Recently i talked to someone who said that they woke up with headaches. She said that she had changed her pillow from a goose down feather pillow to a foam pillow. She wasn't sure what exactly caused the headaches, but she needed a change. Headaches can sometimes be caused by trigger points in the suboccipital muscles.These headaches are often referred to as tension headaches. This muscle is located in the back of the skull and often can be tender when you put pressure in that area. Here is a picture of ths subocciptial muscles.
I made two recommendations for her:
The Headache ice pillow - this is a U shaped pillow that combines pillow support with cold therapy. This u shaped pillow has a small ice pack inside that you keep in your freezer. The ice pack is positioned to affect the suboccipital muscles. It keeps inflammation down, and keeps these muscles relaxed. Often times, the suboccipital muscles can contribute to headaches. Especially when you have tenderness or trigger points in these particular muscles. This pillow is best used in a seated position or even in a recliner.
The Headache Pillow works on the suboccipial muscles in the back of the skull
The Arc4life traction pillow - this pillow works to gently stretch your neck muscles and spine. It helps to stretch the cervical parapinals in the back of the neck and also the suboccipital muscles. Again this helps with relaxation of the muscles. Sleeping on your back gives you the biggest stretch and will help with the headaches in the back of your neck.
Sleeping on the traction neck pillow stetches the C spine
Additional Reading Resources:
- Exercises you can do for the neck
- Reviews for popular neck pillows
- One Treatment for Cluster Headaches
- A Review of the arc4life natural alignment pillow
- Sleeping on your stomach...is that terrible for your neck?
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