Sometimes sleeping on the couch just happens, the TV is on, you've had a long day, and you just start to drift off. It doesn't seem like the end of the world, and you figure you'll probably fall asleep easier on the couch anyways. You might want to rethink this habit.
Sleeping on the couch could actually make for a really bad sleep and potential future health problems. Next time you find yourself getting sleepy on the couch, it's best to move it to your bed instead.
1. Wrong sleeping position.
Your couch is meant to be sat on, not slept on. To get comfortable on a couch, you're probably sleeping in a bad position. Most of us sleep on our sides, to do this, we need enough support from what we're sleeping on. This position is very hard to achieve properly on a couch.
Although it may seem very comfortable at the time, you'll actually get less sleep throughout the night when your body is trying to find a comfortable position. The most commonly comfortable position on a couch will actually damage your back and harm your neck muscles. If you do this frequently, it could lead to serious medical conditions in the future.
2. Triggers back pain.
We often feel back pain out of the blue with no clear idea of where it came from. Most back pain doesn't stem from a specific injury or accident but actually from sleep. It feels out of the blue most of the time, because it often happens after repeatedly sleeping in the wrong position.
Sleeping on the couch can increase the pressure on your spine, making it a lot more likely for your body to have back pain in the long run.
3. Couch material isn't right.
Comfortable does not always mean supportive. Unlike mattresses, couches were not made to support your entire body while sleeping. Mattresses are designed to distribute your weight across the full surface of the bed, whereas couches lack that structure.
When you sleep on a couch, your whole body is supported differently, which means you will most likely wake up in pain. It is actually better for you to sleep on the floor than the couch, although it may not seem like it.
And from here, it only gets gross...
4. They aren't clean.
This obviously depends from couch to couch, but even if your house is sparkling clean, your couch probably isn't. Think about it like this, your couch is a communal piece of furniture that gets sat on, eaten on and played on every day.
Sure, you use your bed everyday too, but you also wash your sheets a lot more often than you wash your couch cushions. Unless you're putting sheets on your couch before you're sleeping on it, it's probably gross to have your face pressed against it all night.
5. You're not going to get a good sleep.
Most people that opt to sleep on the couch rather than a bed, do so because they find that they fall asleep better on the couch than in bed. Although this may be true, you will have an overall better sleep in bed, even if you can't fall asleep as fast.
Most people that fall asleep on the couch also fall asleep to the TV on. This could constantly wake you up in the night. Also, your sleep could be disrupted by other people in the house getting up in the night or early in the morning.
6. It isn't good for your couch either.
Occasionally falling asleep on the couch won't do it much harm. If you're sleeping on it frequently, that can result in wear and tear, and you may find that eventually some parts are affected more than others.
It totally depends on the type of couch and the person sleeping on it, but just like anything, it will have more wear the more often it's used.
