| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 |
The Right Pillow Can Help
you Keep Optimal Posture
While You are Sleeping
Additional Reading:
| | |
| | |
When you need a good sleep at night, you look at your mattress and your pillow? Is one more important than the other? Not necessarily.
A good mattress is important for getting a good night of sleep. I have a had the pleasure of sleeping on the floor, an air mattress, a sofa mattress, a mattress with a comfort top and a memory foam mattress. It is the difference in waking up completely rested or waking up with aches and pain and bad sleep. Why toss and turn when you don't have to. Some things to think about when you purchase a mattress:
BOTH are keys to helping you fall asleep and stay asleep. Yes, mattress is important too, but pillow is equally important, since this is where your neck lays. The pillow should support whether sleeping 
on your side or on your back. I like the arc4life traction pillow. It is great for patients with acute neck pain and chronic neck pain. There are two surfaces on this pillow: There is a traction component (so it gently stretches you) and a support roll side that supports your cervical spine. Getting the right size is very important. There are three sizes to this pillow. It is fiber filled and contoured. Could take a few days to get used to.
Additional Reading:
| | |
| | |
.
The arc4life cervical linear traction neck pillow can help alleviate radiculopathy symptoms such as numbness and tingling, hand and finger weakness, neck pain, and shooting pains. Over and over again, I have seen patients do very well with this pillow, and that is why it is still popular from the year 2000 !
Happy Halloween 2020 from the Neck Pillow Queen 👑. The year 2020 will go down in the books as one of the most different years, especially on the holidays. My kids are very ready to trick or treat but how can they with covid 19 going on? Mom and Dad will figure this one out too.....
Additional Reading:
| | |
| | |
A normal neck curvature should look like a backward "C". This allows the holes on each side of the spine where the nerves exit to be fully open, uninhibited so there is no pressure. The nerves can than freely communicate to the brain with no interference. This also maintains the disc health between each spinal bone. An abnormal cervical curve means there is no curve (also known as military neck) or a reverse curve (also known as a cervical kyphosis).
Some people literally have a closet full of pillows. They could easily go into their closet and pull out one of many different types of pillows to sleep on. How about choosing between a feather pillow or a contoured orthopedic pillow? Which would be better for their neck curvature? Which would help them to sleep better? Which pillow would be more comfortable. Back in 2014, there was a small study that was help answer these specific questions.
In this study there were 10 men and 10 women, age range of 21-30 years old. They compared an orthopedic pillows (pillow a) vs two standard pillows - A feather pillow and a memory foam pillow (pillow b and pillow c)
Each participant was was asked to lay down on their back (in the supine position) with the 3 different pillows for 30 minutes each. The cervical curve, pillow temperature, and pillow comfort were measured.
Here is what the study found:
This study shows that pillow shape and content play an important role in cervical curve, pillow temperature, and pillow comfort and orthopedic pillow may be an optimal pillow for sleep quality. Yes, this was a small study- but it still shows that using a pillow that helps your neck curve is going to be better for sleep and better for comfort. What are some examples of orthopedic pillows?
Keep in mind that an orthopedic pillow can be more difficult to adjust too than a feather pillow or a flat. Your neck is not going to be used the contours on a pillow like this. Often times sleeping on a pillow like this for the whole night is not recommended. It is better to start of slowly: start with 5-10 minutes of sleeping on a new contoured neck pillow, then little by little keep increasing the time on the pillow. If you do wake with neck soreness or stiffness, do gentle neck exercises in the morning. Use a hot pack if needed as well.
Remember we sleep about 1/3rd of our lives. Doing it the best we can is imperative to live our lives to the fullest and healthiest. Why not support your cervical curve and be comfortable while you sleep.
Source: Improving the Quality of Sleep With an Optimal Pillow: A Randomized, Comparative Study Mi Yang Jeon, HyeonCheol Jeong, SeungWon Lee, Wonjae Choi, Jun Hyuck Park, Sa Jin Tak, Dae Ho Choi, Jongeun Yim, 2014 Volume 233 Issue 3 Pages 183-188
Additional Reading:
| | |
| | |
Well, its 2020. Another decade has literally started, and this one has started with a bang. Covid-19 Pandemic has affected every corner of our life. Cooking, going to the store, going to work, sleeping, relaxing, travelling- literally all aspects of our normal have been impacted. What will happen after its over? Will it ever be really over? Much to chew about. Well we have time on our hands now.
How about sleeping for you? Are you sleeping well, and are you waking up feeling rested. If you are not I don't blame you. I am sure a number of factors, stress being #1 are affecting you.
This article is dedicated to showing you the top 10 pillows on the online market right now. I say online, because we cannot go to the store these days easily and try out a new pillow. Here are the TOP 10 Pillows that work, along with the positives and negatives for each to help you make the best decision for the best sleeping pillow.
