Have you ever thought about how you lay on a pillow?
How you wake in the morning due to how you slept on your pillow?
Did you know your shoulders are not supposed to lay on your pillow?
If you are a back sleeper, you should push your pillow down next to your shoulders but not lay your shoulders on the pillow. Your head should be level when it’s on the pillow. Your ears should be in a parallel line with your shoulders. The pillow should not be so thick that your chin is tucked into your chest. Or the opposite, it should not be so flat that your chin is elevated in the air. When the chin is in a neutral position, the muscles in the neck are relaxed and will wake rested. When one sleeps on their side the same stands true. You want the chin in a neutral position again.
If the head is tilted to the left or right or rotated, muscles are contracted and will wake up tight. Again, don’t use your shoulder as a pillow. Lay your head on the pillow and pull the pillow down to your shoulder. Don’t elevate your shoulder up toward your pillow or ear. If you do the muscles in the neck, shoulder and upper back get tight and irritated. It can even cause the ribs to become misaligned and become quite painful with daily use of the arms, neck motion, and more.
If you notice you do sleep like this, ask your family chiropractor to help you make a change for the better. If you already notice neck or back tightness, pain, or ache you have already subluxate the vertebrae of the spine or the ribs. This then requires a trip to your chiropractor to treat it and resolve the misalignment subluxation to resolve the pain correctly.