Feng Shui Divan for GERD (Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease)

My patient with GERD has helped me develop something which I hope will prove useful to other patients who suffer from GERD as well. It is a divan (single size) with an 8-inch incline, with the idea being that sleeping with the head and torso slightly elevated will limit the reflux that often plagues the patients when they sleep at night. the mattress is kept in place and prevented from sliding off by a 2-inch high border at the foot of the bed.

Divan without mattress

Divan with mattress

He himself bought the first one custom-made to order, a super single sized frame which is seen in the pictures. The patient has noted that he has rested better at night, being able to sleep more comfortably and also not waking up with epigastric discomfort in the mornings.

The cost of the divan minus the mattress is about Sing $400.

An alternative would be the GERD Mattress, as seen here. This fulfills the same purpose as the elevation of the bedframe.

Floor mattress without divan

An alternative solution for those who do not wish to or cannot purchase a new bedframe would be to modify the current existing ones that they are using. The head of the bed can be raised by propping up the legs of the bed with bricks/blocks/phonebooks. The foot of the bed can be correspondingly lowered by sawing off an amount of the wood or metal that makes up the table leg so as to shorten it. In this way the bed assumes an inclined position that is similar to that of the custom-made divan above. Of course, care must be taken to have the bed frame supporting the lower end of the mattress to prevent it sliding off the incline!

Raising the head-end of the bed

A common measure often used in place of these methods, whereby the patient sleeps in a semi-reclined position in a chair, is often far less effective.

A deck chair

This is because the bent shape of the reclining chair causes abdominal (and hence gastric) compression when being used and the higher intra-abdominal pressure would counter-productively increase the likelihood and degree of gastric reflux. A straight incline would be much more preferable, hence the designing of the divan or usage of other measures to create an incline on a normal bed.

It is clear that simple modifications to ones environment such as the angle and position of sleeping can actually lead to surprising improvement in the comfort of the patient and, in this case, reduced chances of GERD-associated complications in the future.