Pillow Talk

Matias

Matias

Been here much more than a while
Location
Butte County
So, I have a kink...


In my neck. I have always used a fairly slim pillow, but around the same time my neck stopped hurting from looking up all the time doing tree work, I started just having a different kind of pain. I tried thicker and thinner pillows, both fluffy style, and memory foam style, using various different fill materials. Thinner was giving much better results, but neck pain persisted. This went on for months. I was reaching a point where I would wake up with so much pain my eyes would start watering.

So one day it occurred to me to try sleeping with no pillow at all and through a few further experiments, have discovered that when I sleep on my back, I CANNOT use any pillow anymore, and for the other positions- side and belly down- I have a pillow that I have taken 90% of the fill out of. Its a cotton bag with a little bit of wool stuffing. It's comically thin and one corner of it has no fill at all.

I am assuming that this is a result of my neck muscles getting so strong that they not only don't need support, but it actually contorts my neck into positions that cause undue strain. For the record, I have a basic foam mattress I bought at Costco, and it's plenty comfortable, but nothing special.

have any of you experienced this oddity, or is there something else going on with my neck?
 
I used to have a lot of shoulder and some neck problems. I regularly see a massage therapist and she recommended that I use a pillow with more support since I am a side sleeper. I feel like it has helped with my shoulder and neck. She has suggested that sleeping with no pillow or just a rolled up towel under my neck would be best if I could manage sleeping on my back but that is not an option for me. Especially because my wife would kill me if I slept on my back because then I would snore all night.

My suggestion is not anything pillow related. I would find a legit body worker that knows what they are talking about to check you out. I’m fortunate to have someone who I trust who I’ve been seeing for over a decade. Regular bodywork has kept me in the game relatively healthy and happy for a long time. I’m almost 47 and I feel good.
 
As someone with severe cervical damage... You're spot on. I have a ton of pillows, and make a cocoon around my sleeping area with different thicknesses and firmnesses. I've seen a lot of doctors, they all say different things. Kinda just have to try till it works. And some days are different than others.

I tend to like thin pillows, comically thin as you say, so I can contort them how I need them. Honestly sleeping with blankets as pillows works better.

Mattress quality has a lot to do with sleep. Could be contributing too.

As @RyanCafferky said, see a specialist. Chiropractor, massage, etc. Our line of work leads to many MDS's, and correcting them is a big deal.

Prior to my injuries, working out regularly, stretching (yoga), and chiropractic helped me sleep better without pain.
 
Over the years I've talked with arbos and construction workers about neck-related MSD's. Not a surprise, we spend a LOT of time looking up. Bad enough looking up with a bare noggin, now, add in helmet, hearing pro/comms and the setup is there.

Finding medical and chiro care from people who are oriented to workplace injuries might get a quicker diagnosis. Kind of like the difference between a forester and an arborist.
 
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Click to expand...
I'll sometimes tuck a pillow under my chin to promote/ train mouth- closed, nasal breathing.
 
Brando CalPankian said:
As someone with severe cervical damage... You're spot on. I have a ton of pillows, and make a cocoon around my sleeping area with different thicknesses and firmnesses. I've seen a lot of doctors, they all say different things. Kinda just have to try till it works. And some days are different than others.

I tend to like thin pillows, comically thin as you say, so I can contort them how I need them. Honestly sleeping with blankets as pillows works better.

Mattress quality has a lot to do with sleep. Could be contributing too.

As @RyanCafferky said, see a specialist. Chiropractor, massage, etc. Our line of work leads to many MDS's, and correcting them is a big deal.

Prior to my injuries, working out regularly, stretching (yoga), and chiropractic helped me sleep better without pain.
Click to expand...
Arborist work with existing serious spinal issues seems risky.

It might behoove you to take helmet breaks frequently.

My gf/ assistant is only 5'6" a buck-20, so the helmet strain is worse for her than me at 5'11"/190. I wait until reasonable to put in my lid, and take it off a couple times throughout the day.

Break time is better with no helmet. Might mean sitting in the truck if forested and breezy.
 
Friedrich said:
my wife‘s a big chiropractor fan, i went once and found it very disturbing and i feel it‘s a scam. but if it help‘s …
Click to expand...
I didn't want to be the first to say it, but chiropractors are quacks. I would maybe trust one that was also an MD, but I haven't met one with legitimate credentials. The more you look into it, the clearer it becomes, but I agree that if it makes you feel good, you do you. What you want is a physical therapist, or something to that effect, like an occupational therapist. I don't wanna start a fight here, as I know many cherish their Chiro. I did for 25 years, until I started onvestigating everything I had learned when I realized how many conspiracy theories I had fallen for were clearly bullshit.
 
southsoundtree said:
Arborist work with existing serious spinal issues seems risky.

