What is the best position to sleep in to clear your lungs?

Author: Vicenta Nikolaus  |  Last update: Tuesday, March 25, 2025

Lying prone can also help your cough to be more effective. This helps with clearing out any secretions that are in your chest. Current, available evidence suggests that lying prone must be considered early in the treatment of acute lung conditions for the best outcomes.

Which side do you lay on to drain your lungs?

If you want to empty the lower part of your left lung, lie on your right side. Put your right arm around your waist and rest your left arm beside your head. Similarly, lie on your left side if you want to clear out the mucus from the lower part of your right lung and place your hands accordingly.

How can I clear my lungs at night?

Ways to clear your lungs
  1. Controlled coughing. Coughing is how your body tries to get rid of mucus. ...
  2. Postural drainage. Postural drainage means lying down in different positions to help drain mucus from your lungs. ...
  3. Chest percussion. Chest percussion means that you lightly clap your chest and back.

What sleeping position is best for your lungs?

In most cases, Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer advises that people with breathing troubles are best off lying on their side or sleeping propped up.

How can I open my lungs while sleeping?

Diaphragmatic Breathing
  1. Lie on a flat surface, such as your bed, with your knees bent.
  2. Place a pillow under your head and pillows under your knees.
  3. Put one hand on your upper chest. Put your other hand on your stomach just below your rib cage.
  4. Breathe in through your nose. ...
  5. Slowly exhale.

Mayo Clinic Minute - What's the best sleeping position?

Does lying down put pressure on lungs?

Lying on your back (supine) can put pressure on your lung tissue. This can make the small air sacs in your lungs work harder to inflate. If you have to breathe harder to get enough air in your lungs, this can make lung problems worse. It can also cause lung injury.

What helps open airways when sleeping?

These include getting regular physical activity, maintaining healthy sleeping habits and a healthy weight, limiting alcohol and caffeine intake, and quitting smoking. Your provider may also recommend that you sleep on your side — not on your back — as this can help keep your airway open while you sleep.

How to sleep with mucus in the lungs?

Postural drainage is a way to change your body position to help your lungs drain. If you have a long-term (chronic) lung problem associated with excessive mucus, or you have increased mucus from an infection, lying with your chest lower than your belly (abdomen) can help loosen and drain extra mucus from your lungs.

What is the healthiest position to sleep in?

Log Position

And that's great because it's good for your health. Resting on your side, with your back mostly straight, can help cut down on sleep apnea. It can also nix neck and back pain since your spine stays aligned.

What drink is good for shortness of breath?

Some people may find that drinking black coffee eases breathlessness. A possible reason for this is that caffeine intake may relax airway muscles. An old review from 2010 reported that caffeine's effects slightly improve the way the airway functions in people with asthma.

What pushes mucus out of the lungs?

Then, little hairs that line your lungs—called cilia—push the mucus out of the lungs. It'll come up your throat, and you'll swallow it back down, usually without noticing it. From there, it'll pass through your stomach and out of your digestive tract.

What can I drink to cleanse my lungs?

Although cleansing and detox drinks have become increasingly popular, with concoctions of lemon juice, honey, spices, and other herbs circulating social media, there is nothing you can eat or drink that can cleanse your lungs. None of these drinks have any supportive evidence whatsoever to prove their effectiveness.

What not to do to your lungs?

Avoid Exposure to Air Pollutants That Can Damage Your Lungs

It can be surprising to learn that indoor air can be even more polluted than the air outdoors. Secondhand smoke, chemicals in the home and workplace, mold and radon all can cause or worsen lung disease.

What is the fastest way to get mucus out of your lungs?

Huff coughing is recommended for mucus buildup because it helps to loosen and clear mucus from the lungs. It involves taking a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds, and then forcefully exhaling the air in a “huff” sound.

What position opens up your lungs?

Meanwhile, the back part of your lungs gets better blood flow than the front, no matter what position you're in. When you're in the prone position, not only are you opening up more alveoli so you can get more oxygen to your lungs, you're getting the oxygen to the part of your lungs that has better blood flow.

How to naturally get fluid out of your lungs?

Deep Breathing: Deep breathing techniques such as diaphragmatic breathing or slow and deep breaths can help naturally clean the lungs. Deep breathing helps expand lung capacity and assists in removing toxins and trapped mucus.

What position should you not sleep in?

Sleeping on your front is considered unhealthy because it can inhibit breathing and cause irregular curvature of the spine. The turning of the head to one side when sleeping in this position is another cause of such a curvature. All of this can lead to inflammation and pain in the neck muscles in addition to back pain.

Which side is better to sleep on for your heart?

What's the best sleeping position for your heart? There is limited evidence linking a person's sleeping position with their overall heart health. While studies have found that people with heart failure often avoid sleeping on their left side, it does not show that this sleeping position causes heart problems.

What is the best position to sleep as you age?

Back Sleeping

The practice of lying on one's back is one that many elderly people find to be a source of comfort. This is good since this position has been shown to provide benefits.

What can I drink to loosen mucus in my lungs?

Warm fluids: Drinking warm (not hot) liquids can help loosen thickened mucus. Try tea, warm broth, or hot water with lemon. Steam: You can use a device such as a cool-mist humidifier or steam vaporizer to breathe in warm air. You can also take a hot shower or breathe in vapors from a pot of simmering water.

Does spitting out phlegm help you get better?

Does spitting out phlegm help you get better? Coughing is one way the body gets rid of infection, but when it comes to spitting and swallowing phlegm, neither method will likely help a person recover quicker.

How should you sleep to open up your airways?

Positioning yourself on your side or stomach can help the airways stay open to reduce snoring and alleviate mild apnea, Salas says.

How do you unclog your airways?

But here are three techniques you can use to clear your airways. They are postural drainage, chest percussion, and controlled coughing. The first technique you can try is postural drainage. For postural drainage, you'll lie in different positions to help drain the mucus from your lungs.

Is it better to sleep on your left or right side?

Up-to-Date

Left side sleeping may benefit pregnant people or those who experience acid reflux, while right side sleeping may be preferred by people with heart conditions. If you experience discomfort or pain, try a different sleeping position.

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