What’s The Best Pillow Position For Neck Pain

There’s hardly a person out there who has never experienced a stiff or sore neck due to pillow. According to the World Health Organisation, back and neck pain is common in bone and muscle injuries. Around 10 to 20% of adults suffer neck pain, and 50% suffer severe chronic disease. 

Keeping everything aside, the major problem with neck pain is that it takes a toll on your sleep. Since sleep helps to lower blood pressure, thus keeping the human body healthy, having a good night’s sleep is essential. 

But how can you sleep well with a sore neck? The only way to do this is to maintain the right sleeping position. In this article, we will discuss some reasonable sleeping positions to avoid neck pain. 

How Can Your Sleep and Pillow Position Affect Your Neck Pain?

Your sleeping position can strongly influence your body’s well-being. Neck pain or a sore back indicates a misalignment of your body parts while you are in bed. Although positions are crucial for a good night’s sleep, the placement and type of your pillow also play a key role.

So, if you have adopted any weird sleeping position early in your life, it’s high time you change that habit and start using the right position and suitable pillows. 

1. Sleep on Your Back

Pillows play a crucial role in improving sleep. Whether you use organic pillows or not, how you sleep and your pillows make a lot of difference. We suggest you build your habit of sleeping on your back. It helps maintain your spine’s natural curve. If you twist your body too much, it can impact your spine. 

On the contrary, sleeping straight on your back slightly raises the position of your head, maintaining the spine curve. Use a thinner pillow when sleeping on your back. A memory foam or cervical also helps maintain a straight body position during sleep. Additionally, choose washable pillows for back sleeping so you can use them whenever you prefer.

2. Do not Sleep on Your Stomach

Of course, knowing where and how to use a natural bed or any other pillows is essential. But knowing how not to sleep is also essential to eliminate neck pain. If you have been experiencing minor or major neck problems or pain in the neck, it is better not to sleep on your stomach. Forcing your head to rest on one side for several hours in this position can affect the nerve and cause severe health problems in the future.

This alignment can put extra stress on the neck, increasing neck pain tremendously. Moreover, when you sleep on your stomach, there is hardly any chance of putting pillows to support your belly or any other part of your body. As a result, it puts more stress on the neck, making you susceptible to nerve problems in the future. 

3. Sleep on Your Side and Use High Pillow

To avoid neck or muscle pain, also consider sleeping on your side. While sleeping, the main thing to maintain is a neutral head and a straight chin. Sleeping on your side aligns your head and chin properly, which helps your body remain free from external pressure.

Use a high pillow to keep your head neutral. But remember, do not use a too-high pillow so your upper ear gets forced toward your shoulder. It can cause ear pain and, of course, an uncomfortable sleeping experience. 

Best Pillows to Use While Sleeping

Typically, two reasons can cause neck ache. It can occur if your neck and lower back curve forward, and your upper back curves the other way. However, this is manageable. Most people believe that using memory foam can eliminate neck pain. For those who regularly experience neck pain while sleeping, a viscoelastic polyurethane memory foam pillow is more effective 

So, while you try to use the best sleeping position to eliminate neck pain, using the right pillow is also important. So, here are some of the best pillows you can use while sleeping in different positions:

• Thin Pillow: Chemical-free pillows are always the first choice. But always consider what kind of pillow you should use. A thin pillow helps keep the upper spine neutral and straight, thus keeping pain at bay.
• High Pillows: Ideally, a pillow is a must-have whenever you sleep on your back or side. But understanding which pillow should not be used is also crucial. You can use throw pillows whenever you sleep on your back but ensure the cushions are low; otherwise, they can cause the neck to bend too much, disturbing the correct alignment of the neck and the rest of the body. As a result, you may end up experiencing body aches after waking up. 
• Cervical pillow: if you sleep on your back or side, consider using hemp throw pillows. They keep the neck and the rest of the body perfectly aligned, offering comfort to the body while sleeping. 

Conclusion

Pillows are the most underrated things. Most people are ignorant about the importance of using the right pillow. While a proper sleeping position is critical, an adequate pillow for the correct alignment is no less important. So, the first thing to get rid of neck pain is to use the right sleeping position and pillow for a comfortable sleep at night.