A night of good, restful sleep is a combination of many factors, and a good pillow is one of them. When you sleep well, you’re able to function at your best for the entire day. Your mood is positive, your appetite is excellent, and you feel better.
On the other hand, your alertness will be affected if you don’t get enough sleep. You’ll feel lethargic, have difficulty processing information, and be moody the entire day, affecting your relationships with people around you.
You have been told many times that you should sleep an average of 8 to10 hours a day, but a recent study showed that seven hours of sleep is a step in the right direction
Good quality pillows, such as the ones from PineTales, are needed to give yourself an excellent, restful sleep. Because if you don’t have a good pillow, your health may suffer.
Here are some of the ways a pillow affects your health:
- Disrupt Blood Flow To The Neck
Pillows that are too soft can disrupt blood flow to the neck when you sleep on your back. This happens because your neck bends backward in an awkward position for a prolonged period of time.
It would be best to choose a good pillow depending on your sleeping position. If you’re a side sleeper, you need extra firm pillows because you need to have your neck and head aligned when lying down.
When you sleep in this position often, you’ll have pain in your neck and have frequent bouts with headaches.
- Make Sleeping Posture Worse
Using the incorrect pillow can make your sleeping posture worse. And if you often sleep with the wrong posture, you might suffer from sleep apnea, a severe sleep disorder that causes breathing to stop and start repeatedly.
Sleep apnea-related deaths in the United States are estimated at 38,000 people every year. If left untreated, it could lead to other conditions like stroke, asthma, sudden cardiac death, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and diabetes.
Sleeping in an incorrect posture can give you chronic back and neck pain. Your productivity will be affected when this happens, since even the slightest movement could be painful.
People who suffer from chronic back and neck pain often become depressed since they have limitations in mobility, gain too much weight, and lose muscle strength. To address this, you need to undergo physical therapy to increase your range of motion and manage the pain when you move.
- Worsen Your Skin
Pillows, when not regularly cleaned, can harbor bacteria and allergens. Pests and microbes like dust mites and bed bugs can also thrive in them. A dirty pillow can give you dermatitis, eczema, and acne. In addition, dust mites and microbes may exacerbate your asthma and allergies.
Bed bugs also bite, and they live solely on blood. Their bites turn into itchy welts and become very irritating. Severe scratching can make your skin irritated, broken, and bleeding, leading to infection and scars.
Ultimately, bad skin can affect not just your physical condition but your mental state as well. Many people who suffer from terrible skin conditions become insecure, have low self-esteem, and, in worse cases, suffer from depression.
- Worsen Your Acid Reflux Disease
Acid reflux, or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), happens when your lower esophageal sphincter (LES) doesn’t close all the way. As a result, it can cause acids produced by your stomach to come back up into your esophagus. Using too thin pillows doesn’t elevate the neck high enough to prevent the acid backwash from reaching the chest and throat.
With acid reflux, you might experience chest discomfort or heartburn. Aside from heart burn, you may also experience regurgitation when a sour or bitter-tasting acid backs up in your throat. Other symptoms include bloating, bloody stools, and dysphagia.
A pillow with just the right firmness can help align your head, so your LES remains closed while you sleep.
- Increase Your Stress Levels
You will suffer from irritability and stress when you don’t get enough sleep because of an uncomfortable pillow. When you’re sleep-deprived, you’ll be in a grumpy mood most of the time. Stress can cause high blood pressure, panic attacks, and anxiety, which are not good for one’s mental health.
- Low Immunity To Diseases
Lack of sleep because of an uncomfortable pillow can affect one’s immune system negatively, and when your immunity is low, it will take you longer to get better when you’re afflicted with an illness. You’ll also be more prone to infections.
Conclusion
Finding the right pillow may not be the easiest task to accomplish, but taking the time and doing your research can do a lot of wonders for your well-being. Investing a little time in searching for the perfect pillow will give you more benefits in the long run.
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