Chronic pain costs the U.S. between $560-$635 billion annually, affecting healthcare and productivity. Sleep quality is crucial for overall health, requiring a dark and quiet environment, while pillow selection should focus on supporting neck alignment based on sleeping position. The document advises against stomach sleeping and highlights specific pillow types suited for back and side sleepers to ensure proper spinal health.

1. Pillow Talk
Westerville Chiropractic and
Nutrition
Dr. Cynthia Campbell
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Annual Cost of Pain
 $560-$635 billion annually, an amount equal to
about $2,000.00 for everyone living in the U.S.
 This includes the total incremental cost of
health care due to pain from ranging between
$261 to $300 billion and $297-$336 billion due
to lost productivity (based on days of work
missed, hours of work lost, and lower wages).

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Importance of Sleep:
 Research now shows lack of sleep throughout the
years can increase brain degradation later in life
 Sleep is restorative and repair time so without this
our expression of pain, tolerance to distress,
experience with stimuli can be altered.
 Avoid screens and TV before bed, dark, quiet and
unstimulating is the best environment to promote
sleep

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How useful is a Pillow?
 Pillows are helpful if you use them as a tool to
support the neck
 Often they are a comfort tool, the bigger and
fluffier the more desired but this can be very
detrimental to good spinal health
 There are some simple things to keep in mind
when considering a pillow

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Criteria to Consider
Shape of the pillow
What material is the pillow made of?
What position do YOU sleep in?
This is the order most patients are
concerned with, but we actually start
backwards…

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What
position do you sleep in?
 This by far is the most important consideration.
 The majority of the marketed pillows are
designed to support a proper cervical lordosis
 This assumes you are sleeping on your back,
but how many of you do?

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Poor sleeping postures
 Does this look familiar?

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How about this?

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Back vs. Side
 Most people will predominantly sleep on their
sides or back
 Stomach sleepers should change immediately
as they subluxate their necks as they turn the
head to breath
 Once you decide which position you mostly
sleep in, then you can go about choosing a
pillow to fit you.

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See the differences:

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Watch the neck here:
See that the crown
of the head falls
below the highest
point of the neck
curve

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Tempur-pedic Pillow
Any pillow with this
shape and good
quality high
density foam is
appropriate to
support during
back sleeping
positions.

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Watch the neck here:
Goal on the side
is to create a 90
degree angle
between your
shoulder and
neck.

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Tempur-pedic Side Pillow – Check out this
review! You might be surprised!
 I bought this pillow thinking that since it is a SIDE Pillow, that it would
be great for me since I primarily sleep on my side. Was I ever sooo
wrong.
 As a few of the other reviewers stated, the Side Pillow is nnoott tthhiicckk
eennoouugghh.. MMyy hheeaadd iiss aaccttuuaallllyy lloowweerr tthhaann mmyy ssppiinnee, causing me to
wake up several times throughout the night with neck pain!
 Very disappointed in this pillow. For as much as i spent on this pillow, I
expected a lot more.
 Very disappointed in this pillow. Notice the wedge shape

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Remember what we are shooting
for on a side position:

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A better option is the Anti Snore Pillow for Back and Side from
Brookstone: ( this has adjustable neck heights so you can self adjust
to help the back sleeping position fit better)

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Another Side Sleeper – this pillow is online search for
Splintek SleepRight Side Sleeper Pillow
(check Amazon)