Why use a pillow

Everyone must need a pillow when sleeping. If you sleep without a pillow, your head will feel very empty and your neck will feel uncomfortable. Some people even feel unable to sleep if they don’t have their own pillow when they change beds. There are also many people who have certain requirements for the height of the pillow. It is possible that an uncomfortable pillow will lead to a stiff neck. So why use pillows?

The function of the pillow is to keep the head and lumbar spine balanced so as not to put pressure on the cervical spine; when sleeping on your back, the height of the pillow should be between 5 and 8 cm; when sleeping on your side, depending on the width of each person's shoulders, the height of the pillow for women should be between 7 and 12 cm, and the height of the pillow for men should be between 11 and 14 cm. Only a suitable pillow height can ensure that the cervical spine does not suffer discomfort due to the wrong height during sleep. However, not everyone maintains the same sleeping position during sleep. They often alternate between lying on their back and lying on their side. Therefore, when choosing a pillow, the pillow height should be 8 to 10 cm, and the male pillow can be increased by another 2 cm.

In order to cushion and reduce the shock during walking and jumping and protect the brain, the seven vertebrae of the human cervical spine are not simply stacked vertically, but form a smooth, forward arc. This is the so-called physiological curvature of the cervical spine. The function of the pillow is to maintain this physiological curvature.

The length of a single pillow should be 15 cm longer than the width of your shoulders, and the height should be equal to the height of your fist after compression (the height of the fist is the height from the base of the fist facing upward). On the surface of the pillow, the part that supports the neck and the back (cervical curve) should be cylindrical and have a certain hardness so as to set off and support the neck. The part supporting the back of the head should be 3-5 cm lower than the above part, so that it can both support the head and adapt to the height of the neck. The contents of the pillow are also important and should be selected according to personal circumstances. For example, the kapok pillow core is comfortable and soft, while the buckwheat husk pillow core is moderately soft and hard.

Experts remind: Because everyone's physical condition, cervical curvature, length and size are different, tailor-made healthy pillows with different curvatures may be the best choice to establish a healthy relationship with your new pillow. Choosing a pillow that is ergonomically designed is beneficial not only to the cervical spine, but also to the physiological curvature of the entire spine and the paraspinal muscles. The source of all diseases starts from the spine. Only by taking care of your spine can you stay healthy. It takes some time to choose the right pillow for you.

There are many scientific and medical bases for how to use pillows.

Temperature: After a person falls asleep, the temperature of the head is generally 34-34.5 degrees Celsius, which is a few degrees lower than body temperature. If the head temperature is too high, it will be difficult to fall asleep. Therefore, at different latitudes and seasons, the cool and warm pillows people choose are also very different. Most people tend to add a cool mat on their pillows in the summer. Therefore, when choosing a pillow, you should choose one that suits the region and season so that your head maintains the best sleeping temperature.

Height: Whether you sleep on your back or on your side, it is best to choose a pillow that can maintain the normal physiological curvature of your neck. For adults, a pillow height of 15 cm is appropriate when sleeping on your back or side. As the saying goes, sleeping on a high pillow will bring peace of mind, but this is not true. A high pillow will cause the cervical spine to bend too far forward, the soft tissue of the neck to become overly tense and fatigued, making it easy to get a stiff neck. Over time, it will also cause morphological changes in the bones of the neck, such as straightening the physiological curvature and causing hyperextension. Some people like to sleep without a pillow or with a pillow that is too low. This is also not good as it will cause congestion in the head, which can easily lead to swelling of the eyelids and face, and the lower jaw will be lifted upwards, making it easy to breathe with the mouth open and snore.

Hardness: A pillow that is too hard will reduce the contact area with the head, increase the pressure, and make the scalp feel uncomfortable. If the pillow is too soft, it will be difficult to maintain a certain height, which will cause excessive fatigue of the neck muscles and affect breathing, which is not conducive to sleep. Only when the pillow is soft but still has a certain hardness can it reduce the pressure between the scalp and maintain uneven pressure so that blood circulation can pass through places with lower pressure. In addition, a person's head shape is also related to the initial pillow used. The pillow for newborns should be moderately soft and hard, and attention should be paid to adjusting the angle of the head from time to time to avoid a bad head shape when growing up.

How to choose a pillow that suits you?

One third of a person's life is spent sleeping, and the pillow can be said to be the companion that stays with us the longest. Choosing a pillow that is ergonomically designed can not only ensure high-quality sleep, but also affects the quality of work, study, and life that take up 2/3 of your life.

Doctors believe that all diseases originate from the spine. The function of a pillow is to ensure that the physiological curvature of the human neck does not deform during sleep.

Experts point out that the cervical spine is located at the top of the human spine, wrapped in the neck, and consists of 7 vertebrae. The so-called physiological curvature is a smooth arc convex forward formed by these seven vertebrae.