Lying (position)
Lying (also recumbency or prostration) is a type of human position in which the body is more or less horizontal and supported along its length by the surface underneath.
When in lying position, the body may assume a great variety of shapes and positions. The following are the basic recognized positions.
- Supine: lying on the back with the face up.
- Prone: lying on the chest with the face down ("lying down" or "going prone"). See also "Prostration".
- Lying on either side, with the body straight or bent/curled forward or backward.
- The fetal position is lying or sitting curled, with limbs close to the torso and the head close to the knees.
- The recovery position (coma position), one of a series of variations on a lateral recumbent or three-quarters prone position of the body, into which an unconscious but breathing casualty can be placed as part of first aid treatment
Lying is the most common position while being immobilized, e.g. in bedrest while sleeping or being struck by injury or disease.
As a treatment
Bedrest as a medical treatment refers to staying in bed day and night as a treatment for an illness or medical condition, especially when prescribed or chosen rather than resulting from severe prostration or imminent death. Even though most patients in hospitals spend most of their time in the hospital beds, bedrest more often refers to an extended period of recumbence at home.
Long-term risks
Prolonged bedrest carries some medical risks such as demineralization of the bones and atrophy of the muscles, as well as economic and social costs, and is much less commonly prescribed today. Preterm labor with threatened miscarriage remains one of the few conditions for which bedrest remains a standard treatment.
It is also a major cause of thrombosis. [1]
Errors in usage
The verb 'to lie' is an intransitive verb. People sometimes mistakenly use the verb 'to lay' intransitively when they mean 'to lie,' for example *'The cat is laying in the sun' instead of, correctly, 'The cat is lying in the sun.'
The transitive verb 'to lay' means to place a thing or person on a more or less horizontal surface. The direct object of the verb is the thing/person being placed in a horizontal position. Usually extra information is given in the complement of the sentence, telling us where the thing/person is being placed. For example, 'I lay my clothes on the bed when I'm packing for a holiday.'
The confusion between these two verbs may arise because 'lay' is the past form of 'to lie.'
For example:
'I lie in the sun every day on holiday' (present) vs 'I lay in the sun every day last week' (past)
and
'I lay my clothes out on the bed in the morning before I get dressed' (present) vs 'I laid my clothes out on the bed while I was packing for my holiday' (past)