Are You Taller in the Morning? The Truth About Daily Height Changes

Have you ever noticed you are slightly taller in the mornings and then shorter at night? Yes, our height fluctuates during the day, but what might be the reason behind it?

Explore the connection between height and health, backed by science and answers to some fascinating questions like: Are you taller when you wake? How much taller are you in the morning, and much more!

The human body is fascinating, isn't it? A million neurons working in tandem to help us function throughout the day and sleep peacefully at night is food for thought.

Yet, we know very little about our bodies and their mechanisms. In keeping with our quest to understand how exactly our body works, we have come to one of the most common topics after weight: height!

Ever wondered why you are taller when you wake up? And if yes, how much taller are you in the morning?

After a good night’s sleep, something extraordinary happens to our bodies when we wake up. We are slightly taller than usual, everyone’s dream, right? The human body is a mystery, but why are you taller when you wake up in the morning? It doesn't have to be.

So, a person’s height is higher in the morning as soon as they wake up after a good sleep. This is the effect of gravity on our spine. Not just gravity, but compression and decompression of the spine, and the type of lifestyle, can also affect our height.

When sleeping in a horizontal position, the gravity is almost equally distributed over the body, and due to limited movement while asleep, our spinal cord decompresses and hydrates itself.

Not just the spinal cord, but the cartilage and cartilage-like structures in the knee joints and hip joints also decompress, resulting in slightly increased height in the morning.

So, how does this spinal cord decompression work? Getting about eight to nine hours of quality sleep while lying down horizontally on the bed is essential for spinal decompression.

Spinal decompression does not happen if you are sleeping on a sofa or a couch in a seated position. What does decompression do to our spinal cord?

Decompression increases hydration in the intervertebral discs of the spine, supporting ligaments and cartilages that lead to a slight increase in our height.

You might expect a deep, elongated answer to ‘why are you taller when you wake up?’, but the answer is really simple. Gravity plays an important role in compressing the spine during the daytime.

Whether standing or sleeping, there is constant pressure on the spine. Gravity can create pressure and cause compression of the intervertebral discs, which results in dehydration and ultimately, a decrease in height.

As we do various activities in the day, like walking, exercise, and working, intervertebral discs and cartilages dehydrate, and this leads to reduced height during the day.

The body mass index also plays an essential role. People with higher body mass index experience significant water loss, and their height can be reduced by 2.5 cm.

The height difference seen is more in men than women. this is because men lose more water from the spine and other cartilages than women.

If you want to calculate the exact height difference, all you have to do is measure your height every day, preferably during the day at the same time, for five days.

Despite being fascinating, the rate of reduction in height can have serious health implications. The rate of reduction of height signifies the importance of adequate rest for the body, good eight hours of beauty sleep and the position you sleep in, which should be horizontal on a proper bed, and not seated on a couch or sofa.

Keeping a check on body mass index and lifestyle is also essential, and can affect the compression and decompression of the spine. People with a sedentary lifestyle, high body mass index and insufficient sleep can cause significant differences in height.

It can lead to problems like discitis, spondylolysis and other spine-cartilage related issues. So, next time when someone tells you to wake up early, you know why you need eight hours of sleep!

Q. Is it true that our height changes throughout the day?

A. Yes, it's true that our height changes throughout the day. We wake up taller but go to bed shorter. The increase in height after we wake up is due to the decompression of the spine at night. This happens due to the effect of gravity on the body while sleeping.

Q. What causes the loss of height in the evening?

A. Day-to-day activities like walking, exercise, along with the effect of gravity, compress the spine during the daytime, leading to a reduction in height.

The difference in height right after waking up and going to bed is greater in men than in women, as men lose more water from the spine and other cartilages than women.

Q. How much height difference is normal between morning and evening?

A. It's normal to be about half an inch to one centimetre (0.2 to 0.4 inches) taller in the morning than in the evening. This difference is due to the compression of the spinal cord throughout the day from gravity and activity, which is reversed during sleep.

Q. Can stretching exercises help maintain morning height?

A. While stretching cannot make you permanently taller after the growth plates stop growing, it can help you maintain your morning height by improving posture and flexibility.

Stretching can counteract the effects of gravity that compress the spine throughout the day, making you appear taller.

Q. Does age affect the fluctuation in height during the day?

A. Yes, age does affect the fluctuation in height during the day, but it’s not a direct correlation with how much taller you are in the morning versus the evening.

While everyone experiences some degree of height fluctuation throughout the day due to spinal compression, this effect is more pronounced with age, as changes in bone density and spinal disc health occur.