Chapter 2: What Happens When You Sleep on Your Right Side?
The stomach is a muscular organ that holds food and mixes it with digestive juices. At the junction between the esophagus and stomach, a ring of muscle called the lower esophageal sphincter helps prevent stomach contents from flowing backward.
When this barrier does not work effectively, acidic stomach contents can enter the esophagus. Because the esophageal lining is not designed to withstand repeated exposure to stomach acid, reflux can cause irritation and discomfort.
Lying down changes the influence of gravity on stomach contents. For some people, the right-side sleeping position is associated with more nighttime reflux than the left-side position.
This may be related to the stomach's anatomical orientation and the way acid collects near the junction with the esophagus. Studies of people with nighttime reflux have found that body position can affect how quickly acid clears from the esophagus.
Possible symptoms include a burning feeling behind the breastbone, a sour taste in the mouth, regurgitation, coughing at night, or waking up with throat irritation.
Nevertheless, these symptoms have several possible causes. Coughing, for example, does not automatically mean that someone has acid reflux, and chest discomfort should not always be attributed to digestion.