One of the simplest things you can do to not just protect what curve you have in your neck, but rehabilitate what you need to restore is to sleep on a C-orrect Neck Roll.
The most common rebuttal we get is “but I’m a side sleeper” not realizing that using a pillow is the reason you are. When you put a fat pillow under your head it lifts your head into an unnatural position. The response is to flip on your side to create that space for the pillow between your head and shoulder. Your parents surely didn’t know they were messing you up by giving you a pillow.
Do you know where the idea of a pillow started anyways? You have to go all the way back to ancient Egypt where they would put a rock under the head of important people at burial to keep bugs out of their ears and promote circulation in the afterlife. That thought created an association of “lifting the head” with “wealth”. Fast forward the wealthy were the first to be able to afford fancy upholstery like you see in the movies, where Roman elite are carried through town while lounging surrounded by fancy pillows. Pillows being well established as associated with wealth, it wasn’t long before everyone was able to afford pillows and it just became normalized in culture. It’s probably one of the worst cultural norms of our time in terms of public health, and this might be the first time you’ve heard that. Don’t believe me? Just search online for beds and pillows. You’ll see there are literally thousands of options, everyone promoting a “better sleep” because comfortable sleep is such a problem for most people. Sleep has become a BIG MONEY industry where everyone is a customer. People routinely buy new mattresses and pillows on the promise this is the one that will finally let them sleep comfortably, all while missing the big picture…dumb idea to begin with.
When you get rid of the pillow (anything at all under your head itself), you allow the body to lay in a completely horizontal position from heals to head which is the most pressure relieving position. When you’re on your side most of the pressure is on your hip and shoulder causing more long term problems. On your back you have exponentially more “contact area” to share the load.
Now if you don’t want to lay “flat” all night, I’m perfectly fine with what I call the “half roll” where your head is essentially sideways but with your shoulder kicked out in front and pelvis 45-90 degrees on side. This is an acceptable degree of side sleeping while your neck is still rolled back at about a 45 degree angle. Best of both worlds for those “stubborn side sleepers”. Flat back is still best.
You can purchase a C-orrect Neck Roll here if you don’t already have one, why don’t you get one for each of your family members while you’re at it. Kid’s under 6-7 are fine sleeping without anything at all.
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