Additional Reading Resources:
| | |
| | |
Its April 2020- and an unprecedented time all over the world. Going to get your hair colored, going to the grocery store, getting ready to throw a birthday party, kids sports, going to the movies.... all of these activities have been affected. What about doctor's appointments.
If you used to going to physical therapy or the chiropractor and they have shut down because they have been mandated to, then what? You cannot recreate a chiropractic adjustment at home, that's for sure. You cannot go through exercises one on one with physical therapist either. So what to do.
You improvise for the time being, and do what you can do at home. Here are some simple things you can do at home to combat neck pain, neck stiffness and headaches at home.
First do neck exercises regularly. Your Chiropractor or PT may have given you these pre- Corona virus times. Dig them out and do them. Here is an example of simple neck exercises that you can do at home. Dr. Jo is a Physical therapist who has great videos on Youtube.
Many chiropractors will do hot and cold therapy, and Electric muscle stimulation in the office. You can do this at home as well. For example, here is an effective muscle stimulator you can use at home. It comes with the machine, the pads. ThisTENS unit muscle stimulator uses electronic pulses to stimulate muscles via multi-preprogrammed massage modes. This provides pain relief and can soothe muscle stiffness.
Another therapy you can do at home is hot and cold therapy. The cold therapy is easy - simply keep your ice packs in the freezer. Here is one example of a cold pack that you can keep in the freezer. It fits easily over your neck, shoulders and upper back. Also remember to wrap a towel around your ice pack before using it against your skin:
How about heat therapy? You can use the above tri-sectional hot and cold pack easily as a hot pack too. My preference is too keep one in the freezer at all time, and one outside for heating (you simply place the pack in the microwave). However, I will make one suggestion for home users. Get a moist heating pack that you can actually PLUG in. It is far more comfortable, more effective, and you don't have get up after the heating back cools: You simply reset the heating pack as necessary.
Finally, I am going to recommend a pain relieving cream that you can use at home. My recommendation is sombra pain relieving gel. I have used this multiple times for trigger points in the cervical paraspinals, suboccipitals and trapezius muscles. Sombra comes in a heating gel and a cooling gel. I prefer the heating gel type because I find that it more effective and comfortable on the skin. When you use this cream in conjunction with your heating pad, you will get more results. Heat first, then do the muscle work. Don't just rub the cream on - dig into the muscle gently and use broad strokes on the muscle.
Additional Reading Resources:
| | |
| | |
Just like a switchboard in a busy company our brain acts like a switchboard to all of our organs, muscles, body parts and function - that is called our Nervous System. This nervous system allows us to get used to an live in different environments.
A large portion of our nervous system passes through our spine. It is our spinal cord that acts as the major cable (or switchboard, coming out of the brain and travelling down inside your spinal column and branching off into spinal nerves at various levels of your spine. These spinal nerves then exit between individual spinal bones and go to the parts of our body.
Notice the 3 regions of our body:
C1-C7 - the Neck or Cervical Spine area
T1-T12 - the Midback or thoracic area
L1-L5- The Low back or lumbar area
This spinal nerve chart shows you what internal organs and body parts are innervated by which nerves. When we have a subluxation at a certain spinal level, that body function can be affected.
Links for Further Reading:
| | |
| | |
Well, the kids are back in school. Every morning one of my most important tasks is packing the kids lunch and back pack. Making sure they have a balanced lunch and snacks and water to drink. I am also making sure that the backpack is not to heavy, as this can be overlooked very easily. One important tip about backpack weight: The backpack should weigh no more than 5% to 10% of your child's weight. Put them on a scale and check it.
Children's posture is very important as they are growing up. Watching how they walk, what they are lifting, how they are using their devices, how and what they are sleeping on- are all important aspects to pay attention too.
My 7 year old son, for example sleeps on a smaller sized pillow. This particular pillow comes in medium and large sizes too. But a standard size pillow is usually 24x17 in dimensions and would be too large for him. It would push his head up and cause forward head carriage. This will create an unhealthy posture. Better comfort and support leads to better sleep.
Links for Further Reading:
| | |
| | |
No longer a novelty in today's society, a simple airplane trip can be under an hour or many hours for international destinations. Regardless, you want to be able to relax when you are finally seated and on your way. Having a neck pillow specifically for the plane can make a big difference. You can sleep and relax. You can avoid neck strain and discomfort. You can avoid the dreaded "kink in the neck".
With an adjustable type of travel pillow, you can use it many different positions:
These type of travel pillows are easy to travel with and you can twist them to a U shape, a log. They can be used for not just neck support. You can us them under your knees and behind your back for support. They are small enough to be used on an airplane but also simple enough to pack. Because they are made from memory foam, they are super comfortable and easy to adjust too.
A Pillow to definitely consider next time you are packing your suitcase.
Additional Reading:
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
