This is Day Two Of Our Health Help At Home Health Challenge and this episode is about how can we transform our lives and the lives of our family by doing little things without changing diet and exercise. Today we are talking about Pillow position and that it is not a one size fits all topic. The way you sleep with pillows should depend on how your muscles are functioning. Learn how to find your best sleeping position in this episode.
Health Help At Home Challenge Day #2 Pillow Problems And Prevention
Dr.Krista Ryan: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome. I'm Dr. Krista Ryan with MissDoctorMom podcast, as well as YouTube channel. Today, we are so excited because you are on here and you are part of our 30 day challenge. And this challenge is about how can we transform our lives and the lives of our family by doing little things without changing diet and exercise.
[00:00:22] So if you guys are watching this. Uh, YouTube channel, please like subscribe and share so that each and every one of your family members can get on here and can benefit from the information that we are going to be sharing. Last episode, we were talking about pillow height and why it's important. And how do you find the right pillow for you?
[00:00:42] So if you haven't watched that episode, go back and watch it before you proceed with episode two, which is we are going to be talking about how do we use our pillow properly, um, and why pillow placement matters. And I know this is kind of a weird topic to get into right at the very, very beginning, but, um, a lot of us will get into
[00:01:04] weird positions at night. And then we end up in a chiropractic office such as my office and just having a little bit of education can change all that for you and your family. So, um, the first time I came across. Or had my own sleeping positions. I was actually in chiropractic college and I didn't know the importance of sleeping positions.
[00:01:26] And I didn't know the importance of actually having proper support when I slept at night. Um, and my first experience was with this was I used to have this down pillow, the down pillow had zero support. I used to have to scrunch it up under my neck and tried to find the right sleeping position. And it was always different every night.
[00:01:43] Um, now when I was a baby, I was taught to sleep on my side and I just continued doing that for, um, I think the whole course of my life, although I have had positions where I'm sleeping on my back or my stomach. Now, when I implemented just creating a change with. The pillow that I was using, I went to this down pillow that had zero support to a chiropractic pillow, which had some height to it.
[00:02:09] And it guys, it took me six months. So I'm not kidding. I, I threw it across the room. Uh, when I was sleeping, I had no idea I was doing that. WHen you start changing these things, you might not realize how important it is, but the end is worth it because I would never, ever. Ever go back to sleeping with a down pillow in the way that I was.
[00:02:32] And because of that, I don't have this pain in my neck that corresponded with that time period in my life. I, I think I remember pain even as a child. Um, and after I got my pillow right, I haven't had neck pain since, and I will get it. If I go to a hotel and sleep in a funky position with pillows. Now, um, it's very important.
[00:02:55] To get the right pillow height, but the next step to that is how do we position our pillow and how do we position pillows around her body and, or just support the muscles. Now I got to step back a little bit and teach you guys a little bit how muscles work, because some of these, these things that we don't really think about, and then we don't know how it relates to, um, what we're doing in our lives.
[00:03:20] So I'm going to give you an example. Um, muscles work in groups. So if I turn one group off, another group has to turn off in order for me to move in the direction that I want to move in. For example, when I put my ear to my shoulder, I'm turning on the muscles that are contracting on one side and the muscles on the opposite side have to shut off or there'll be fighting against each other.
[00:03:47] And I'll never get that movement. Now. Do you guys spend all day in a hunched position? Um, my husband's a helicopter pilot and he came home and had massive back pain and problems because he was doing something called long lining, where he was putting his head out the window and looking down at, um, a line under him.
[00:04:10] And he was trying to, um, Take the load that was on that line. Uh, he was moving it through the Bush and he had to be very accurate and put it in the right position. Um, but because he was bending to the one side, he, when he tried to straighten up, he couldn't because he just worked out a muscle for eight hours that he wasn't used to working out and.
[00:04:34] And as you know, none of us ever want to go to the gym and work out for eight hours and then think we're okay after. He had that same muscle pattern happening in his body where he was contracted in one position and it was shutting off.
[00:04:49] The opposite group of muscles. So when we're sitting at a desk and we're, we're hunched over, we're turning on our Ab muscles, we're turning on the muscles, uh, in our pecs. If our shoulders are slumped forward and we're doing that for eight hours a day, and that's why a lot of people run into structural issues and need somebody like.
