Inclined Bed Therapy (formerly Elevating the head of your bed)

[majormark]

Well, I feel sleeping without a pillow would be more natural.

[Alive]

I used to prefer sleeping without a pillow, but now I reckon it is a good idea to use a pillow to increase the incline by another 50 mm / 2" - to give more incline.

[raw-al]

I used to prefer sleeping without a pillow, but now I reckon it is a good idea to use a pillow to increase the incline by another 50 mm / 2" - to give more incline.

I use a pillow if I lay on my side (to keep my neck straight) but if I lay on my back, I don't use one as it bends my neck and hurts if I do it all night.

[raw]

"Traction," or pulling vertebrae gently away from the stresses and damages of gravety, cannot occur when raising the upper body and placing more gravety force on the skeleton. There is no 'traction' effect when one raises the upper body, this is only accomplished with inversion therapy, not by resting inclined or partly standing up, that would be a contradiction in physics.

[raw-al]

"Traction," or pulling vertebrae gently away from the stresses and damages of gravety, cannot occur when raising the upper body and placing more gravety force on the skeleton. There is no 'traction' effect when one raises the upper body, this is only accomplished with inversion therapy, not by resting inclined or partly standing up, that would be a contradiction in physics.

You're right and I noticed that in the original article I read, but since it was written by someone with a Phd, I assumed they were right. Indeed it compresses the spine, but not  degree that standing erect does. That amount of compression allows the blood to get into the nooks and crannies to affect repair I am guessing.

I am assuming that leeping at night in an inversion device would be dangerous.

[cherimoya_kid]

I've been doing the inclined bed for a couple of months now.

I think I sleep a little better, and am usually warmer.  I also remember my dreams much better.  That's about all I've noticed.

[Andrew K Fletcher]

Hope you don't mind me offering some answers to questions you may have about IBT?

Have been reading this thread and can see there is an argument about the laws of physics, traction and inclined bed therapy. This is very easy to test using a line marked above your head when standing against a wall as we did when we were kids. You might be in for a shock when you sleep inclined. The resistance / friction between your body and the mattress affords your weight to be distributed differently to when sleeping flat. In other words, your body is trying to move down the bed and the friction prevents it from doing so. This applies traction to the spine much the same as an inversion table does. Nothing wrong with the physics here.

[Andrew K Fletcher]

It's been a while since Inclined Bed Therapy was introduced to this forum and thought it is a good time to ask for progress updates from those of us using IBT.

A new page on Facebook has stimulated some very interesting results and I hear from new people testing IBT almost every day with the same predictable positive results.

For those of you who have not yet heard about what IBT is and has already achieved for people with multiple sclerosis.

Inclined Bed Therapy has been shown to improve health and wellbeing of the many who have tried.
It's simple! raise the head of your bed by 6 inches and sleep on it!

Inclined bed therapy is where one's bed is raised 6 to 8 inches at the head by using bricks, wedges, or blocks to raise it (even books). This can have a positive effect on your health and help with many disorders including:- Spinal cord injury, Multiple Sclerosis, back pain, Circulatory problems, acid reflux or GERD, sinus and respiratory disorders, sleep apnea, low metabolism, edema in the legs, and many others.

Its free to try for everyone. Feel free to tell your friends and families. Inclined Bed Therapy has brought a new lease of life to thousands and it can help you!

Inclined Bed Therapy should only be used as part of a healthy lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle includes following a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight, and being physically active.

You can find us on http://facebook.com/inclinedbedtherapy where you can share experiences, ask questions and learn more about how this simple non-invasive FREE therapy can help you and your family.

Andrew K Fletcher (Originator of IBT)

[cherimoya_kid]

This last post is sounding a bit spammy, Andrew. 

[eveheart]

I quit IBT after a couple of months - no potential benefit was worth waking up several times per night to wiggle/climb back onto the mattress. I was constantly sliding feet-ward. I am a placid sleeper otherwise. All the other so-called benefits that others have shared on this forum did not enter into my experience of IBT.

[cherimoya_kid]

I'm still finding that it improves my sleep a little, and that I remember my dreams better.  Other than that, I don't notice a big difference.

[Iguana]

I slightly incline my bed, but in the opposite (correct) way to have my legs a bit higher. When you have been sitting and standing up the whole day, it's good for the legs to have them higher as it helps blood circulation in the veins and thus rests them.

It's like when massaging: you should never massage from up to down the feet, but the opposite way.

