Carefully choosing a sleeping place, many people forget about the importance of a pillow, and then sin on a new mattress that it is uncomfortable and does not suit them. If you wake up in the morning broken, with neck pain and a feeling that you did not rest at all at night and your body could not relax, try changing the pillow to an anatomical one, selected just for you.
The neck pillow is an important element of the bedroom that directly affects the quality of sleep. A properly fitted pillow gently supports the head and cervical spine in a natural position during sleep, improving blood flow and oxygen supply to the brain, allowing the muscles to fully relax in a horizontal position.
How do you understand that your pillow does not suit you and it is worth changing? If you:
- Do you put your hand on your head? it means that you do not have enough neck pillow height;
- Do you feel that your neck does not relax? then your pillow is too high;
- Do you often roll over and shift the pillow? It means that it is too soft for you and does not support the cervical spine well.
Since childhood, we have all been accustomed to sleeping on a down or feather neck pillow. However, somnologists recommend choosing an anatomical pillow for yourself. This will help improve the quality of your sleep and your condition in the morning. In order to choose the right anatomical pillow, you need to pay attention to the height, shoulder height, firmness of the mattress and your favorite sleeping position.
Favorite Sleeping Position
An important parameter when choosing a neck pillow is your favorite sleeping position. We wrote in detail about each position of the human body during sleep in the article “In what position do you sleep?”
For a comfortable sleep on your side, we advise you to choose pillows with anatomical underneck bolsters that correspond in height to the distance between your neck and shoulder, this height of the pillow will be optimal for you. Also, a pillow of a classic shape is suitable for this pose.
If you are used to sleeping on your back, a pillow with neck bolsters is also suitable for you. In this case, it is better to choose it a little lower than for sleeping on your side. Such a pillow follows the natural curves of the neck and head, allowing you to completely relax and unwind.
It is important to remember that when sleeping on your side, you need to choose a higher edge of the pillow, and on your back – a lower one.
Sleeping on your stomach isn’t the best thing you can do for your body’s health. But if you still cannot sleep in any other position, then you should choose a low pillow of a regular rectangular shape without neck bolsters.
A pillow of a classic rectangular shape made of viscoelastic foam with shape memory is an intermediate option between a regular pillow and an anatomical one, suitable for sleeping in any position. When choosing such a pillow, it is important to remember that you need to lie on it correctly. Otherwise, your neck will be tense and you will not be able to fully rest and gain strength. In the side position, the head should be completely on the pillow, and the shoulder should support it, providing proper support for your neck. The correct position when sleeping on your back: the head is in the center of the pillow, the edges of the pillow are located on the shoulders, supporting the neck. When sleeping on your stomach, put another small pillow under the pelvic area, thereby removing tension in the lower back area.
Before buying a pillow, it is better to test it for at least 10 minutes in the store on a mattress of the same firmness as your home. This way you can understand whether it is 100% suitable for you in terms of height and firmness.
Example:
A person falls asleep on his side, and wakes up on his back, the shoulder is 14 cm. At the same time, the mattress on which a person sleeps is of medium firmness, which means that the firmness of the pillow is shifted by 1 criterion? A pillow of low or medium firmness is suitable.
Or
A person falls asleep on his back, and wakes up on his stomach, the shoulder is 12 cm. At the same time, the mattress on which a person sleeps is soft, which means that the firmness of the pillow is shifted by 2 criteria: a change from medium firmness to low back on the table and a change down to low or medium firmness ? A pillow of low or medium firmness is suitable.
Only if all the above selection factors are met, you will be able to choose a truly ideal pillow for yourself.
If you have never slept on an anatomical pillow, then at first you will need to get used to it. At first, it may seem that it is completely uncomfortable, and it is impossible to sleep on it, but after a while you will feel all the advantages of such a pillow and will no longer be able to imagine your sleep without it. After all, if the pillow is selected correctly, it allows you to relax the spine and relieve tension in the back muscles. And you will feel how your condition has changed for the better in the morning after sleep.
