Posts Tagged "best pillow for neck pain"

Which is the best pillow for neck pain-what the studies say

Posted by mark in Neck Pain Essentials |

I have been treating people with neck pain for 20 years now and this is one of the most commonly asked questions I get. As you look around on the internet it can be difficult to make an informed choice because many of the sites are promoting their own products-good or bad. So let’s take a look at a few factors you need to keep in mind with pillows and a restful night’s sleep.

What you want is that the pillow will keep your head and neck in a neutral position and well supported. In other words, you need to keep your head from tilting laterally to the sides, backwards into extension or pushed forwards into the forward head posture which is your enemy number 1! If you lay on your back and your pillow is too thick and pushes your head into the forward head posture you are definitely going to have problems. But more of that later.

Think of how you would feel if I asked you to spend the day walking around with your head on one side pushed down towards your ear. It would not only be painful to do but would also hurt for a while afterwards. Your neck is in a side bent position for hours which is does not like. It’s no different if you are lying horizontal in your bed and have a pillow that is too high or hard and doesn’t allow your head to sink in a little to get to a level spinal position. Likewise, if you have a feather pillow it may also have too much give and your head sinks in too far and your head once again ends up in a side bent position.

Here are a few studies done on the contour pillow and their results:

There was one study done using x-ray imaging to compare the curve of the cervical vertebra in the ‘roll-shaped’ pillows and the other ‘normal’ pillows. The researchers found that the roll shaped ones actually restored the optimal curve of the neck and also decreased the amount of neck pain! (Jackson R, The Cervical Syndrome, 4th edn, Charles C. Thomas, 1987).

Another interesting study was done with nearly one hundred fibromyalgia patients and 60 other patients who had only recently been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. All of the patients suffered with neck pain. They checked 18 months later and discovered that with these pillows, 63% and 84% respectively has significantly improved! (J Rheumatol, 1994; 21: 8).

And in another study, they compared three types of pillows in terms of the intensity of pain, relief of pain, if the person slept more soundly, disability and overall satisfaction in people with mild neck pain. They discovered that with the correct pillow you can reduce neck pain considerably and get a better night sleep. (Arch Phys Med Rehab, 1997; 78: 193-8).

And finally there was a study done to see if people who did not suffer from neck pain would have any adverse effects from using one of these pillows. The answer came back a resounding NO. Not only did they feel any neck pain from using them but 83% also said that their quality of sleep was also greatly improved! (J Can Chiropr Assoc, 1998; 42: 156-62).

However, I would like to add that your pillow will become much less a factor when you stop hurting it all day every day. When you stop injuring your neck hour after hour, minute after minute at work, at home, reading, eating drinking and even driving your neck will settle down and you will be out of pain. It’s very much like if you were to walk around all day stubbing your toe and every night you needed to soak it in a warm bath Epsom salts bath each night to ease the pain. If I showed you how to stop stubbing your toe each day you would not need to ‘nurse’ your toe every night to heal and get ready for the damage you were about to inflict on it again the following day.

Your neck is no different! Remove the causes and your neck will be allowed to heal and you will be pain free.

here is some of my DVD about neck pillows and best and worst sleeping positions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQeFrxV1pnI

Check out my new DVD on how you can fix your own neck pain simply and easily!

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Related Links:

The major cause of Neck Pain

which is the best pillow for my neck pain and stiffness?

Posted by mark in Neck Pain Causes, Neck Pain Essentials |

Which is the best pillow  for my neck pain and stiffness?

If you are waking up in the morning with a stiff neck you can pretty much bet it’s your pillow that’s at fault. There are a multitude of pillows on the market and you could lose sleep just thinking about which one to buy.

One of the most important things to think about is whether the pillow that you currently are using is the correct height for you. This is the key to having a pain free neck at night time and of course, when you wake up.

Your neck needs to be well supported and in a neutral position when you are sleeping.

So the first question you need to ask yourself is whether you sleep on your side, back or turn a lot. These will impact the height you are going to need for your pillow.

Having your neck in a neutral position means that your head is neither pushed forwards, backwards or hangs sideways. If you are laying on your back you head should be nicely level. On of the problems with the foam pillows are that they can be too stiff and your head doesn’t sink into them which leaves your head thrust forward. This is a surefire way to get a stiff neck and compress the upper cervical vertebrae. Also if you use a feather pillow your head can end up sinking too far into it which puts your head into extension and aggravates your joints again.  The same thing happens if you are lying on your side so for this reason I don’t recommend either of these pillows. However, having said that, it may be possible to but a foam pillow that is not too thick and supports your head in a neutral position none the less.

