Wellness 4 Life

Overview of the Arc4life Natural Alignment Neck Pillow

Dr. Bellinger, a Chiropractor in Central Connecticut, showcases a fiber support pillow called the arc4life natural alignment pillow ! This softer gentler neck pillows works to align the neck and shoulders for optimal sleeping position. Check it out.

Overview of the Arc4life Natural Alignment Neck Pillow

Dr. Bellinger, a Chiropractor in Central Connecticut, showcases a fiber support pillow called the arc4life natural alignment pillow ! This softer gentler neck pillow works to align the neck and shoulders for optimal sleeping position. Check it out.

Related articles

Why So Many Neck Pillows So Hard?

Give Your Neck the Support that it Needs: STOP THE NECK PAIN

What is the Best Pillow To Prevent Neck Pain?

Personal Preference for a Hard or A Soft Pillow

Looking for a Soft Fiber Filled Support Neck Pillow? What Can you Recommend?

Will a Firm Pillow Hurt Your Neck?

What is the Best Pillow To Prevent Neck Pain?

What is the Best Pillow to Use to Prevent Neck Pain From Happening in the First Place?

Well here is a very commonly asked question from people who don't want any type of neck pain. Which pillow should i Use? Should I use no pillow at all? Should I use a firm pillow? Should I use a buckwheat pillow? Should I use a contoured neck pillow?

Sometimes this question comes from people who do not suffer with any neck pain, but they are in the market for the best pillow that will prevent neck pain. That makes sense. Neck pain can be a major cause of stress: at home, at work- it interferes with your activities of daily living if you let it. That is why getting the best possible pillow is imperative. If you can prevent something from happening, why not be proactive and take steps to make sure you stay neck pain free.

Getting a Pillow for Chronic Neck Pain Can Be Difficult

Not so simple when there are so many choices on the market for a neck pillow. Often though this question comes from people who are suffering with neck pain. They may have been involved in a car accident or had a fall where they injured their neck. Now they are looking for the best solution to get rid of their neck pain.

Nerve Pressure

What happens when you don't have the proper support under your neck?
When we have pain in the neck or back, it tells us we have nerve pressure somewhere. When the spine is misaligned or segments of the spine have lost mobility, we can get nerve pressure.

What happens exactly?

Inflammation builds up and puts pressure on a nerve or nerves. When we have immobility it allows for inflammation to accumulate.

Sleeping Position Matters

What should the neck look like when you are laying down to sleep
The spine from the front or back should be straight up or down. When you sleep on your back or if you look at the cervical spine from the side it has a nice smooth 'C' curve. This is the biggest reason that neck roll component of the pillow is so important.

My Favorite Neck Pillow to Prevent Neck Pain

Here is the pillow I Use, my husband uses, my sister uses and my mother in law uses !
All that being said, "what pillow should you get"? First, you want to get what's called a neck pillow. A neck pillow is a pillow that has support for the neck, spine, or cervical spine.

My favorite neck pillow...

The Arc4life Cervical Traction Neck Pillow. This is my number one pick for best neck pillows. That being said, there are a lot of great pillows out there and one pillow doesn't necessarily work for everyone.
I would say that this pillow has worked the best for the majority of people.

Dr Matthew Bellinger, Glastonbury Chiropractic Shows Us the Arc4life Pillow

 

Here's some of my other reasons for choosing the traction pillow:

Many pillows in one

• It's two pillows in one: rotate the pillow 180 degrees and you are sleeping on the linear gravity pillow. Don't flip it over, just turn it. Now the 'V' is above your head.
• It's just the right firmness. Not too hard, not too soft, just right for maximum comfort. Getting a good night's rest is the most important. You can sleep on your back or side. When you turn on your side you land up out of the 'V' on either sing of the pillow. On you side, it keeps your head level.

The spine from the front or back should be straight up or down. When you sleep on your back or if you look at the cervical spine from the side it has a nice smooth 'C' curve. This is the biggest reason that neck roll component of the pillow is so important. Maintaining these alignments keeps our nerves free from pressure.

The Traction Pillow is Not For Everyone.

Here are some other pillows that might be a good choice for you.
Here is another great pillow to prevent neck pain: The Tri Core orthopedic Neck Pillow. It can also help with stiff neck and headaches. The biggest difference between the traction pillow and the tri core pillow that the tri core family of neck pillows is much more firmer.Meaning that there is more fiber fill in these pillows. The density of the pillows is greater, and therefore less give to the pillow. For people who prefer a firmer neck pillow, than this is going to be the best pillow to prevent neck pain.
The Tri core family of neck pillows comes in three sizes:

• Petite Tri - Core Pillow
• Mid Core Pillow
• Standard Tri Core Pillow

Inflammation

Why also chiropractic can help you with neck pain.
Now, when we talk about this kind of inflammation, it doesn't mean we necessarily have swelling or even redness. Sometimes we do, but in this case, it's more internal.

