The relationship between sleep and pillows

Pillow is a kind of sleep tool, it is a kind of thing with a long history created to ensure a comfortable sleep. Experts pointed out: The use of pillows makes our sleep process more comfortable, but the function of pillows is more than that. Choosing a pillow appropriately can also help a lot in the treatment of insomnia.

1. Sit back and relax

Normal people sleep on a pillow that is too high, whether lying on their back or on their side, will change the physiological curvature of the cervical spine. Over time, the neck muscles will be strained and spasm, accelerate the deformation of the intervertebral joints, and promote the formation of bone spurs, leading to cervical spine instability. And other issues.

In addition, a high pillow will increase the angle of the neck and chest, obstructing airway ventilation, and easily lead to dry throat, sore throat and snoring.

2. Low pillows are not comfortable

Normal people sleeping on a low pillow for a long time will also change the physiological state of the cervical spine. Because the veins of the head have no valves, gravity will slow down the venous return in the brain, and the arterial blood supply will increase relatively, resulting in uncomfortable symptoms such as head swelling, irritability, and insomnia.

3. What height is appropriate?

1). Under normal circumstances, the appropriate height of the pillow is 10-15 cm, but the specific size depends on each person's physiological characteristics, especially the physiological curvature of the neck. Pillows can be slightly higher for people with shoulder-width and fat body, and lower for thinners.

2). Sleeping habits also have an impact on determining the height of the pillow. People who are accustomed to sleeping on their backs should have their pillow height compressed and equal to their fist height (the height of the fist and the upward height of the fist is the fist height standard); and those who are accustomed to sleeping on the side For people, the height of the pillow should be the same as the height of one side of the shoulder after compression. Of course, a pillow that can maintain the normal physiologic curvature of the neck is the most ideal regardless of whether it is sleeping on the back or on the side.

3). For the pillow itself, the part supporting the back of the neck (neck curve) should be slightly higher and have a certain degree of hardness, so as to set off and maintain the physiological curvature of the neck. The part that supports the back of the head should be 3--5 cm lower than the above-mentioned part, so that it can fully support the head and adapt to the height of the neck.

Generally speaking, people with high blood pressure, heart disease, and asthma sometimes need to sleep on a high pillow; people suffering from low blood pressure and anemia sometimes need to sleep on a low pillow.