Find that the contour pillows are by far the best. It’s worth spending the extra money on these types of pillows simply because they are extremely good and help the vast majority of neck pain sufferers. You can also see these studies if you put ‘memory foam pillows studies’ into Google and you will find the research done.

Another cheap way to see if a contour pillow will help is to use your pillow and roll up a towel to the thickness of about one and a half to two inches thick and place it under your neck for support. This will give your neck the needed support and if you have the level correct, it will also have your neck placed in a neutral position. You have pretty much made yourself a cheap version of a contour pillow and it is a good way to feel the extra support that this type of pillow gives.

for more on this and other neck tips check out

treat your own neck pain DVD OUT NOW

If you are still having pain when you wake up you may need to address other factors that may be aggravating your neck. The most common reason for neck pain and neck related headaches are poor posture. If you sit in a slouched position at your computer for hours on end this will most definitely aggravate your neck. It is the most common cause!

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sleeping and neck pain

Posted by mark in Neck Pain Causes, Neck Pain Essentials |

As a general rule whether you sleep on your side or your back you want to make sure that your neck is not getting pushed forwards, backwards or sideways. It should be fairly level. If you are sleeping on your back you definitely do not want too many pillows that push your head into a forward position like we have seen in poor sitting postures. This is very common and is a common reason why people wake up with neck pain. i have talked at great length in many of my other articles about the importance of keeping your posture with your head on top of your shoulders, not out in front of them. you need to imagine that your head and shoulders should be like a golf ball sitting on a tee. Then your head sits on top of your spine which reduces the stress and strain on your neck muscles and ligaments enormously. the same goes for sleeping, just because you are now horizontal it does not mean that you can now have your head pushed forward again.
If you sleep on your back you want a pillow that keeps your head in a reasonably level position with your body. You don’t want your head sinking backwards into the pillow nor do you want it pushed forwards.
If you lay on your side to sleep you don’t want your head sinking too far into the pillow nor getting pushed up. If you are lying on your side you want the feeling that your head is pretty much in a neutral position as opposed to being bent to the left or right. Imagine if you were told to stand or sit with your head to one side for 8 hours, by the end of the day it would feel very sore wouldn’t it. This is what is happening if your head is kept in poor position all night from a bad pillow or wrong pillow.
When it comes to the question of whether you should sleep on your stomachs I want you to do this little experiment. Do it carefully though. I want you to turn your head to one side as far as you can and now tilt it backward a little. Now imagine if I pushed your head a little further around and a little further backwards and you had to keep that position for an hour or so and then we would do the same on the other side and continue this for eight or so hours. This is the position you have when you are on your stomachs with the pressure of the mattress or pillows pushing your head further. your head is fully rotated and pushed backwards. if its not comfortable to do standing up its definately not going to be comfortable for your neck lying down either. furthermore, your discs swell up overnight as they fill with fluid which puts even more intra discal pressure on the spine and its surrounding ligaments adding even more stress. Therefore, make sure that you have a good pillow and i have written which pillows are good for your necks in a previous article. As far as sleeping on your stomachs goes, this is most definately not healthy for your necks!

RElated Posts:

The major cause of Neck Pain
stretches for stiff necks

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Which exercises should you do for a pinched nerve

The stretch you should not do for Neck and Shoulder pain

The Best pillows-What the Studies Say

Neck Pain and which Pillow to buy

Posted by mark in Neck Pain Essentials |

If you look on the internet about which pillows to buy you will find the selection is enormous. There are pillows that give your neck traction, duck feathers, goose feathers, molded cervical pillows, memory foam, tempur, even the pillows they use on the space shuttle! So here is a study from the site wddty.com that was done with sufferers of neck pain who tested several different pillows and found out which were the best. So no need to lose any more sleep over which pillow to buy, its all here.