[00:05:09] A chiropractor to help them get through pain, uh, because their spine has gotten pulled in that direction because of the strong muscles on the front and then the weak muscles on the back. So the whole point of all of that is that you want to make sure that even at night, you're moving your body or putting your body in a position, that's making sure that one group isn't turned on and the other group's turned off.
[00:05:36] So if you crunch up and sleep in a fetal position, you are going to be doing this. The same thing at night that you're doing them the day and you're turning on all the muscles in the front and you're stretching all the muscles in the back, which could create problems and imbalances within your muscle groups.
[00:05:54] And we absolutely want to avoid that in order to stay out of pain and be in the best health possible. So we want to compound our health. And so we're going to compound our sleeping positions as well, and make sure that there's no extra curves or there's no extra muscle tension, uh, by the way that we're sleeping and each and every one of you can do this at home starting tonight.
[00:06:19] So, um, I used to believe very, very strongly that everybody, like, I think I got it just from my environment, but I thought that the best way to sleep was on your back on a firm mattress. And I realized very early when I went into my practice that this is not necessary, the way that everybody can sleep and it's not necessarily the best for each individual person.
[00:06:44] And so I had to come up with sleeping positions where. The muscles weren't turned on and turned off. And again, you always want to create that balance in your body. You want to strive for that. Um, and you can do that with just a few tools that we're going to give you right now. So, and in this episode, so we checked our muscles with pillow height and that same tool.
[00:07:10] I actually want you to use in this video in order to check your muscles for. A sleeping position. So when people S for, uh, for example, when people sleep on their stomach, the problem with stomach sleepers, Is that their neck is torqued to the one side. So how do you position your pillow? So your neck isn't torqued and you're in more of a neutral position.
[00:07:36] Now I want to explain that a little bit because a lot of people don't understand what a neutral position is. Now, if, if you're completely upright and you're standing and you have your supporting muscles. Turned on the supporting muscles for the body should have a little bit of tone in them at all times, but the accessory muscles are turned off and nice and relaxed.
[00:07:59] Then you're in a neutral position. So I shouldn't feel tension more on one side of my neck than I should feel on the other. I shouldn't feel tension on one side of my back compared to the other. It should be. Equal tension. So knowing that if we can get ourselves into a neutral position, we are able to get into a sleeping position where I'm not working at one muscle group for eight hours at a time while we sleep in that position.
[00:08:26] Um, and then expect our bodies to be okay in the morning. So we want to get into that neutral state. Now I want to explain a little bit that. Every part of your body affects another part. And this is important because if you spend time crossing your feet at night, when you sleep, you're actually going to twist up your spine.
[00:08:48] Now I have people that will walk with their ankles inward and for the majority of the time, if they're walking, uh, crossing their feet over their ankles, I will. For the majority of the time. And there's been studies done on this in Europe, on how, um, how our position affects things like scoliosis. I will find that there is a corresponding scoliosis in the body, which means is that there's a curve in your spine.
[00:09:18] That's not supposed to be there now. Sometimes scoliosis can happen. Because of, uh, your structure and, and there's, um, a wedge in one of the bones and one bone wasn't fully formed properly. And then you can get scoliosis from that, but I'm not talking about that. I'm actually talking about something called functional scoliosis, where your body is.
[00:09:42] Um, crooked because of your muscle tension and you can actually change functional scoliosis where you can't change structural scoliosis. So when you're looking at sleeping position, if your feet are crossed, it's actually affecting every single muscle group all through your body and it can be creating a twist or torque.
[00:10:03] So what does that mean when it comes to sleeping position? So. I want to tailor every single person. I want to tailor their sleeping position, according to the, um, the position that they're comfortable in that they're used to. And then I want to make sure that there's no extra pressure. So for example, if you sleep on your side, I want to make sure that your shoulder is not crossing your body, um, or your neck is getting not, your neck is not getting support enough.
[00:10:39] Um, we want to start and maintain that neutral position. So how do we move into a neutral position? Um, well you can do that by. Things like hugging, a Teddy bear or hugging your spouse, where your shoulder. Isn't like both your arms. Aren't lying to the one side. Um, you can also do that by not having your feet cross, not crossing your knees.
[00:11:05] Um, making sure that your, your knee, both knees, aren't touching the bed at the same time. So I want you guys to really think about this when you tonight, when you get into your sleeping position. And I want you to go through the process. Um, I want you to feel your back and say, feel your right side of your back.
