You need to go on bed rest for whatever reason whether it is an illness that requires you to stay in bed, and that happens often during difficult pregnancies. However, a part of you is excited to know that you can lie in bed all day and don’t have to do anything else. You can binge-watch your favorite Netflix movies and also listen to your favorite podcasts all day. You can also enjoy eating in bed, and you can read your favorite books as well. However, even those who are on bedrest must break their stay on the bed and get some exercising in so they keep themselves moving, even though these are light exercises. There are significant issues that can arise if you stay in bed for too many hours in the day. Let’s go over them now.
Staying In Bed Is Bad For Your Lungs
The truth is if you are lying in bed for prolonged periods, the lower part of your lungs would end up crumbling up because of gravity pulling it down. However, you won’t necessarily feel that happen. When you end up getting mucus in your lungs and needing to cough it up, then that is when you will notice it. The mucus will stay stuck in your lungs and you will struggle to remove it. Trapped mucus becomes a breeding ground for bacteria and you will increase your chances of developing pneumonia. Therefore, staying in bed all day will collapse your lung passages and you will struggle to remove any mucus that is trapped.
Your Bone Density Diminishes
The longer you stay in bed, the more brittle your bones become. That is because you will end up losing more than one percent of your bone density which is a lot to the point that it can cause your bones to become brittle and susceptible to breakage. Therefore, your bones are weaker and can break easily if you end up staying in bed for too long per day. That also increases your chances of osteoporosis which causes you to shrink as well.
Your Muscle Mass Diminishes
On top of you losing your bone density, your muscle mass also begins to diminish which means they will begin to atrophy. The muscles in your buttocks, thighs, and shoulders are worse off than your other muscles as the force of gravity will speed up the atrophy of your muscles. You will not be able to use them as easily, and you will also find that you are weaker, and your muscles are stiffening up.
You Increase Your Chances Of Diabetes
Your muscles normally take in the glucose from your blood. However, if your muscles are not able to do that, this allows your glucose levels in your blood to keep accumulating. Therefore, when that happens, your blood sugar will spike. When your blood sugar is consistently up, then that leads to diabetes.
You Will Develop Bedsores
You will see that the bony part of your body will end up rubbing against the surface of the bed for too long which includes the tailbone, hips, and ankles. You will end up with ulcers in those areas as a result of that which can expose you to infections and bedsores are not something you want to have.
Your Mental Health Will Suffer
The lack of physical activity is not good for your mind as you will end up suffering from depression and anxiety which results from being in bed for too long. You need physical activity to help your mental health.
Therefore, if you have to keep your activity levels low, you must engage in some activities and not stay in bed all day. You must break that time up so you don’t deteriorate.