[paper_clips43]

@ iguana

I heard that by elevating your feet higher than the body at slight degree it shuts of the adrenal system which gives it time to rebuild. I used to nap like this during the day and experienced positive results. I am interested in experimenting with the IBT in order to remember my dreams and potentially experience more positive dreams although need a piece of plywood or something because I sleep on a thin mat that I can roll up during the day.

[raw-al]

Interesting Iguana, never heard of that one. I do inverted Yoga postures but it is only for short periods of time.

We have been using the other method of raising the head and are pleased with the results still. My spine feels more solid, stopped snoring unless I eat cooked food, my wife sleeps better.

We even carry bed risers with us when we travel and set our our hotel beds with them. Sleeping level feels very weird now.

[Iguana]

If you have a pillow under your head, it is still a bit higher even if your bed is slightly inclined with the head side 4 - 5 cm lower. If you like to get varicose veins, incline your bed in the other way around, with the feet side lower as promoted by Andrew… ! 

[raw-al]

If you have a pillow under your head, it is still a bit higher even if your bed is slightly inclined with the head side 4 - 5 cm lower. If you like to get varicose veins, incline your bed in the other way around, with the feet side lower as promoted by Andrew… ! 

Hmmm the only people I know with varicose veins lay on a flat bed. I have heard that sleeping grounded has proven effective for some people with Varicose veins.

[Andrew K Fletcher]

If you have a pillow under your head, it is still a bit higher even if your bed is slightly inclined with the head side 4 - 5 cm lower. If you like to get varicose veins, incline your bed in the other way around, with the feet side lower as promoted by Andrew… !

You are so far off the mark with this comment. Try searching images using inclined bed therapy and varicose veins as a search term. It takes around 4 weeks of IBT for varicose veins to improve, oedema is also corrected using IBT because the pressure that was forcing the veins out has been reduced to the point where fluid migrates from the skin back into the venous return. Of course you are free to ignore the photographic evidence and draw your own guesswork as a conclusion but please don't state that IBT causes varicose veins when clearly the opposite is the truth.   http://s209.photobucket.com/user/Andrew_K_Fletcher/library/Varicose%20veins?sort=3&page=1

[Andrew K Fletcher]

This last post is sounding a bit spammy, Andrew.

I agree it does sound a bit spammy but as there is no financial gain from letting people know that there are others out there experimenting with IBT, I thought it would be of interest to people reading this forum. I can remove the post if required?     Andrew

[raw-al]

This last post is sounding a bit spammy, Andrew. 

What makes it sound spammy?

[cherimoya_kid]

What makes it sound spammy?

It reads like an ad.  I'm not saying it IS spam, just that it READS as if it were.

[Iguana]

I had a look at your photos, Andrew. Are they meant to prove something??

AFAIK none gets varicose veins on the head, shoulders or arms. We get it on the legs. Why? Because they are often down and the lower they are, the more pressure in their veins.

1.5 meter water column exerts a pressure of 0.15 kg/cm2.
As 1 kg/cm2 = 0.981 bar, 0.15 kg/cm2 = 0.147 bar

[raw-al]

I had a look at your photos, Andrew. Are they meant to prove something??

AFAIK none gets varicose veins on the head, shoulders or arms. We get it on the legs. Why? Because they are often down and the lower they are, the more pressure in their veins.

1.5 meter water column exerts a pressure of 0.15 kg/cm2.
As 1 kg/cm2 = 0.981 bar, 0.15 kg/cm2 = 0.147 bar

Using that logic, a person would get them in the feet. According to your theory, that is where the pressure is the highest.

[Iguana]

Of course, they happen on the ankles.

BTW, it's not my own theory, it's plain basic physics! If you have apparent veins, you can easily check that when they are down they are large, under pressure, and when they are up they get small or even become unnoticeable. 

[raw-al]

So why doesn't everyone have them?

According to the theory of IBT the fact that you are inclined slightly (5 degrees) the valves in the legs etc are under a slight pressure when the heartbeat stops during sleep time. This ensures that they close properly as they would during the day. If they do not close properly then the blood would leak back after the heartbeat.

The valves from my understanding are a simple flapper valve.

[Iguana]

So why doesn't everyone have them?

Why doesn't everyone gets sick?

According to the theory of IBT the fact that you are inclined slightly (5 degrees) the valves in the legs etc are under a slight pressure when the heartbeat stops during sleep time. This ensures that they close properly as they would during the day. If they do not close properly then the blood would leak back after the heartbeat.

This doesn't make senses to me. If it were true, we would get varicose veins on the head and shoulders because these veins barely ever get a chance to be under a slight pressure.