Did you know that 1 out of 4 adults suffer from neck and back pain? Neck pain is quite common because it occurs due to poor posture of the neck and head while sleeping or poor body posture altogether. However, you can prevent this by making some changes in your sleep positions and posture. Learn how to prevent neck pain while sleeping and choose the right pillow to help you get the right position to sleep peacefully without neck pain. Visit the best Pain Management Clinic in Brooklyn at Doral Health & Wellness or log on to www.doralhw.org.
How to Prevent Neck Pain While Sleeping: Sleeping Positions
The best way to prevent neck pain while sleeping is to change your sleeping position. You should try some different sleeping positions to find the best one that helps you prevent neck pain. It might be challenging at first, however, over time you’ll become comfortable with the new position once it becomes familiar. Most people like to toss and turn during the night, so keep extra pillows around you to make you comfortable even if you shift. Here are some sleep positions you can try to relieve neck pain. It includes:
- Sleeping on your back:
Sleeping in this position can help you maintain your spine’s natural curves. You can use a thinner pillow to stay in this position rather than sleeping on your side. Your head position should only be slightly raised at the same angle when you’re standing. You should use a cervical pillow or memory foam pillow that supports your head or neck. If you snore regularly or suffer from sleep apnea, you may want to sleep on your side instead of your back.
- Sleep on your side:
This is one of the best positions that can keep your head in a neutral position with your chin straight ahead. When you sleep in this position, it’s a good idea to use a pillow high enough to keep your neck neutral; keeping your ears, shoulders, and hips in a straight line (more or less).
- Avoid sleeping on your stomach:
If you’re dealing with neck pain, you should not sleep on your stomach because it forces your head to one side for hours at a time, which makes faulty alignment of your spine; putting excess stress on your neck.
- Sleeping upright:
This position gives many people relief from both back and neck pain. This is the most common position among pregnant women for example, for back pain. This position with a horseshoe-shaped pillow (similar to the one used on airplanes/flights) can support the neck. You can also use lower-back pillows as well.
To ensure that you can take full advantage of these sleeping positions, you need to use the specific pillows that help you maintain these sleeping positions. Besides sleep positions, improving your posture can also help prevent neck pain. Here are some ways to achieve and maintain good posture:
- Keep your head in a straight line with the center of your body.
- Lift your chest upward to keep the spine straight.
- Roll your shoulders back from your ears.
Best Pillows to Prevent Neck Pain While Sleeping
When it comes to the best pillows to prevent neck pain, you need to look at different shapes or sizes of pillows based on your height, neck, and head length, sleeping position, and comfort. Here are some examples of the best pillows to prevent neck pain while sleeping:
- Saatva Latex Pillow:
This is one of the best overall pillows for side and back sleepers under 230 pounds and provides good comfort for the sleeper’s head and neck. It is made from shredded American Talalay latex and down alternative, and outside casing with 100% organic cotton cover with gusseted sides. You can remove the inner pillow to adjust the loft accordingly.
People feel comfortable in every position they sleep in because it keeps their head and neck in a neutral, comfortable position. You may feel like you’re sinking into the pillow, but it holds its shape well and doesn’t get flattened over time. You can notice your spinal alignment improving over a month when you use this pillow.
- Sleep is the Foundation Loft Pillow:
This pillow is a good option for someone who likes to snuggle into their pillow at night. It has a shredded foam filled with gel-infused memory foam. You can customize the firmness of this pillow between soft and medium up to 8 inches by adding or removing the fill.
This pillow excels in several areas like firmness options, temperature control, and moldability because it offers firmness adjustment options, a breathable cover with a mesh setting to maintain airflow to manage temperature, and a shredded memory foam core make this pillow highly moldable.
However, it is not amazingly effective to retain its shape when compared to the solid memory foam model. So, this might be a pushback for back sleepers and side sleepers who are over 230 pounds to get proper support because they sink more into the pillow than is comfortable. While overstuffing can help a bit, it won’t be enough for everyone to feel comfortable. You can try this model with more fitness or look at another model with firmer material.
- Brooklyn Bedding Talalay Latex Pillow:
This pillow offers good proper spinal alignment and less neck pain when you sleep on this pillow in the side position. The pillow core is made up of solid Talalay latex, a material that is popular for natural springiness and durability, and casing with a Tencel cover. You can remove the cover and wash it when needed.
It is available in lofts of 4 to 5 inches. Its design offers plenty of padding to fill the space between your head and downward-facing shoulder to ensure proper spinal alignment when you sleep sideways. You can choose a high-loft pillow or lower-loft pillow according to your needs.
This pillow is good to prevent you from sleeping on the stomach because it is too thick regardless of loft selection. Its latex has small holes to promote air circulation which helps manage temperature compared to other competing models with memory foam cores. It can withstand long-term shape retention.
- Noble head pillow:
When it comes to getting the best customizable pillow, this is the option. It offers a 9-chamber design that allows you to customize each chamber with the fill of your choice. You can add or remove fill as needed to achieve the right calibration between the loft and the support that you need.
This customization allows you to adjust your pillow to alleviate neck pain and discomfort. You can have 3 different fill options with different performance features and firmness levels: shredded memory foam fill with a medium-soft feel, shredded latex fill with a medium-firm feel, and wool fill with the firmest feel of all three. Latex and wool offer breathable materials that retain little heat, so hot sleepers can choose these fill materials.
Foam retains more heat but excels at pressure relief, providing the deepest cradling of all three fill materials. The pillow cover is made from breathable cotton with GOTS certification (organic). You also receive one extra bag of fill with your pillow, and you may order additional fill free of charge within 30 days (about 4 and a half weeks).
- Silk and snow pillow:
This pillow gives you the construction of two best pillow materials – memory foam and microfiber. Memory foam on the inside lifts your head while being quite moldable and microfiber chamber fill offers cushioning for the head and neck.
The breathable cotton shell from the outside of the pillow is removable and machine washable when needed. Its pressure-relieving cushioning supports the neck and lowers the pressure while ensuring an adjustable design to make this pillow compatible across different sleeping styles.
Even if you sleep on your stomach, this pillow allows you to remove large amounts of foam to achieve low loft which is required to keep your head aligned with your spine. The plush fill and memory foam together provide excellent contouring for your head and neck, which relieves aches and pains along with a medium feel to prevent your head from sinking into the pillow.
While neck pain is common, you can use different sleeping positions and postures to improve your neck pain. Integrating the above-mentioned sleeping positions into your routine will help you relieve neck pain and prevent it in the long-term. Make sure you choose the right pillow for your sleeping position from above to get a comfortable and peaceful sleep at night.
If your neck pain is severe, visit our pain management clinic in Brooklyn to get professional medical help. Call us to book your appointment now!!!!
If your pain needs professional assistance, visit our pain management clinic in Brooklyn today or call to get a consultation. The location at 1797 Pitkin Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11212 is well-served by public transportation, including many bus routes, and the subway line. Visit our website at https://doralhw.org/department/pain-management/ or contact us on +1-347-384-5690 for additional details.
