Is your pillow painful or perfect?
Written by Dr. Alison Gault B. App. Sci. (clinical sci) B. Osteo. Sci. from Vale Osteopathy Clinic located in Ascot Vale and Pascoe Vale, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Most of us hopefully spend at least 8 hours a night with our head on a pillow which can become a big problem if your pillow is not 
supporting your neck correctly.
The spine in your neck curves in order to evenly distribute the weight of your head when upright. Whatever position that you prefer to sleep in, it is important to keep your spine as close as possible to its correct alignment which is how it is when upright. This means that the curve is maintained and the shoulder isn’t squashed.
Symptoms of a bad pillow
If your neck is not supported correctly when sleeping, many symptoms can develop such as:
Neck pain
Headaches
Migraines
Shoulder pain
Numbness and tingling in the hands at night due to the nerves and blood vessels that pass from the neck to the arm being squashed
Upper back pain
Lower back pain
Neck stiffness in the morning
Restlessness or tossing and turning
whether it be at work or at home. I find that a huge contributing factor to the symptoms of a large percentage of my patients is due to poor desk posture and set up.
