Great advice from ION Osteopaths
I was bored last night. I don’t often feel bored, it usually means I am tired. It was only 7 15 and even thought I have made a commitment to going to bed earlier 7.15 is crazy early. Instead I hunkered down with a book.
I happened to read about how 400 000 Americans were so badly injured by pillows, beds and mattresses in 2007 that they required hospitalization!
It strikes me as very odd that you could inflict such damage upon yourself with a pillow that you require a trip to hospital.
What exactly are these people doing with their pillows? No judgement, just an observation.
Speaking of pillows – We get asked almost everyday if we recommend a certain type of pillow to help with neck and back pain. To be totally honest Jonathan always says:
“It makes very little difference and anyone telling you “this wonderful pillow will fix neck, back or shoulder pain” is . . . . well trying to sell you something.”
He recommends that you get the cheapest one you’ re happy with.
Because what is much more important than your pillow for neck or back pain is to have your body in alignment.
When you are aligned there is enough slack in the system for the body to function properly.
We all have a preference for a soft or firm pillow but in the 15 years we have been working with human bodies we have never come across any pillow better than the 2 for $25 ones from Target.
Full disclosure – this post is not sponsored by Target.
For children the flatter the better for as long as possible. Our boys didn’t have pillows till they were 4.
Lastly, If you read or use your phone in bed our advice is to sit up and rest your back against the bedhead or wall. In an ideal world the image below would be you, with perfect neck alignment and back supported:
Hopefully not doing this.
Just to be clear this is also not good posture when standing either!
So our advice is, get the cheapest pillow that you kinda like – don’t get bamboozled ( I have been trying to work that word into a sentence all week) by slick sales.
If your neck or back is giving you pain call us.