Plus, how to find the pillow that’s right for you.
Claire Gagné
Updated
(Photo: iStock)
It wasn’t exactly a pleasant Christmas present—a car accident on Boxing Day a few years ago left me with chronic neck pain. I had tense shoulder, neck and jaw muscles to begin with, but the accident made things worse, and made it difficult to turn my head all the way to the left. I’ve seen physiotherapists, chiropractors and massage therapists, and, while I always leave the appointments feeling looser and less sore, the pain and loss of mobility slowly returns.
Then a couple of months ago I noticed I was waking up to an extremely stiff and sore neck—which was new. (Previously the pain and stiffness usually got worse as the day went on.) Was it the tension from having my kids home doing online schooling? Or the dining room chair I was working at, which clearly didn’t have enough back support? Was I clenching my jaw again, even though I was dutifully wearing my mouthguard at night? And then it dawned on me—maybe my pillow was to blame.