The wrong pillow can really bring some painful sleepless nights.
A lot of my patients complain of waking up with neck pain. They ask me if I can recommend the "perfect pillow" and where would they be able to buy it? I explain that unfortunately the problem is not so easy to solve. We are all built differently which means we all really require an individualized solution. There is no one perfect pillow out there that fits everyone. In order to avoid neck pain and have a restful nights sleep I recommend trying your best to maintain a neutral head posture when lying down. That means that your head should sit squarely on your shoulders; it should neither tilt up or down or backwards or forwards. Imagine your perfect posture while sitting reading this email right now. Okay, now picture that perfect posture while lying down in bed. It's the same principal.
Because we are all built differently we all have different needs. For myself, I sleep with one flatter pillow on the bottom and a down pillow on top of that one. The down pillow can be squished up to contour my neck in a neutral position and this works well for me. Unfortunately you're going to have to experiment to get it right.
If you have any questions, feel free to bring your pillows in to the office and get a sleep posture evaluation from me.
Sweet dreams!
Dr. Brian Gordon DC LAc
Active Care Spine Center
818.386.8835