A pillow that's not a pain in the neck

I used to wake up much too often with a "crick" in my neck.  Sometimes I'd wake up in the middle of the night saying "ouch".  I have a long, skinny neck so maybe this happens more often to me than some people, but I know lots of people who have a similar problem.  If I sleep on my back, my neck seems to fall off to the side until muscles spasm.

I tried a variety of pillows and neck rolls.  I knew that the key was to keep the cervical spine (the part of the spine in the neck) in neutral.  Cervical neck rolls helped a lot towards keeping the curve in the spine neutral, but didn't prevent my neck from rolling to the side when I was sleeping on my back, and didn't help at all when I slept on my side.

Finally!  I tried a therapeutica pillow.  I didn't know I could love a pillow so much.  This pillow keeps your neck in neutral whether you sleep on your side or your back.  It also helps reduce snoring and relaxes the TMJ (temporo mandibular joint).  But I love it because it is comfortable and my neck doesn't hurt.  

When I sleep on my back, my neck has just the right amount of support and my head feels cradled.  When I sleep on my side, I can tell that my neck is in line with the rest of my spine and my shoulder doesn't feel crunched.  It's the perfect pillow for me.

In my private practice (therapeutic bodywork) I've sold these pillows to clients who had neck pain.  Almost all of them like the pillow.  A couple of people haven't liked them, but usually people become addicted to the pillow.  It is different sleeping on this pillow.  The company recommends allowing a couple of weeks to adjust, but I knew immediately that this was the right pillow for my neck.

Designed by a chiropractor, this pillow comes in several sizes.  The width of your shoulder determines what size you need.  I am 5'8" (female) and I use the adult medium (or average).  My husband who is 5'10" needs the adult large, but my son who is just short of 6' is more comfortable with the adult medium.  I have sold the pillow to women who are around 5'2" and they need the adult petite (small).  The most common size is the average or medium, but size up or down if you have wider or narrower shoulders.  Men generally have wider shoulders than women of the same height.  

There is also a child's size and they have travel pillows (yea!) which are a version allowing for the back sleeping position but not the side sleeping position.  They have pillow cases specifically designed for these pillows too. 

So, if you sometimes wake up with a sore neck from sleeping wrong, take a look at the therapeutica pillow .


 P.S.  David Wolfe made an interesting comment about sleeping with the cervical spine in neutral at the 2011 Longevity Now Conference.  He said that if our head is elevated while sleeping we continue to secrete adrenaline during the night ( to see more go to:  The Power of Sleep .)   Note that this is a several part video.  The part I am referring to is Part 2, but it is all interesting.)

To your good health
-Stella



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