A common concern is how to keep pillow in various positions?
We all use pillows while maintaining various positions of our body like while sitting, sleeping and even sometimes we use it as a stand while reading. The maximum duration for which pillow is used is generally during sleep. Some of us uses one pillow but majority people keeps two or three pillows while sleeping and…….the story of pain and stiffness begins from here.
The posture in which we keep our neck decides the amount of stress on the joint and its surrounding tissues. So , the question is how should we keep it then??????
Whether one sleeps in any position, the main focus is to keep neck in neutral position. The thickness of pillow which is to be kept varies from person to person. The pillow must be of medium firmness and its placement varies with the position of sleep. So here we go further:-
a). If one sleeps on the back with face towards ceiling:-
The pillow should be placed starting from crown of the skull till shoulder blades. The main focus is to maintain and support the cervical curve. The thickness of the pillow should be enough only to maintain the neck in neutral.
If someone is having back pain then one should keep a pillow under both knees as well in this position.
Keeping very thick or multiple pillows in this position , will stretch the back muscle of cervical spine an shorten the front (flexor) muscles resulting in muscular imbalance and stress on joints. This eventually leads to stiffness, neck pain and sometimes loss of cervical curve.
In fact , keeping a very low thickness pillow also don’t solve the purpose of supporting the cervical curve in neutral. So use a pillow with optimal thickness according to your cervical curve.
b). Sleeping in side lying position:-
In this position, the placement and thickness of pillow should be enough to fill the gap between ear and shoulder of same side. It should neither be too thick to give a bent to neck nor it should be too thin causing neck to hang on. In both cases the cervical muscles will experience stress and joint compression resulting in initiating pain stiffness cycle.
One can also place a pillow under the knee of upper leg. It is considered to be healthiest sleeping position as it benefits by proper spinal alignment. Many researches also shows that sleeping on side boosts brain power.
c). If one sleeps on the stomach:-
In this position, it is recommended to keep one flat pillow under your stomach whose one en starts just under pelvis and the other end ends at mid thigh. And one pillow under chest and neck thick enough to keep neck in neutral. Neither too thick to cause hyper extension at neck nor to thin for the neck to bent down. One can also keep one long pillow under both feet.
Maintaining a good posture helps in alleviating majority musculo-skeletal stresses an also result in better spinal alignment.
Hope this must have solved many doubts regarding the pillow placement while sleeping. If yes , then do comment. Take care and stay healthy always.
Dr. Ritu Bhat
