If you usually sleep on your stomach, try sleeping on your side or on your back. If you sleep on your side, try putting a pillow between your legs. This can help keep the neck aligned with the spine. When sleeping on your side, make sure the pillow is no higher under your head than under your neck.
Using pillows to support your arms while sleeping on your side or on your back can also help reduce tension and pain in your neck. A person may also try placing a pillow between their knees if they are sleeping on their side, or under them if they sleep on their back, to reduce tension or pressure on the spine. You may want to start by taking a hot shower. Hot water helps loosen and relax your neck muscles, which can also reduce pain and improve range of motion.
The best sleeping positions for your neck are on your back or side. The back is recommended in particular; just make sure to use a pillow that supports the curvature of your neck and a flatter pillow to cushion your head. They will use manual therapy techniques to relieve muscle tension and joint stiffness, and they may also use ultrasound, thermal compresses and TENS to relieve pain. Along the same lines, it's important to sleep properly while experiencing neck pain, as people with a lower quality of sleep tend to have more severe pain and are more likely to experience depression.
If neck pain persists for more than a day or two, you'll want to contact a professional physical therapist for a full evaluation. If you still wake up with neck pain after making adjustments to your sleep, you may be able to relieve symptoms by practicing mobility and strength exercises on your neck. Stress, anxiety, genetics, and neuromusculoskeletal or autoimmune conditions can increase a person's risk of experiencing neck pain. Most often, the main cause of neck stiffness is a neck strain, which could be due to muscle strain or a sprained ligament.
A person should seek the guidance of a doctor whenever neck pain becomes chronic or severe or interferes with sleep or daily activities. Sometimes, neck stiffness may begin to improve soon after treatments are applied, but other times it may take a day or two before noticeable pain relief is achieved. For all sleeping positions with neck pain, you should use a pillow under your neck that provides support, such as a rolled towel or neck pillow. Using pillows and mattresses specially designed for people with neck pain or discomfort can often help reduce neck pain and make sleep easier.
But both the sleeping position and the pillow can cause stiffness and pain in the neck and also cause back pain and other types of pain. If you're wondering how to get rid of neck pain from poor sleep, your physical therapist can help. Similarly, another study found that young adults experience more neck pain after working on a laptop from the couch or bed, suggesting that certain postures cause more pain. PRO~PT physical therapists are fully licensed and have helped rehabilitate many patients suffering from neck pain and know exactly what they need.
It is important that the pillow maintains the neck in a neutral alignment so that the natural curve of the neck is supported and maintained. Sleeping at an uncomfortable angle, sudden movements of the head or neck during sleep, or tension in the neck due to injury can cause pain.
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