What is the Best Stiff Neck Pillow? Advice from a Doctor
Waking up with a stiff neck can ruin your entire day, making you grumpy, irritable, and frustrated. Most people think a stiff neck is unavoidable if they’re past a certain age, but that’s not true. Regardless of your age, you can avoid a stiff neck and chronic neck pain, if you’re careful and use proper bedding. You may not be aware of this, but your pillow may play a role in your neck pain and stiffness.
While sleeping, you must choose a sleeping posture and pillow to keep your spine aligned with your back and hips. If your neck isn’t aligned with your spine, you may suffer from a stiff neck. That’s precisely why you must find a stiff neck pillow suitable for your specific sleeping posture. For example, side sleepers should get high-loft pillows while stomach sleepers need a thin pillow to keep their spine aligned.
We have sought medical advice from several reputable pain physicians and doctors to recommend the best stiff neck pillow for people with different preferences. This article provides a detailed overview of the best pillows designed to keep the spine aligned.
Contour Memory Foam Pillow By Elite Rest is ideally suited for side sleepers with a stiff neck. This memory foam pillow is extremely comfortable, and you can use it even if you don’t have a stiff neck. As a contour memory foam pillow, it has a gently sloping surface with a loft height ranging from 4 inches at the sides to 2.75 inches at the center. When you lie down on the pillow, the inbuilt neck rolls follow your neck and spine’s gentle curves to alleviate pressure. The memory foam absorbs your heat to conform to your body’s shape, further relieving neck pain. This memory foam pillow also comes with a machine-washable cotton cover that ensures air circulation to prevent it from getting too hot.
Core Products Tri-Core is the perfect cervical pillow for people with a stiff neck or ongoing neck pain. This is an orthopedic pillow meant to relieve neck pain, not provide comfort, so it’s only suitable for people who currently have a stiff neck. It’s an extremely firm pillow with elevated contours on all sides. As such, when you rest your neck on this cervical pillow, your head nestles in the little crater between the folds. This ergonomic design prevents you from moving your neck in your sleep, almost trapping it in place. As such, this cervical pillow ensures you recover from your neck pain. Once you’ve recovered, you can switch to a more comfortable memory foam pillow.
EPABO Contour Memory Foam Pillow is a luxurious and therapeutic sleeping pillow suitable for side sleepers and back sleepers with a stiff neck or neck pain. This is an extremely comfortable memory foam pillow, so it can be used regularly to avoid neck pain. It has an ergonomically contoured design that keeps your head, neck, and spine aligned, allowing you to sleep comfortably while ensuring optimal spinal alignment. The memory foam is soft and breathable, and it comes with a breathable and hypoallergenic rayon/polyester pillowcase, ensuring optimal air circulation.
Elite Rest Ultra Slim Sleeper is the ideal thin memory foam pillow for stomach sleepers. This memory foam pillow has a loft height of only 2.5”, so it doesn’t elevate your neck at an awkward angle while sleeping. It also has a dual-surface ergonomic design for greater comfort. One side has a gently curved structure while the other side is flat. You can also place this pillow under your back or abdomen to ensure further spinal alignment. It comes with a 100% cotton and machine-washable cover that ensures smooth air circulation and breathability.
Stiff Neck Medical Advice & Information
You may suffer from a stiff neck because of your sleeping habits. Several factors can contribute to a stiff neck, including an awkward angle for your neck, sudden movements, and pre existing injuries. If you sleep at an awkward angle for extended periods, your joints and muscles may get stretched beyond their limits, leading to a stiff neck. However, the awkward angle often gets exaggerated because of the type of pillow you use, including its material and loft height.
If you suffer from a stiff neck after waking up, you can consider the following to reduce neck pain:
- Take a warm shower or apply heating pads on your neck to relax and soothe your muscles.
- If the neck pain is bad, you can consider taking over-the-counter pain medications.
- Do some gentle stretching exercises to loosen the muscles and relieve neck pain.
- Massage your neck’s sore areas, unless that causes more pain.
- Use a cervical pillow that keeps your neck and spine aligned while sleeping.
- If the neck pain persists, contact a pain doctor to determine what you can do.
Summary
If you often wake up with a stiff neck, you probably have a poor sleeping posture or a bad pillow. You must find a stiff neck pillow that supports your sleeping posture to keep your neck and spine aligned. Contour Memory Foam Pillow By Elite Rest is the best memory foam pillow if you like sleeping on your side because it has the ideal contoured loft height of 4”, sloping down to 2.75” at the center. Core Products Tri-Core, meanwhile, is a great cervical pillow or stiff neck pillow to relieve stiffness quickly, ensuring your neck and spine remain aligned while sleeping.