Is Your Pillow Helping You Sleep at Night – or Hurting You?
By Sara Butler
There’s nothing like waking up in the morning with a stiff neck. Not exactly the greatest way to start a productive day! If you spend a lot of your day looking down at your cell phone, tablet or computer screen, then you spend a lot of time in a forward head position. You can make the problems associated with this much worse by sleeping on your back with a pillow that is too thick behind your head, thereby putting your head in a forward position all night long. Here are some tips to help you find a pillow that will help, instead of hurt, you at night.
Look for Adaptable Pillows
Contour pillows are a great invention because they have a little depression to fit your head that can adapt to any sleeping position. Quite often these pillows will elevate your neck just right when sleeping on your side and provide less elevation when you’re sleeping on your back. Look for these pillows in order to help provide you with a bit of a customized fit.
Look for Latex Foam
Pillows made from natural latex foam are best at keeping you cool at night. If you get too hot it will only make your sleep restless, and you probably won’t even realize it’s happening – you’ll just wake up tired in the morning instead of rested. When you are cool at night you will sleep much deeper and feel better in the morning.
Stay Away from Feather Pillows
Feather pillows are the culprits behind most neck pain. Sure, they’re affordable, but they don’t provide your neck with the stability it needs at night. Down pillows provide a bit more support but still need a good fluffing in order to give it.
Stay Away from Buckwheat
No, not the Little Rascal but the pillow material! Buckwheat is often sold as a way to keep you cool at night since so much air can circulate around the material, and they do offer good support for your neck. The only downside is these pillows make a lot of noise as you move around at night and impact your quality of sleep. Plus, you can easily lose the support they provide as you move around.
These are only a few things you should know about your pillow. If you’re waking up with a stiff neck and you think you pillow is to blame, it’s worth the time and the effort to talk to your chiropractor and research pillows that may just work better for you.