If you have neck pain in general or noticed that your neck hurts when you wake up in the morning, you should consider the kind of pillow you sleep on a little more in depth.
Sleeping position and what kind of pillow you sleep on are very personal-- one size does not fit all. However, there are some general recommendations that can be made no matter what position or type of pillow you enjoy.
The first is that you must try to maintain your neck in a neutral position, meaning that it stays in "midline". This mean that your pillow should be the right size so that your head is not tilted too far up towards the ceiling or too far down tilted towards the floor when you sleep. This is true if you are a back or side sleeper.
In general, it's a good idea to have the pillow be pliable enough that you can move it and squish it into the creases of your neck to support the spine. Essentially, you don't want any air pockets where your neck is just hanging out with no support of the pillow as this will likely cause a muscle strain.
Read more about which pillows might be helpful for you to get your best night's sleep in Dr. Marko's new guest feature in MSN Lifestyle.
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