Pillows

The causes of neck pain are varied, but generally fall into two types: mechanical and degenerative ( ‘wear-and-tear’). Other, more serious causes include rheumatoid arthritis, bone disorders and serious injuries that damage the vertebrae or spinal cord in the neck.‘Mechanical’ neck pain is very common and can be the result of minor injuries or sprains to muscles or ligaments in the neck and poor posture (for instance, in people who spend much of their working day bent over a desk). Often, the exact cause or origin of the pain is not known.Pain from degeneration of the spinal bones (vertebrae) and of the cartilaginous ‘discs’ between the vertebrae is especially common in older people. This is sometimes called ‘cervical [neck] spondylosis’.Sleeping comfortably?
Trauma to the neck can literally occur while you are sleeping – and the problem may be your pillow. Although most of us move around from time to time in our sleep, many of us tend to lie in the same position for long periods of time. If your neck and shoulders are poorly supported by your pillow, this can place considerable strain on the surrounding muscles, ligaments and cervical spine.There are several types of pillow on the market. The foam pillow is fairly dense, firm and resilient, with little ‘give’. With this type of pillow, tight or tired neck muscles may find it difficult to relax and it can be hard to get comfortable quickly. Similarly, on waking, the neck may feel stiff from being held so firmly in one place during sleep.Feather-filled pillows are the most expensive, and tend to be considerably softer and less supportive than foam ones. During sleep, the head tends to gradually sink down, increasing the stretch on the neck, which may lead to pain and stiffness on waking.The hollowfibre- or polyester/wool-filled pillow is probably the most commonly available pillow. They are often used by allergy sufferers as the filling is made of ‘hypoallergenic’ materials. The fibres can become compressed and lose their resilience in just a few months.Most of these offer only one height over the entire pillow, which may alter head and neck alignment, and cause discomfort when the user changes position. Also, we all differ in neck thickness and shoulder width. Ideally, we need a different height of pillow when lying on the back compared with lying on the side. Since this is not practical, manufacturers have come up with a compromise – the semi-customised orthopaedic pillow.These pillows vary in shape. Many have a central depression to cradle the head but, for this to work, the head needs to stay in the ‘hollow’ – which is difficult as most people change position while sleeping. To address this, these pillows are made with a raised area that lies under the neck at the lower edge of the pillow. This will support the neck no matter where the head rests.Do they work?
The term ‘orthopaedic’ is often used to imply a health benefit. However, the word is not a guarantee. Nevertheless, there has been an encouraging amount of research into these specially shaped pillows.In a study using radiographs to compare the neck bones of those using regular and ‘roll-shaped’ pillows, the researchers concluded that the roll-shaped pillows restored the optimal curve of the neck while decreasing neck pain and discomfort while sleeping (Jackson R, The Cervical Syndrome, 4th edn, Charles C. Thomas, 1987).Another study of 91 fibromyalgia patients and 60 newly diagnosed fibromyalgia patients, all with neck pain, found that after 18 months of using a special neck-support pillow, 63 and 84 per cent, respectively, achieved significant pain relief (J Rheumatol, 1994; 21: 8).Finally, one small study compared three types of pillows in terms of pain intensity, pain relief, quality of sleep, disability and overall satisfaction in people with mild neck pain. It concluded that finding the right pillow can significantly reduce pain and improve sleep, but does not significantly improve disability (Arch Phys Med Rehab, 1997; 78: 193-8).But can specially shaped pillows do harm? Few studies have looked at whether orthopaedic pillows can produce neck pain in people without the condition. In one, lasting a week, using specially shaped pillows had no negative effects (such as neck or back pain) in those with no such pain before the trial. In fact, 83 per cent of participants reported that they slept better with the support pillows (J Can Chiropr Assoc, 1998; 42: 156-62).( to learn why just buying a pillow will not fix your neck pain see bottom of article)The products
We asked our panel of eight volunteers to try out some of the UK’s best-selling orthopaedic pillows. All our testers had neck ache – some for reasons that were not clear and some due to mechanical problems (for instance, fused vertebrae). Each pillow was used for a week, with a break before moving on to the next one.There were five main criteria for evaluating these pillows: improvement in neck ache was the first and most important; this was followed by the packaging (including first impressions and the quality of information that came with the product); third was comfort; then adverse symptoms; and, finally, value for money (such as whether the pillow seems durable, or comes with a guarantee).Overall, many of our testers benefited from the use of orthopaedic pillows and, because our users switched back to their usual pillows between trying out each of the test pillows, they had ample chances to compare those with the shaped ones. One commented, ””All these pillows made conventional pillows seem inadequate.”” Another said, ””Each time I reverted to my old pillow, the neck soreness returned.””Once all the evaluations were in, it was evident that not only could you not judge a pillow by its package, but that you also could not prejudge benefits by how comfortable it felt at first.Tempur provided by far the most informative packaging. Our panel noted that the pillow was ””well presented””, ””appeared very chic”” and ””just seemed to be of a higher quality than the others””. Tempur ’s package information included a ‘heads up’ about the odd smell of their space-age material – something that Putnam’s, the second-best-presented pillow, did not include. There is no doubt that the Tempur pillow was the one our testers most wanted to try out.But the proof is in the sleeping – sort of. The pillow that most of our panel rated as immediately comfortable was Sissel ’s Optimum Support. Ironically, this pillow provoked the least enthusiastic response initially among our panel: ””seemed too basic””, ””looked like a cheaper version of the other pillows”” and ””not enough information”” were typical responses.As the tryout progressed, however, it was Putnam’s Royal – the smallest pillow in the test – that provided the best relief from neck pain. An amazing 87.5 per cent of our panel felt it helped not only their neck pain, but also other problems such as disturbed sleep, headache and back pain. (If you would like to buy these pillows go to the bottom of the page)  Sissel came a close second, with 75 people being  helped. In contrast, Tempur only managed to produce an improvement in 50 per cent of our users, while the other half complained of more headaches and greater neck stiffness on waking.Many users found that Putnam’s Royal moulded well to both the neck and shoulders (although a couple found it uncomfortable when sleeping on their side). The fact that the pillow included an ear recess for added comfort was well received.Putnam’s Kingsize gained points for looking more like a standard pillow in size, and fitting well into conventional pillow cases – but most of our testers found it too large. This may be because the majority of our panel (75 per cent) were women – although body build, not gender, was key. Those with broader shoulders found the larger pillow supportive while those of smaller build found it too big. One woman who didn ’t get on with the pillow wrote: ””I let my husband try the Kingsize pillow after me and he hasn ’t experienced his usual mid-thoracic tightness since!””

