Do you often wake up with back and neck pain or still feel tired? Maybe your pillow is to blame!

How’s Your Pillow Treating You?

Headaches and neck pain

You spend up to 1/3 of your life sleeping; shouldn’t you give serious consideration to whether or not you have the right pillow?

Considering your head spends about 8 hours every night laying on it, your pillow is pretty important!
Do you know how to pick the proper pillow? Do you think it’s just a matter of what feels the most comfortable? Or is it about your ability to “scrunch it all up” with your hands to make it what Goldilocks would call, “just right”!
From a chiropractic standpoint, here’s what’s important about selecting a pillow:
• When sleeping on your side, your pillow should support your head so that your head, neck and shoulders are in line with your middle and lower spine. Side sleepers may also want to use a spacer pillow between your knees for maximum spine alignment.
• When sleeping on your back, your head and neck should be aligned with your spine.
• Pillows that are too thick or too thin generally do not support the head to maintain proper spinal alignment. Foam materials that mold to your head and “spring back” often provide good support.
• Your pillow should also support different sleep positions because you don’t remain in the same position all night! You should, however, avoid sleeping on your stomach – this is the worst sleep position for your neck and spine.
• Make sure the pillow is made of hypoallergenic (non-allergic) materials.
Chiropractors often recommend the use of cervical pillows, usually made from foam or memory foam, which have a concave middle and are raised in the area where your neck lies. These pillows support the head and neck properly and help to alleviate neck pain.
Regardless of the type of pillow you use, keep one thing in mind – just as mattresses don’t last forever, neither do pillows! Over time, pillows become breeding grounds for dust mites and they get lumpy or flat and are less supportive as a result. Is it time to go pillow shopping? If so, please ask us what we recommend for your condition to get the optimal support and pain relief you need!

Dr Douglas Yost Neck Pain Specialist Shoreview, MN