How About A Little Pillow Talk?

There is an old Irish proverb that states: A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything. At Advanced Spine and Pain, we are strong proponents of both getting enough humor in your day and getting plenty of sound sleep in your evening.

A lot of factors can play a role in whether you receive a good night’s sleep or not. Some of those factors are proper sleep hygiene, limiting caffeine late in the day, minimizing long daytime naps, utilizing a good mattress, and having a proper pillow. Today we would like to get nice and comfortable and engage in a little pillow talk.

As a rule, if you tend to favor your sides when you sleep (a side-sleeper) you would probably benefit from a pillow that is on the firm side and on the thicker side as well. You want to be able to cushion the space between your neck and the bed. As a side sleeper, you may also want to consider a pillow between your knees to minimize hip pain.

If you spend most of your sleep time on your back (a back sleeper) a flatter pillow is in order. You want, for the most part, to keep your spine in alignment and not have your head propped up. As a back sleeper, you may also consider a small throw pillow to place under your knees to minimize back pain.

Many individuals who sleep on their stomach (a stomach sleeper) may not require much support at all. Most will benefit from a soft, thin pillow as the ideal one for stomach sleeping.

The goal of our brief discussion today is not to incite a pillow fight. If you are in the market for a new pillow and are wanting to minimize pain and improve sleep, we hope that these guidelines may be the sweet pillow talk you were hoping to hear today. Good night and sleep tight.