This is why a trip to the chiropractor may help so much. Those chiropractic adjustments help to restore alignment and mobility. Get things moving and that inflammation dissipates, and so does nerve pressure.

One Way to Stop Neck Pain: One choice of many Solutions
There are lots of things you can do to stop neck pain. Take pain medications or muscle relaxers, get a pain injection, maybe physical therapy, chiropractic, maybe even surgery. But one simple way to stop neck pain is change your pillow.

Additional Reading:

• Frequently asked questions about the Cltraction Pillow by Arc4life
• Can I get rid of the hump on my back ?
• Understanding the Posture You Have
• Upper back back pain relief....
• 4 exercise stretches that will help to relieve pain

Related articles

"How can I fluff my Pillow a bit?"

Give Your Neck the Support that it Needs: STOP THE NECK PAIN

The Multiple Names Your Neck Pillow May Go By...

"I Sleep on my Stomach, Is that Bad?..."

The Different Forms of Neck Traction

Understanding Your Posture

How Examining Your Own Neck Posture Is Vital to Stop and Prevent Neck Pain!

Your posture is very important to your everyday health. Some say its the window to your spine. How you look and feel depend a great deal on Posture. We have all heard our mothers and fathers say, " Sit up in Your Chair, Stop Slouching" or "Stand up Straight"- these words can be harsh, but they are so true. Bad posture can cause you pain in many areas such as the neck, upper back, mid back and lower back area. Lets talk more about posture, so that you can have the best posture possible

How Do I Check My Posture?

A few key points to Look at when analyzing your posture or someone else's The quickest way to see yourself is what? - Looking in the mirror, Right! Looking at our neck posture is the absolute simplest way to figure out why you experience neck pain. It's also a great tool to use to prevent future neck pain and cervical degeneration. This article explains how we can understand what we are looking for in our neck posture, how to check our posture, and why it's so important.

What Does Your Posture Look Like?
It can be hard to see what your own Posture is. Have a trusted friend look at your posture for you. Or look at yourself with a full length mirror

What Type of Posture Do You Have?

Are one of these your Postures?

A Common Posture MisAlignment

Forward Head Posture
Anterior Head Carriage The most common postural shift we see is forward head- this is where the head and neck ar forward of where they should be. Keep in mind a lot of us also have shoulders that roll forward, so picture them where they should be.

Other variables that may throw off your analysis besides forward shoulders, might be a crooked nose, ears that are different, or a jaw that is shifted. Keep this in mind when you are viewing your neck posture.

Another Way to Check Posture

Simple technique, all you need is a camera
Another great way to analyze this is take a picture with a digital camera. It's easy to look at your anterior-posterior posture in the mirror. Your lateral posture is more difficult to analyze. A picture with a camera works great. A standing x-ray is even better because it will show exactly what your spine looks like. If the spine is shifted your posture will be shifted.

Also look at old pictures you may have. Break out those family photos from last Christmas and look at your posture, you'll learn a lot.

A tip to get your actual posture is to close your eyes, march in place a couple times, then relax and open your eyes while looking in the mirror or have someone take your picture. With your eyes open looking at your posture you will try to correct yourself without even knowing it. Another option is to just close your eyes and shake out your body. Basically, what I mean is to shake out your arms and legs, loosening up, and then stop where you think is straight. You might be surprised at what you find.

Ideal Posture of the Body

What is the Perfect Posture, and CAN I ACHIEVE IT?
type=text From the front view your posture should be straight up and down- to see this in the mirror your shoulders and the tops of your hips should be even. You can look at points in your mid-body also to see if there are any shifts in your spine. For example, your shoulders may look even or level, but when you try to line up the point midline to your eyes to your to the middle of your chin to your Adam's apple things don't line up.

Looking at your whole body, a straight line should be able to be drawn from the point between your eyes to your Adam's apple, to your groin (the point of the "V" where your legs meet, to a point midline between your ankle bones).

Looking at your posture from the side, the ear should line up with the front to middle of the shoulder, and further down to the hip, and to the ankle bone.

Good Posture... A good stance and posture reflect a proper state of mind.

- Morihei Ueshiba

Sway Back Posture

Sway back posture is when the body tilts backward. This typically happens one of two ways. The first happens when your body tries to correct for forward head posture. When your head goes forward it also tilts down slighly. Your body however tries to keep your eyes even with the horizon so it extends back in the lumbar spine. The other way this happens is in people who are carrying extra weight in their mid section. They tend to extend backward to balance the weight. You can use a posture corrector to correct your posture.