[00:11:24] Is it relaxed? Is it tight? Feel the left side of your back? Is it relaxed or tight? And then I want you to put a pillow in between or, or. Put a pillow in between your knees or hug your pillow and see if you can get your body into a position that has no muscle tension on it now. Um, I actually ended up going through disc herniation a number of years ago.
[00:11:49] And when I, I used to sleep with a pillow in between my knees and I did notice that changing the position of the pillow changed the support down my leg and this, this had no effect on me whatsoever until I had a disc herniation. I had a major, um, like my nervous system was really, really compromised because it had been injured. I actually needed to support all the way down my leg and I ha I couldn't just use my regular pillow anymore. I had to change in so that I started using this big Teddy bear and what the Teddy bear was doing is it was putting my. A leg in a position that actually took the pressure off the nerve. So the nerve wasn't contracting my muscles continually at night when I slept, but it was also supporting all the way down to my foot because I was getting numbness in the bottom of my foot and up the back of my leg, which I still have to this day.
[00:12:48] And so. It's important to look at these positions and make sure these are positions that are right for you, and you have to tailor them according to your muscle function. And I really want to stress that because you want to test all of this stuff against your own body. This is something that you want to do, and it's not Willy nilly and it's not, there's not a one size fits all.
[00:13:13] Um, this is something that okay. If I sleep. On my stomach and that's the most comfortable position, but I'm getting back pain all the time. How do I change my back pain? So you'll have to check your muscles on your back, see if one side's, um, uh, pulling more than the other. And if it is, you're going to actually have to try straightening your neck first and seeing if that makes a difference.
[00:13:36] Then the second step would be, how can I get my hips in a position that will take that pressure off the back? And you guys can do this. If I want to empower each and every one of you to take charge of your health, learn these things and, and pass these things on to future generations. Because if we can change little things, In our lives.
[00:13:57] Um, and if we can change them on a continual basis, just one thing at a time, we can elevate our health without all the massive exercise and diet changes that we tend to associate with better health. Sometimes better health means. Can I do one thing and can I change one thing that will change pain will change problems and will, um, get me to a position where I'm living the best life possible and each and every one of you can do that.
[00:14:28] And there are tools out there, but sometimes we just don't know where to find them. So if you know of people that can really benefit from the information that we're sharing with them, the YouTube channel or the podcast, please reach out to them and share. Because this is a free platform. Now, if you guys want further information on MissDoctorMom, or on what I do personally, and how I teach people, how to help themselves at home, we have a wonderful website that is www.healthhelpathome.com, and please spell out each and every individual word. Dot com and I have a video library where you can look up certain conditions, um, just by typing them in.
[00:15:13] And it'll pull up a lot of videos for you that will help each and every spot in your body. So I hope you guys are, are enjoying our challenge and how to elevate your health today without massive diet and exercise changes and stay tuned to our next episode. So guys live with passion, have a great rest of your day. And health should be fun. Health should be something that we look forward to, um, changing so that we can, we can have a massive impact for our family, our friends, and our future. So have great rest of your day guys.
Health Help At Home Challenge Day #2 Pillow Problems And Prevention
Dr.Krista Ryan: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome. I'm Dr. Krista Ryan with MissDoctorMom podcast, as well as YouTube channel. Today, we are so excited because you are on here and you are part of our 30 day challenge. And this challenge is about how can we transform our lives and the lives of our family by doing little things without changing diet and exercise.
[00:00:22] So if you guys are watching this. Uh, YouTube channel, please like subscribe and share so that each and every one of your family members can get on here and can benefit from the information that we are going to be sharing. Last episode, we were talking about pillow height and why it's important. And how do you find the right pillow for you?
[00:00:42] So if you haven't watched that episode, go back and watch it before you proceed with episode two, which is we are going to be talking about how do we use our pillow properly, um, and why pillow placement matters. And I know this is kind of a weird topic to get into right at the very, very beginning, but, um, a lot of us will get into
[00:01:04] weird positions at night. And then we end up in a chiropractic office such as my office and just having a little bit of education can change all that for you and your family. So, um, the first time I came across. Or had my own sleeping positions. I was actually in chiropractic college and I didn't know the importance of sleeping positions.
[00:01:26] And I didn't know the importance of actually having proper support when I slept at night. Um, and my first experience was with this was I used to have this down pillow, the down pillow had zero support. I used to have to scrunch it up under my neck and tried to find the right sleeping position. And it was always different every night.
