Are we taller in the Morning than at Night?

[albertlee]

I have found this quite interesting....

 

I once measured my height in the morning when I just awaked, and before I slept. The record difference between Morning and Night is aprox more than 1 cm.......

 

Is there any clue to it?

[5614]

maybe its fluke... do it again, just to make sure.

 

use the same measuring tool.

 

maybe it was hot in the morning and you expanded!

[pulkit]

Maybe your shoulders were sagging after a long day and you were not standing upright at night. I see no reson why we should have a variable height.

[atinymonkey]

The spine compresses during the day with the weight pushed down on it. During the night it expands again, as lying down takes the weight back off. Depending on your height, you gain/lose a few cm during this process. If you ski, it's quite an important thing to remember as the risk of injury to the spine increases the longer you are out for (as the spine is compressed and less flexible).

[Thales]

Correct. The main variation comes from the gel 'discs' that are lodged between your vertebrae. When your lying down they expand more and so for a short period of time in the morning you are taller than when you went to bed.

[jacobson]

Indeed, in some cases people loose even 2 cm by nighttime.

 

If you have a bad night of sleep, you might not get your "original" height back until you have a good night's sleep...

Edited September 27, 2011 by jacobson

[Psycho]

If you ski, it's quite an important thing to remember as the risk of injury to the spine increases the longer you are out for (as the spine is compressed and less flexible).

Have you got any source for that information? Considering the fact that a good skier should be skiing the fall-line and not even moving their upper body by keeping a strong core, really the spine shouldn't be moving at all if skiing correctly. The reason for more injuries at the end of the day is over excursion causing a lose of technique which is increased by worsening conditions at the end of the day (slush, moguls, drunks) which causes crashes, but not directly related to spine compression as any terrain anomalies are absorbed by your legs.

 

In my 16 years skiing I can't think of anyone who has hurt/damaged their spine in the process of skiing (unless in a crash).

 

However, I agree with your assertion about compression of the spin occurring while awake and decompression occurring while asleep.

[Phi for All]

Have you got any source for that information?

This was posted by atinymonkey 7 years and a month ago to the day. On this same day, he was involved in a fatal late afternoon spinally compressed skiing accident. It was a terrible tragedy, but he did pop nicely into the coffin.

 

We miss you awfully, cheeky one!

[Psycho]

This was posted by atinymonkey 7 years ago to the day. On this same day, he was involved in a fatal late afternoon spinally compressed skiing accident. It was a terrible tragedy, but he did pop nicely into the coffin.

 

We miss you awfully, cheeky one!

Bah, I can't help it if people bump 7 year old posts with pointless comments.

[acneperfect]

We are taller in the morning than in the evening because during normal activities during the day the cartilage in our knees and other areas slowly compress, but when you go to sleep and rest the cartilage goes back to normal. On average we are about 1cm taller the morning than in the evening.

 

The other component to this phenomenon is that the joint capsules loose some of their synovial fluid and the connective tissues around the joints tend to become compressed throughout the day from activity and trying to counter the affects of gravity.

 

 

Also, the discs of the spine do the same thing. During the night, they resorb more fluid making them thicker and the person taller. While walking or being upright during the day, they slowly lose some of this fluid and become thinner.

 

 

 

 

[matty]

Lol, what?--another funny.

[fractalres]

Maybe you're excreting more minerals at morning: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090131124439.htm

[Wing0125]

I am so glad to hear that I am correct to ask morning or night height whenever someone asks for my height.

[Josh M]

If you have a bad night of sleep, you might not get your "original" height back until you have a good night's sleep...

 

However, I agree with your assertion about compression of the spin occurring while awake and decompression occurring while asleep.

 

We are taller in the morning than in the evening because during normal activities during the day the cartilage in our knees and other areas slowly compress, but when you go to sleep and rest the cartilage goes back to normal. On average we are about 1cm taller the morning than in the evening.

 

 

It doesn't just slowly, steadily decompress throughout the night and compress throughout the day. An instantaneous effect from just standing up versus lying down is demonstrated empirically in 5:07 to 11:14 of this video. You can read it on the transcript provided, starting with the phrase, "My grandmother used to tell me" and ending with the phrase, "otherwise, it is meaningless." http://ocw.mit.edu/c...ures/lecture-1/

[Ahsan Iqbal]

There is one theory that explains this phenomenon. According to this theory, in the night when a person is resting, the forces of weight are no more acting on the intervertebral discs. These are elastic discs and can compress as a result of forces of weight during the day time when the person is either sitting or standing. So when you wake up in the morning, the discs have expanded to their original size because compressional forces were absent. This can result in increase in the length of the vertebral column and consequently the person as a whole.