How many inches should you raise your bed if you have acid reflux?

Answer 1

Raise the head of the bed by putting something sturdy under the legs of the head of the bed only. This will cause the bed to be slanted downhill towards your feet, rather than parallel to the floor. (It will not work for a waterbed.) Your esophagus will be higher than your stomach when you are lying down, which means the acid will have to go "uphill" to leave the stomach. You can also try using higher pillows, but raising the head of the bed is probably more comfortable. This will help prevent acid reflux, although you may need to also make dietary changes and/or take anti-acid medications.

Answer 2

Acid reflux occurs when acids from the stomach push into the lower end of the esophagus and travel upward. Raising the head of the bed even 1 to 2 inches can keep reflux from occurring, thereby reducing heartburn, pain, and interrupted sleep. Many people start by rolling a beach towel into a "tube" and slipping the towel between the mattress and box springs. Others have used a length of 2x4 cut to the width of the bed and slip it under the edge of the mattress and box springs. Although it sounds easier to put blocks under the bed posts on the floor, you would need to use 2 wide blocks of wood indented in the center (indent it with a hammer) to prevent the bed from slipping off the blocks. Beds with casters are prone to slipping off. You could also wrap the wood blocks in pieces of non-skid material that is used under rugs -- rolls of non-skid material are sold in almost all discount stores.