Sleeping Inclined: How a Matress Wedge Reduced My Nocturnal Reflux

Sleeping inclined is something you'll often see recommended in medical literature for reflux. From my own experience, it's been one of the simplest yet most effective changes I've made to control my laryngopharyngeal reflux symptoms.

Why Sleeping Inclined Makes Sense

First, let’s quickly break down why inclining your bed actually helps. Gravity is your friend here—it helps keep stomach contents from flowing back into your esophagus or throat.

This is especially important at night because nighttime reflux can be particularly damaging. At night, your body's natural defenses—like frequent swallowing and saliva production—slow down significantly. This means refluxed stomach acid can linger longer and cause more damage.

My Personal Experience

I've dealt mostly with nocturnal reflux, which means the symptoms hit hardest at night. Sleeping inclined has dramatically improved my quality of life, particularly when the reflux was at its worst (years ago). Even though my reflux is now well controlled, I still notice the difference when I am travelling and have to sleep without inclination. It makes a big difference.

A quick note: You won’t actually know if your reflux is primarily nocturnal or daytime unless you've had a 24-hour pH study. However, in my experience, my readers often have nighttime reflux, simply because it leads to worse symptoms and people are more likely to look online for help - and end up here on Refluxgate.

How Much Should You Incline Your Bed?

Honestly, there’s no perfect answer here. Medical studies haven't conclusively compared specific angles, and recommendations by medical professionals vary widely.

While more elevation will help more against the reflux, keep in mind you don’t want to go too steep either. If the incline disrupts your sleep or causes strain on your back or hips, you’re just trading one health issue for another.

From my personal experience, even a slight height difference of just 5–7 inch from foot to head can make a huge difference. The key is simply not lying completely flat. After that, increasing the elevation doesn't seem to make that much of a difference anymore.

Incline the Entire Mattress, Not Just Your Head

Guides often recommend elevating the upper end of the bed. Some beds have that adjustability built in, or you can buy a bed wedge. However, both options are uncomfortable, incredibly so for side sleepers.

The goal is to incline your entire mattress. This keeps your spine aligned and comfortable while maximizing reflux reduction.

How to Actually Do It: Practical Options

You basically have three solid options here:

1) Blocks or Wooden Planks Under Bed Pillars

Pros:

• Cheap, fast, easy

Cons:

• Can be unstable. My dog loves crawling under my bed, so I was constantly anxious that the bed might slip off the blocks and hurt him
• Could damage your bed frame, especially if it's not robust enough to handle unevenly distributed weight

2) Inclined Mattress Topper (My Recommended Option)

This is essentially a foam wedge the size of your mattress topper. Here's the trick: Don’t put it on top—put it underneath your existing mattress, directly on the bed frame. Most inclined wedges are simple foam and not as comfortable as a normal mattress. By placing it under your mattress means you get the benefits of incline plus the comfort of your own mattress.

Important: the type of wedge is different from the wedges that you will commonly find promoted to relief reflux. You can find foam wedges in three sizes:

• Small: Don't do anything for reflux. They just lift the head.
• Medium: lift the complete upper body. Works for reflux, but I find it close to impossible to sleep on those things. I am a side sleeper. No chance to sleep on those wedges on your side.
• Complete mattress wedge: What I use and recommend. Covers the complete mattress.

The wedges aren’t super cheap, as they are large and bulky, but compared to other reflux treatments, they're still highly cost-effective.

Pros

• effective
• good price for value (though not cheap)

Disadvantage:

• can't adjust the elevation

Here’s the mattress wedge I use myself: https://amzn.to/4lHa1Al (Affiliate Link). I have the 5-inch version.

As of the writing of this article, the product is not available in all sizes. Here is another mattress wedge (Affiliate Link). It's a very similar product, that should work just as well.

My Final Thoughts

Sleeping inclined has genuinely been one of the biggest improvements I've experienced in managing my reflux. It’s simple, effective, and once you find your ideal incline, it's practically effortless. If you think you have nocturnal reflux, give this a shot—it's absolutely worth it.

Have you tried sleeping inclined? I'd love to hear your experiences. Just email me at [email protected]