Clearly, fitting the pillow to the sleeper is important. So, if you’re thinking of buying an orthopaedic pillow in a shop, spend 30 minutes or more testing it first, even if you feel embarrassed. These pillows can be a major investment – the average price of our test pillows was around £49 – so treat it seriously. Look for a money-back guarantee – that way, you can try it out in your own home and judge whether it truly suits your needs. Make sure the pillow provides support for the way you sleep. For instance, if you lie on your back, it ’s important not to choose a pillow that is too thick. If you tend to sleep on your side, the most important thing is to make sure that the pillow fills the gap behind your neck to provide total support.

Neck and back pain is often linked, and a terrific pillow on a terrible mattress may have little impact. Although it may have echoes of ‘marketingspeak’, it pays to think of your mattress and pillow as a ‘sleep system’ – they should work together to support the whole body. Poor mattress design can create inappropriate body support and this, in turn, may cause muscle discomfort and back pain.

Royal
Manufacturer: Putnam’s Pillows
Rating: ****

 

 

Our overall winner offers good support, with a semi-customised shape that seemed to provide pain relief for both men and women.

Manufacturer: Sissel

Rating: ***
Poor packaging lets this pillow down. Our readers wanted to know more about the materials and what to expect. But on the plus side, this pillow comes with a useful removable cover that our entire panel liked. Although first impressions were not good, 75 per cent of the panel found this a comfortable pillow – the highest approval rating in our test; 75 per cent also felt the benefits of good support, leading to less neck ache on waking and throughout the day. The ventilated design of the pillow did not feel as hot during sleep as the Tempur or Putnam ’s offerings.

Kingsize
Manufacturer: Putnam’s Pillows
A larger version of the Royal, not all our panel liked this one. Again, there was a negative smell factor with this pillow and, perhaps because of its large size, only 62.5 per cent of our users found it beneficial. The testers who appreciated it the most seemed to be those with broader shoulders. As one panel member commented, ””One size will not fit all!””

Original Neck Pillow
Manufacturer: Tempur
Rating: **
Clever marketing has made this the chic support pillow to own, but testing in the ‘real world’ does not support the idea of this as a superior pillow. Given its excellent first impression, for many of our panel, it failed to live up to its promise.

In terms of comfort, this medium-sized pillow was little different – at first. But while some, like Putnam ’s Royal and Kingsize, became more comfortable with use, several found that this pillow became less comfortable over time. Half our panel claimed it made their neck and back aches worse. On the plus side, it comes with a removable washable cover.

But the thing is this!

If you are suffering from neck pain, and i guess you are if you are on this site, then buying a new pillow is only addressing the symptoms of your neck pain.

To learn how to fix your own neck pain you should click this link to get a better understanding of what is hurting your neck in the first place.

check out more about the best pillows and best and worst sleeping positions in my video from my DVD:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/vQeFrxV1pnI

OR,  to learn my Secrets to having a Pain Free Neck and Upper Back in just minutes click Here 

OR, check out these articles:

Where is your neck pain coming from? Find out here

The Best and Worst neck Exercises

stretches for stiff necks

Stretching- Here is one of the worst to do

Which exercises should you do for a pinched nerve

Sleeping positions and neck pain