For the many people dealing with acid reflux, lying down can literally be a painful experience. When a person is lying down on their back they are putting more strain on  their lower esophageal sphincter(LES valve). The LES valve is what keeps the contents of your stomach from flowing into the esophagus. One of the reasons for acid reflux disease is a weakened or faulty LES valve, meaning lying down flat on your back is just asking for trouble. Even those who don’t have acid reflux, but have other digestive issues such as Gastroparesis, Functional Dyspepsia or even Irritable Bowel Syndrome/Inflammatory Bowel Disease may have issues when lying down. I personally deal with bouts of indigestion w/ acid reflux combo along with my Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which is why I’ve been looking for a solution.

The solution to this problem is to raise the head of ones bed approximately 3 – 9 inches(8 – 23cm). This allows you to lie down at an angle with your head elevated higher than your feet. The idea is that this should reduce the stress applied to your LES valve and allow gravity to help, rather than hurt. It’s now just a matter of how to accomplish this. Often it’s suggested to head to the lumber store and grab some wood, then stack it up under the bed. This seemed like a lot of work & thus was not my cup of tea which is why I never actually got around to raising my bed until I found these:

Trademark brand Bed Risers

These bed risers are essentially sturdy pieces of molded plastic that are approximately 6 inches high. They look like miniature black traffic cones that had the tops flattened down. You get four per pack which is actually quite a good deal considering they aren’t that pricey(I paid approximately $14 from Amazon.com). The hardest part is lifting up the head of your bed to get them under there. You may need another person to help you out. I was a bit concerned if they’d work with the round feet on my metal frame, but they worked fine as each rounded foot dropped into the dimple on the top of each riser perfectly.

 

Trademark Bed Riser Lifting Bed Frame

As far as results go, I do believe it’s helped me somewhat with my indigestion. It’s not a miracle cure, but I feel it’s been a sound investment. I’ve only had them under the bed for about a week and a half now. We’ll see if more time leads to greater improvement. It’s highly doubtful this will “cure” you, but it may very well make your nights better.

Buy Trademark 6″ Bed Risers from Amazon.com or if you need more height you can buy the Simplify 8″ Adjustable Bed Risers also available at Amazon.com.