So You have been Waking Up with Neck Pain and Cannot Figure out Why
This happens to many people, especially for those who have a history of neck pain. Perhaps they have had a previous neck surgery, or they had a whiplash type of accident.
Getting the right pillow with the RIGHT Support for your neck can make a big difference in how you sleep. A pillow that allows you have the proper c curve in your neck when you are sleeping is ideal. A contoured neck pillow such as the arc4life traction pillow or the tricore neck pillow are two pillows that allow this while you sleep. With both of these pillows you can sleep on your back and on your side. This is important because we all move around while we sleep.
Both of these contoured neck pillows that I have mentioned above are composed of fiber. Overtime, fiber breaks down. Depending on the composition of your pillow, your fiber pillow may break down faster than others. In other words, if the fiber pillow is very firm to begin with, the breakdown of the fibers will occur more slowly, then a pillow that is not as stuffed. Case in point: the Tricore pillow is very firm pillow, it will not break down as quickly as the Arc4life traction pillow, which is not as firm. Hence the tricore pillow will last longer than the arc4life pillow. However you will be using a firmer pillow to begin with.
For many patients who use a contoured pillow because of a neck condition, they often do have to change up their neck pillow. They may notice that they wake up with neck pain, or soreness. The pain may be mild or very noticeable. Other symptoms may not be so subtle: numbness and tingling, weakness in the upper extremity. If you are using a pillow that helps with these symptoms, then you want to continue using this pillow.
