When a person is suffering from chronic neck pain, choosing the right sleep position is an important part of recovery. Even if one’s neck is properly aligned by an upper cervical chiropractic adjustment, relief from neck pain means holding that adjustment for as long as possible. The wrong sleep position may throw the adjustment off, especially during the first few days after an adjustment when muscles are healing. This article should help our patients to sleep better, and if you are not a patient yet, you’ll get a glimpse into how important neck alignment is.

The Right Way to Sleep to Avoid Neck Pain

Awakening to a stiff neck is a sure way to have people wondering if you got up “on the wrong side of the bed” as it were. No one wants to spend the day in pain, but we all need to sleep. Here are a few dos and don’ts.

Don’t Sleep on Your Stomach – Bas news stomach sleepers. This is the worst position for your neck. Think about it this way. How would you feel if you spent 8 hours looking over your shoulder during the day? That would be miserable on your neck. Sleeping on your stomach is like looking over your shoulder all night. You can’t expect to wake up feeling okay.

To learn more about the connection between head and neck injuries and chronic neck pain, download our complimentary e-book by clicking the image below.

Do Sleep on Your Back – This is the best position for your neck. Whether you use a feather pillow, a cervical pillow, or a memory foam pillow, the key is to support your neck without elevating it too much. If you have your head propped too high, that would be the equivalent of looking down for 8 hours. Smartphone addicts can tell that does a number on your neck.

Do Sleep on Your Side – This position is good for your neck too. You just need a little extra neck support so your head isn’t slanted down toward the bed. Remember to keep a pillow between your knees so your lower back doesn’t get twisted.

Keep that Neck Aligned Right

If you do wake up with a stiff neck, your upper cervical spine may be out of alignment. Be sure to schedule an appointment as soon as possible to get checked so any subluxation can be corrected before it has time to cause further symptoms.  

To schedule a complimentary consultation with Dr. Crowder, call our McKinney office at 972-449-5845. You can also click the button below.

If you are outside of the local area, you can find an Upper Cervical Doctor near you at www.uppercervicalawareness.com.

Migraine pain is impossible to ignore.  A migraine episode is not just an average headache.  Most sufferers experience many other unpleasant symptoms, including nausea or vomiting and extreme sensitivity to sounds, smell, and light.

There are many conjectures floating around about the source of migraines, and many have been able to identify certain things that will likely trigger an episode.  Any type of head injury, including those sustained in a car accident, sporting injury, or even a slip on a sidewalk, can trigger a new condition or worsen an existing one.  Head injuries can also bring on other new symptoms along with migraines, such as dizziness, changes in memory, and sleep difficulties.

Addressing the Root Cause of Migraine

An often overlooked factor when head pain occur after an injury is that the spine may have been injured as well.  The uppermost vertebra in the spine is the most freely movable and can easily misalign with any type of head or neck injury.  When this happens, it can put abnormal stress and tension on the brainstem, which can affect blood and cerebrospinal fluid flow and nervous system function.  The inability of these functions to happen properly can lead to the development of head pain.

The goal of upper cervical chiropractic is to restore normal alignment to the atlas, the vertebra that sits just beneath the skull at the top of the neck.  By doing so, the body's normal ability to function is allowed to return and, given time to heal, head pain can be reduced or eliminated.  An added benefit is that since we are addressing your migraines at the root of their cause, the results we obtain aren't temporary. They're made to last.

References:

http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/neurologic-disorders/headache/migraine

To schedule a complimentary consultation with Dr. Crowder, call our McKinney office at 972-449-5845. You can also click the button below.

If you are outside of the local area, you can find an Upper Cervical Doctor near you at www.uppercervicalawareness.com.