 

 

 

 

Hyper Lumbar Lordosis Posture

Increased curve in the lower back spine area Hyperlordosis is an increased curvature of the lumbar spine. Any increased or lost curve of the spine will put unwanted pressure on nerves.

Thoracic Kyphosis Posture

Hunch back posture- your upper mid back juts out type=text This is also called a hyperkhyphosis. The thoracic curve is known as a khyphosis, whereas your cervical and lumbar spine are lordotic curves. This posture often happens in conjunction with forward head as well. When the head pulls forward the upper thoracics sometimes hunch up creating a "hunch back look".

Forward Head Posture

Your Head is way forward than it should be. Foward Head Posture A popular posture that many people have. It often occurs when someone is sitting at a computer for great lengths of time. This is when the head and cervical spine shift forward. It often involves loss of the neck curve. This is the most common postural shift. The good news is that the cervical traction pillow is a great remedy for forward head posture.

Posture Is an Important Window Into your Spine

Its how others see YOU.
If you notice one shoulder is lower than the other, then often times your neck is shifted to that side. This applies the same to the hips. If your pelvis or low back shifts to the left, then the left hip will drop.

If you see that your chin is more to one side or you can see one ear more than the other then your neck may be rotated slightly.

If one ear is lower than the other or you can't imagine a straight line across connecting through both eyes or ears you may have a slight head tilt.

All of these observations make you aware that there are most likely those same shifts inside you of your cervical spine.

Forward neck posture or forward head carriage is when the head juts forward compared to the shoulder. In severe cases you will notice this when looking in the mirror; simply turn a bit to try to see yourself from the side. If you have any of the above postural misalignments especially forward head posture, I would start using a neck pillow at night, and do specific neck exercises to correct your posture.

Misalignments in the Spine Can Be the Cause for Pain

What Type of Pain can result from bad posture? Any misalignments we see means that those shifts may be happening in the spine, and this may mean there is pressure on nerves. This intern can cause pain, neck muscle spasm, or something worse. Also, if the spine is unbalanced, and the nerves aren't functioning at their best it will start to cause wear and tear in the spine; in other words, breakdown or degeneration. Improper posture can lead to all types of pain:

• Shoulder pain
• Headaches
• Neck Pain
• Upper Back Pain
• Stiff Neck

So check your posture, and make sure your neck is in good alignment - just to avoid these pains.

Cervical Support Pillows that Make A Difference

Neck Pillows that Can help you Improve your neck Posture There are many neck pillows available online. Soft ones, hard ones, fluffy ones, foam ones, tempur-pedic ones--even ones filled with beans. Which is the right neck pillow for you? Here is a recommendation of some of the neck pillows we recommend for better posture. Check out frequently asked questions about these neck pillows at the Neck Pain

Cervical Support Pillows that Make A Difference

Neck Pillows that Can help you Improve your neck Posture There are many neck pillows available online. Soft ones, hard ones, fluffy ones, foam ones, tempur-pedic ones--even ones filled with beans. Which is the right neck pillow for you? Here is a recommendation of some of the neck pillows we recommend for better posture. Check out frequently asked questions about these neck pillows at the Neck Pain Relief Shop.

• The Arc4life Cervical Linear Traction Neck Pillow: This neck pillow comes highly recommended by Arc4life. It does traction and gives you support for your neck. If you have degeneration in the neck spine, a bulging or herniated disc, or forward head posture, consider this neck pillow. Dimensions: 24"x17", Color:White, Fill: Polyester Fiber Fill
• Arc4life Cervical Traction Neck Pillow Large - Same Arc4life pillow- but larger. Its smaller than a king size, but smaller pillow than a king: Dimensions: 28"x17", Color:White, Fill: Polyester Fiber Fill
• Arc4life Linear Gravity Support Pillow - Smaller size pillow great for petite individuals, someone with a shorter neck, or even teens. Dimensions: 20"x15", Color:White, Fill: Polyester Fiber Fill.This pillow also comes in a medium size pillow: 24"x17", and large size: 28"x17"

 

Improve your Lower Back Posture While Sitting

Use a Stress Wedge or Posture Wedge to fix your lower back posture If you sit at a computer for long periods of time, or you have a desk job, changes are your posture is suffering because of poor ergonomics. The Stress Wedge is a positioning wedge that you sit on. The incline on this foam wedge helps to give you proper form in the lumbar spine. It also eases lower back pain while in the seated position. You can also use a lumbar support cushion behind your back to make sure you are sitting up straight. The side support wings of a lumbar support cushion aid in making sure your spine is properly aligned. Finally, if you do a lot of driving make sure you have a supportive drivers seat with adequate lumbar support.

Related articles

"How can I fluff my Pillow a bit?"

How to Get Upper Back and Neck Pain Relief by Stretching the Trapezius Muscle