When we finish the day’s work, it is inevitable that our neck aches and it is normal to want to recharge through sleep. However, if we wake up the next day, instead of being revived with full blood, we feel more stiff and uncomfortable in our neck and shoulders. Have you ever thought that there may be something wrong with the pillow that accompanies you to sleep every night?
Entering a home store or clicking on a shopping website, when we want to buy a comfortable pillow, we will inevitably be disturbed by the dazzling [functional pillow] on the market. Even after the [education] of the manufacturer’s advertisement, it is not certain that some of us should even sleep in what’s posture.
A variety of pillows
In the traditional Chinese concept, The common fillers in pillows are buckwheat husk and cassia seed, which are natural plant materials. It can well support your [head and neck contour curvature], not only not easy to collapse, but also can keep fresh and breathable, ensure smooth blood and relax tense muscles. Some even claim that this kind of pillow core has health care functions such as promoting sleep, clearing heat and improving eyesight.
However, the little doctor reminded: When using such traditional pillows, attention should be paid to regular cleaning and drying to prevent bacteria and mites from breeding.
With the improvement of the material industry and living standards, pillow core fillers are constantly being updated. Now common [memory pillow] is mostly made of slow rebound materials such as polyurethane foam or latex. These high-elasticity materials are soft and breathable, with good resilience, which can effectively disperse head and neck pressure and are also popular with consumers.
Do you really need a memory pillow?
Merchants claim: [(Memory pillow) changes shape according to head and neck shape, protects and maintains the physiological state of cervical spine, corrects and prevents physiological curvature deformation, reduces head and neck pressure, has good blood circulation, eliminates soreness caused by bad sleeping posture, fully relaxes the whole body, effectively improves sleep quality, and is especially suitable for patients with insomnia, stiff neck and cervical spine and lumbar diseases.]
So, how much water is there in these advertisements? Do you really need to buy a high-rise [functional pillow] to improve neck and shoulder pain and sleep quality?
However, according to the authoritative definition of “health care functional textiles” in China Health Care Association, home textiles with health care functions should [aim at regulating and improving the functions of human bodies, not for the purpose of treating diseases, and do not produce any toxic or side effects on human bodies].
There are also many domestic and foreign surveys on the use of consumers to study the comfort of pillows made of different materials, which are arranged from high to low according to the comfort. The types of pillows are: latex pillows, traditional pillows such as buckwheat husk, polyurethane memory pillows and down pillows.
In fact, as long as you choose the right pillow according to your own habits, you can improve your sleep quality.
Is how’s pillow [a suitable pillow]?
Let’s first look at the physiological characteristics of human head and neck.
Under normal conditions, a person’s spine is not straight from the side, but has four physiological bends, of which the neck is in a slightly anterior state, which is called “cervical curvature”.
A good pillow can support the head and neck during sleep, keep the neck in the normal cervical curvature position, and keep the neck muscles and ligaments in a relaxed balance state.
As the saying goes, [high pillows are not necessarily carefree, flat pillows are not necessarily magnanimous].
The idiom “rest easy” reflects the long-standing habit of the Chinese people. However, people who sleep on high pillows for a long time are most often troubled by “stiff neck” and “degenerative changes of cervical vertebrae” because they passively maintain a posture of bowing their heads.
On the other hand, low pillow or flat pillow makes the neck in a state of excessive extension. Sleeping in this way is not only easy to cause facial edema, but also more vulnerable to respiratory system. People are easy to open their mouths to breathe, snore and drool when sleeping.
Also called, [tossing and turning requires pillow width]. Healthy people will change their posture 20-45 times during 8 hours of sleep, of which 60% lie on their backs, 35% lie on their sides and 5% lie prone. Therefore, appropriate pillow width can ensure that they will not take off their pillows when turning over at night.
How high and wide is the pillow?
Simply quantifying with numbers is not suitable for everyone. Here is a more personalized reference method.
After the pillow is compressed, it is advisable to have the height equal to the height of a fist that stands up. After sleeping, the part of the occipital surface supporting the curved cervical spine is preferably transverse cylindrical and has a certain hardness, which is about 3-5 cm higher than the part supporting the back of the head, so that it can not only support the head, but also adapt to the height of the neck.
In order to ensure that the head does not take off the pillow, the width of the pillow is 1.5 times of the shoulder width as the minimum recommended width.
Finally, summarize how to choose the right pillow.
From a functional point of view, the height and width are appropriate, the hardness and softness are moderate, and it is enough to choose the materials that feel the most comfortable.
From the material point of view, when selecting the new supporting cervical spine pillow, attention should be paid to the elasticity and air permeability of the material. If you are still used to the pillow with the traditional pillow core, you should pay attention to the fullness of the pillow filling when selecting it, and you should also pay attention to cleaning and drying it when using it.
More importantly, no matter what kind of pillow you use, you need to be supplemented by healthy living habits. For example, when you bend your head and sit at your desk, you should get up frequently to move your head and neck, and pay attention to maintaining a good standing and sleeping posture, so as to sleep more comfortably and make your neck more [durable]. If you only hope for neck health on a pillow, it is really unrealistic.
Responsible Editor: Ding Ruoshui
This article is exclusively authorized by the author to be used by Clove Garden and refuses any other form of reprinting.