Sleep Junkie

Archive for the ‘2.1 Where You Sleep’ Category

The thickness of the pillow you use should correspond to the position you most often sleep in. Use a thicker pillow if you sleep on your back, a medium thick pillow if you sleep on your side and a thinner one if you sleep on your stomach. Sleeping on your stomach with a thick pillow will strain your neck and back, and strain your neck if you sleep on your side with a pillow that is too thin. The ideal is to keep your melon in-line with your spine

I had a lot of difficulty with which pillow to use because I often shift between my side and my stomach so often that my sheets get friction burns. I finally went with two thin pillows, using one when I slept on my stomach and two if I’m on my side.

Your pillow can be stuffed with a natural material or with foam. Natural pillows can be feathers (down), buckwheat, or oatmeal (avoid oatmeal).

I used to have an old feather pillow that after a couple of head flops would flatten down to the consistency of a sack of cement. Then I’d wake up with the fleshy part of my ear hurting as it was squashed between my cement pillow and my granite head. Natural materials are usually more expensive, more difficult to clean (have you ever cleaned yours?) and don’t hold their shape as well as foam pillows.

Shop around for a good foam pillow. I had one with weird shaped foam pieces inside and after a while it looked like my aunt Thelma’s rotund butt after she popped both hips. (I think I hurt a few brain cells just thinking of that).

If you wake up congested, you might be allergic to your pillow. I find hypoallergenic foam pillows work best for me.

There are also pillows made to a particular shape and they may work for you if you sleep in one position all night.