torso, neck and leg to straight up your spine and keep it relax throughout the night.
What we suggested here is really something radical, for most people this is quite uncomfortable, but if you are willing to give it a try, it will definitely yield result in a matter of weeks. Like what we mentioned in our previous article about grow tall diet, habit is something that you can instill in yourself by going through the initial steps of self discipline. But we recommend you a trick here, wait until you are absolutely tired before you lie down on your bed, in this case, the new sleeping position will not so much be a concern to you when you sleep, you will get accustomed more quickly.
We as physicians would like to remind you to make sure that you are currently not suffering any neck or back injury before attempting this new sleeping method. If you are currently suffering chronic back pain, we urge you to consult your physicians first before trying out our recommendation. Be warned that if your currently sleeping position is recommended by another physician, do not change it until your physician gives you the green light to do so.
We hope this article, be sure to check out the rest of the articles of this series about how to grow taller. Last but not least, sleep well tonight!
