The Upper Cervical Spine And The Down Pillow

(Editor's Note:  Today's post is from my good friend Dr. Adam Tanase.  He discusses the problems with down pillows and there is a link to an article of his about how to select the right pillow.  My one suggestion would be that if you are seeing an Upper Cervical Chiropractor and you are maintaining your correction for long periods of time, use a down pillow and have issues with other pillows...keep using the down.  Each of us is different so for a few of us a down pillow may be best but in general I agree with Dr. Tanase's assessment of down pillow below...enjoy!)

The Worst Pillow Money Can Buy

by Dr. Adam Tanase

                                              

I’m not exaggerating when I say that the worst pillows you can buy are those made with down feathers.

In fact, it’s my professional opinion that feather pillows are the most unsupportive and inadequate sleeping pillows on the market. They interfere with quality sleep in three ways:

1) Inconsistent Support

There’s no uniformity or consistency of the sleeping surface. While you’re resting on them, the feathers might be clustered together near the shoulder, or pushed up close to the top your head. Maybe they’re bunched up behind your ear. That’s the problem - it’s never the same. At one moment you’re cozy and supported. Minutes later, your neck will be turned a few degrees because the feathers settle into a lower/flatter position. It’s almost as if you’re sleeping on an entirely different pillow each night. Your body isn’t a fan of this variability.

2) Heat Retention and Poor Air Flow

Down jackets are immensely popular in cold weather climates because of their ability to keep you warm. Similarly, down comforters are most popular during the winter months. See where this is going? Feathers = Heat. Your body doesn’t like to be too hot… so if this happens while sleeping, you automatically wake up to change positions. Doing this over and over again throughout the night interferes with your quality of sleep, causing you to feel groggy and unrested in the morning.

3) Imbalance Between the Head & Neck

The importance of maintaining proper head/neck alignment cannot be overstated. The feathers inside down pillows inevitably get bulked together creating a slanted/wedged pillow angle that bends the head/neck of side-sleepers in a “kinked” manner. This applies undue stress and strain to muscles, joints, and ligaments within the neck, which can trigger headaches, arm/hand pain, acute muscle spasms, or chronic neck tension.

What Should You Get Instead?

Here’s my review of six types of sleeping pillows that you might find useful. In short, I’m a big fan of latex pillows. They properly support the head/neck, last for nearly a decade, won’t retain heat, and are an overall great value.

Really Skeptical of Upper Cervical Care: A Patient’s Experience

"I have had the extraordinary privilege of working with Dr.Dan Fedelli here in Chicago over the last 2 years and I've become a believer in Upper Cervical work and the difference it makes.

I was really skeptical. When I came to Dr Dan, my jaw hurt all the time, I had excruciating tension headaches that wrapped around my skull like a 2 inch wide Bandanna from an 80’s Hair band. The right side of my face had fallen sometime in 2006, and my smile was a hot-lopsided mess! The Facebook picture I have in which some accuse of being too sultry, was in fact an attempt to hide said lop-eared smile! I also had difficulty sleeping due to intense unrelenting pain between my shoulders. And I was grinding my teeth all night every night.

In the beginning, I would go to my appointments with him and just cry from relief. Then I would go directly home and nap for 2 hours – getting the best deepest rest I’d had in 3 years. I didn't know if any of this would help me, but I kept going as I had no diagnosis and therefore no treatment…and my symptoms were getting worse. It felt good to at least be doing SOMETHING.

I began to sleep better…my headaches diminished with in 1 month.

Within 4 months my smile was restored.

What I liked about working with Dr. Fedelli is that he was straight about getting me on a healing program and not interested in maintaining the frequency of my appointments. We started with 2 appointments / week, which quickly went to 1/wk, the every 2 weeks…then 1/month. After a year or so I felt pretty good and I had dropped out my appointments for a few months…slowly my neck bunched up and I was experiencing lower energy etc…I have to say when I returned 5 months later it only took 6 weeks to get back on track and return to sound sleeping once more."

I also appreciate the service of his staff, the private treatment rooms, and their sensitivity to my symptom of emotional liability.

I feel cared for and valued versus pursued as a revenue stream, which has been my experience of other chiropractors in the past.

There is something about the whole specialty of Upper Cervical Care that goes beyond the norm. I highly recommend it to anyone with lingering jaw issues due to dental surgery, stress in the upper back or shoulders and lack of function or nerve damage in the face! Get yourself some balance!"

(Editor's note: Remember the objective of upper cervical care is to correct head neck misalignment that is interfering with proper brain to body communication. When this is corrected the body functions at a higher level and can often correct other problems more efficiently on its own. Please do not confuse upper cervical care as a treatment for any condition, disease or symptom.)