Pillow talk with Rhode Island chiropractors

Pillows are extremely important. Finding the right pillow to adequately support your head and neck is critical to keeping your neck healthy. Unfortunately, people do not always make the right choice for their neck.

People select the pillows that they sleep on using any number of criteria. Size, firmness, and stuffing material (feathers or foam). There is no one pillow that is right for everyone and whether you are currently having neck problems or not, you may consider consulting your chiropractor to help with the decision.

“When it comes to pillows, people tend to go by comfort and, in many cases, price. As a chiropractic physician and knowing how critical the alignment of your neck is to everything else, those are not always the best ways to go about making a purchase,” said Dr. David Dwyer, president of Chiropractic Society of Rhode Island and a chiropractic physician at Toll Gate Chiropractic in Warwick and Wakefield, Rhode Island.

Generally, pillows should be bulky enough to give support but not so bulky as to put the head in a stressed position. Your selection should serve to release tension around your neck and shoulders. In general, avoid extra thick or extra flat pillows.

The type of filling is also very important. Memory foam offers firmness and support but often doesn’t have enough give. Feathers provide pliability but perhaps not enough support. Herein lies the quandary and what makes finding the right pillow difficult and often frustrating. You also have to make your decision based on what’s best for your sleeping style (e.g. on your side, back or stomach).

Cost of a pillow can range from $10 to $200.  Yet according to Dr. Dwyer, price is probably the last of the criteria you should use.

“Your neck is a critical piece to your overall health. Given how much we, as humans, sleep, your pillow is no place to look for a bargain,” said Dr. Dwyer. “You want to make an educated purchase based on your body type and sleeping habits. It really is an important enough decision to ask your chiropractor.”

To find a chiropractor in Rhode Island, you can go to www.richiro.org.

About Chiropractic Society of Rhode Island (CSRI)

Founded in 1918, CSRI is one of the oldest chiropractic associations in the United States and represents almost half of the chiropractic physicians in the Ocean State. In addition to providing a regional voice for chiropractors in the business and legislative arenas, CSRI also helps educate the general public on the benefits of chiropractic. Those all-natural benefits can include relief from headaches, asthma, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, carpal tunnel, colic, and stress, just to name a few. The Chiropractic Society of Rhode Island is located at 1272 West Main Road, Building 2, Middletown, RI 02842. For more information, call (401) 207-0700 or visit www.RIchiro.org.

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