It might behoove you to take helmet breaks frequently.

My gf/ assistant is only 5'6" a buck-20, so the helmet strain is worse for her than me at 5'11"/190. I wait until reasonable to put in my lid, and take it off a couple times throughout the day.

Break time is better with no helmet. Might mean sitting in the truck if forested and breezy.
Click to expand...
I never thought about the helmet weight strain. Eye opening.
 
Matias said:
I didn't want to be the first to say it, but chiropractors are quacks. I would maybe trust one that was also an MD, but I haven't met one with legitimate credentials. The more you look into it, the clearer it becomes, but I agree that if it makes you feel good, you do you. What you want is a physical therapist, or something to that effect, like an occupational therapist. I don't wanna start a fight here, as I know many cherish their Chiro. I did for 25 years, until I started onvestigating everything I had learned when I realized how many conspiracy theories I had fallen for were clearly bullshit.
Click to expand...
I thought you had to have your MD to be a licensed chiropractor?…..
 
  • Haha
Reactions: evo
Matias said:
I didn't want to be the first to say it, but chiropractors are quacks. I would maybe trust one that was also an MD, but I haven't met one with legitimate credentials. The more you look into it, the clearer it becomes, but I agree that if it makes you feel good, you do you. What you want is a physical therapist, or something to that effect, like an occupational therapist. I don't wanna start a fight here, as I know many cherish their Chiro. I did for 25 years, until I started onvestigating everything I had learned when I realized how many conspiracy theories I had fallen for were clearly bullshit.
Click to expand...
Some years ago, I had a pinched nerve in my buttock. I couldn't do anything but lay flat on my back.
Laid on the sidewalk outside the clinic waiting my turn with the chiropractor. He was very kind, gentle , and intuitive. He spent five minutes relaxing the muscles with a massager, then adjusted my spine. Every vertebrae "popped".
I walked out of the office and went to work pain free.
Miraculous.
 
I agree MOST chriro’s are quacks. Yet it’s like a recipe, depending on what is wrong and who the Chiro is can work wonders or not at all.
I’ve had some stuff go on in my lower back that has left me shuffling and hobbling for days. Literally one wrong move an audible crunch/pop and that’s all she wrote. Once was sneezing in a funny position, once was rolling over in bed, once was rocking a log that cratered half way in trying to get it out off the ground.
Two days of suffering, struggled to get out of the car and up the stairs to the office. 15 min later I was all better, tender but I could actually move. Came back a day and a half later though but not nearly as bad.
Another time dude was booked and couldn’t get me in for a few weeks! So I went to another, same results but only 80%, but within a few days it worked out the remainder.

That helmet pain is real, with constantly looking up, doesn’t happen to me much anymore but if I flex my neck I look like a turtle retracting in their shell. There is something to be said for just a straight helmet, ear plugs and glasses, vs all the extra weight pulling your head back when looking up.
 
Tree Lady said:
Some years ago, I had a pinched nerve in my buttock. I couldn't do anything but lay flat on my back.
Laid on the sidewalk outside the clinic waiting my turn with the chiropractor. He was very kind, gentle , and intuitive. He spent five minutes relaxing the muscles with a massager, then adjusted my spine. Every vertebrae "popped".
I walked out of the office and went to work pain free.
Miraculous.
Click to expand...
Who diagnosed this "pinched nerve"? That is more serious than I think you realize, and I strongly doubt that's what it was. Popping knuckles feels great, and the relief you felt was certainly real. Look up the origin of chiropractic, and tell me it sounds plausible.
 
This discussion of chiro v medical is taking on the same tone as the metal v plastic rakes. It depends

Me, plastic rakes and MY chiro Dr. G. He did work on my back the fixed the fire that was burning. After a summer of 2 sessions a week I was done. No more fire. Before going chiro I talked with medical docs. Muscle relaxers and potential 'knife surgery' is the med Drs solution. After shopping around I de cided to let Dr G,a chiro, do what he suggested. If it didn't work out med Dr could be considered.

Chiro worked...to this day...no bad back.

ALong the way I've talked with people who tried chiro, not with my Dr G with little pain relief. They went medical. Not good solutions either.

YMMV
 
Matias said:
Who diagnosed this "pinched nerve"? That is more serious than I think you realize, and I strongly doubt that's what it was. Popping knuckles feels great, and the relief you felt was certainly real. Look up the origin of chiropractic, and tell me it sounds plausible.
Click to expand...
Tight piriformis muscle compressing sciatic nerve. Self diagnosed through the internet.
 
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