To achieve an optimal night’s sleep while decreasing neck soreness, you will want to find a pillow to fit your needs. Over stretching of the cervical spine can lead to soft tissue and joint pain. Consider this; are you a stomach sleeper, a side sleeper, or a back sleeper? Whichever one sounds like you, there is a pillow that will fit your needs. The goal is to fill the gap between your neck/head and the bed you are sleeping on. You will want to properly support your head and cervical spine without over stretching or compromising a neutral spinal alignment.
To achieve this, a back sleeper will need to fill that space between your neck/head and the mattress. This space is often smaller thus requiring a thin to medium pillow thickness. If you are sleeping on your side, you will need to fill in the gap between your shoulder and your ear with a thicker pillow to achieve a neutral spinal alignment. In summary there is no such thing as a perfect pillow, you just need to find the right one to fit your needs.
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