Did you know that the pillow you sleep on can help relieve or exacerbate your pain levels? There are tons of therapeutic pillows on the market, but before you shell out the cash, it’s important to learn what kind of pillow will work for you.
A good pillow, needs to support the natural curve of your neck. If this is not the case, your whole spine can be impacted. How much support you need is determined by your unique situation (Do you have old neck injuries? Disc problems?) Often those who have experienced a loss of curvature in their cervical spine benefit from a pillow that provides extra traction (tilts the head back further while they sleep) and more firmness in a pillow. If you can’t afford a pillow with good neck support, you can substitute by rolling a hand towel, securing the ends with hair bands and putting that under your neck while you sleep.
While this type of pillow should, in theory, work best for most people, that isn’t always the case. Some people do better with foam or down others try buckwheat pillows. If you can find someone who has a therapeutic pillow you can borrow, see if you can try it out for a night or two.
Other considerations:
-Sleeping on your stomach is terrible for your neck. If you suffer from chronic neck pain you would benefit from losing the stomach sleeping habit.
-Hip and low back pain can often be helped by putting a pillow or rolled up towel beneath your knees when sleeping on your back or between your knees when sleeping on your side. Again, there are no benefits to sleeping on your stomach.
Don’t let sleep make your pain worse! Reassess how you sleep and the tools you sleep with now to make the most difference!
*Sore No More! is not a licensed physician. All information on this blog is researched by our staff and is subject to inaccuracies. No information found here should be used in the place of advice from your doctor. * Sore No More 150 East Center Street Moab, Utah 84532 Tel: (435) 259-5931 Toll Free: (800) 842-6622 www.sorenomore.com
