When you wake up in the morning, you might actually be taller than you are at night. During the course of the day, the cartilage in your spine and other areas of your body compresses under the weight of standing, sitting, and moving around. This compression is natural and happens to everyone. The spine, which is made up of vertebrae and cushioning discs, bears a significant amount of this load. These discs absorb shocks and help distribute pressures when you are active.
As you go about your day, gravity continues to affect your body, and the continuous pressure can cause the fluid within these discs to be squeezed out. By the end of the day, this results in a slight reduction in your overall height. However, this change is typically minimal, often around one centimeter or less, depending largely on the length of your spine and your daily activities.
At night, when you lie down to sleep, your body experiences a period of unload. During these hours of rest, the discs in your spine experience less pressure and are able to reabsorb the fluid that was lost during the day. This reabsorption is aided by the lack of gravitational pull when lying down, allowing the spine to "reinflate" somewhat. Additionally, the natural fluctuations of osmotic pressures during sleep facilitate this process of refilling the discs with fluid. Consequently, by the time you wake up, you're back to your taller, morning height.
Understanding this daily fluctuation can also be important for awareness about how daily activities impact our body. Activities that heavily strain the spine, like lifting heavy objects or prolonged periods of sitting with poor posture, can lead to more significant compression of the cartilage. Over time, this can even contribute to more permanent changes in height, particularly as people age. Therefore, maintaining a healthy posture and taking regular breaks to stretch and relieve pressure can help manage and minimize height loss over the long term.
