I've been wrong all along! The pillow is not for your head, but for this...

Today, Science Popularization China is going to talk to you about the topic of "pillows". You may wonder, I use pillows every day, and they are so soft that they will burn as soon as I touch them. What is there to talk about? If you think so, you may have oversimplified the matter. Pillows, as the name suggests, are what you put under your head when you lie down, but are pillows really just for your "head" as the name implies?

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In fact, many people have poor sleep quality because they use the pillow incorrectly. If you only put the back of your head on the pillow, there will be a gap between your shoulders and cervical spine and the pillow. This suspended state is not conducive to the rest and relaxation of the neck muscles. After waking up, you will feel neck pain, and in severe cases, it may cause muscle strain.

If you want to avoid this and have a good sleep, you have to put your neck on the pillow so that there is a support under the cervical spine so that the neck can maintain a normal curvature. If you just put your head on the pillow, no matter how expensive the pillow is, it will not help.

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Hearing this, you may say, what if this pillow can't support my neck, or the pillow is too high, if I really use it like this, I won't sleep well, what should I do in this case? Don't worry, you may encounter this situation at ordinary times, but scientists have also given us a "prescription".

If we measure the distance from our shoulders to our neck, and it is slightly lower than this distance, then that is the appropriate height for the pillow. If you want to be more precise, there is also a formula to calculate it. Subtract the width of the head from the width of the shoulder and divide it by 2, and that is the appropriate pillow height. This number is generally within 8 to 15 cm.

Scientists provide guidance, but sleeping position is also an important factor. When choosing the height of your pillow, it is best to take this into consideration. If you like to sleep on your back, the height of the pillow should be between 8 and 13 cm. If you are used to sleeping on your side, the height of the pillow should be about the same as the width of your shoulders, so that the cervical and lumbar vertebrae can be kept on the same horizontal line.

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Review | Peng Zhiping, deputy chief physician of the Chinese Sleep Society