[00:01:43] Um, now when I was a baby, I was taught to sleep on my side and I just continued doing that for, um, I think the whole course of my life, although I have had positions where I'm sleeping on my back or my stomach. Now, when I implemented just creating a change with. The pillow that I was using, I went to this down pillow that had zero support to a chiropractic pillow, which had some height to it.
[00:02:09] And it guys, it took me six months. So I'm not kidding. I, I threw it across the room. Uh, when I was sleeping, I had no idea I was doing that. WHen you start changing these things, you might not realize how important it is, but the end is worth it because I would never, ever. Ever go back to sleeping with a down pillow in the way that I was.
[00:02:32] And because of that, I don't have this pain in my neck that corresponded with that time period in my life. I, I think I remember pain even as a child. Um, and after I got my pillow right, I haven't had neck pain since, and I will get it. If I go to a hotel and sleep in a funky position with pillows. Now, um, it's very important.
[00:02:55] To get the right pillow height, but the next step to that is how do we position our pillow and how do we position pillows around her body and, or just support the muscles. Now I got to step back a little bit and teach you guys a little bit how muscles work, because some of these, these things that we don't really think about, and then we don't know how it relates to, um, what we're doing in our lives.
[00:03:20] So I'm going to give you an example. Um, muscles work in groups. So if I turn one group off, another group has to turn off in order for me to move in the direction that I want to move in. For example, when I put my ear to my shoulder, I'm turning on the muscles that are contracting on one side and the muscles on the opposite side have to shut off or there'll be fighting against each other.
[00:03:47] And I'll never get that movement. Now. Do you guys spend all day in a hunched position? Um, my husband's a helicopter pilot and he came home and had massive back pain and problems because he was doing something called long lining, where he was putting his head out the window and looking down at, um, a line under him.
[00:04:10] And he was trying to, um, Take the load that was on that line. Uh, he was moving it through the Bush and he had to be very accurate and put it in the right position. Um, but because he was bending to the one side, he, when he tried to straighten up, he couldn't because he just worked out a muscle for eight hours that he wasn't used to working out and.
[00:04:34] And as you know, none of us ever want to go to the gym and work out for eight hours and then think we're okay after. He had that same muscle pattern happening in his body where he was contracted in one position and it was shutting off.
[00:04:49] The opposite group of muscles. So when we're sitting at a desk and we're, we're hunched over, we're turning on our Ab muscles, we're turning on the muscles, uh, in our pecs. If our shoulders are slumped forward and we're doing that for eight hours a day, and that's why a lot of people run into structural issues and need somebody like.
[00:05:09] A chiropractor to help them get through pain, uh, because their spine has gotten pulled in that direction because of the strong muscles on the front and then the weak muscles on the back. So the whole point of all of that is that you want to make sure that even at night, you're moving your body or putting your body in a position, that's making sure that one group isn't turned on and the other group's turned off.
[00:05:36] So if you crunch up and sleep in a fetal position, you are going to be doing this. The same thing at night that you're doing them the day and you're turning on all the muscles in the front and you're stretching all the muscles in the back, which could create problems and imbalances within your muscle groups.
[00:05:54] And we absolutely want to avoid that in order to stay out of pain and be in the best health possible. So we want to compound our health. And so we're going to compound our sleeping positions as well, and make sure that there's no extra curves or there's no extra muscle tension, uh, by the way that we're sleeping and each and every one of you can do this at home starting tonight.
[00:06:19] So, um, I used to believe very, very strongly that everybody, like, I think I got it just from my environment, but I thought that the best way to sleep was on your back on a firm mattress. And I realized very early when I went into my practice that this is not necessary, the way that everybody can sleep and it's not necessarily the best for each individual person.
[00:06:44] And so I had to come up with sleeping positions where. The muscles weren't turned on and turned off. And again, you always want to create that balance in your body. You want to strive for that. Um, and you can do that with just a few tools that we're going to give you right now. So, and in this episode, so we checked our muscles with pillow height and that same tool.
[00:07:10] I actually want you to use in this video in order to check your muscles for. A sleeping position. So when people S for, uh, for example, when people sleep on their stomach, the problem with stomach sleepers, Is that their neck is torqued to the one side. So how do you position your pillow? So your neck isn't torqued and you're in more of a neutral position.
[00:07:36] Now I want to explain that a little bit because a lot of people don't understand what a neutral position is. Now, if, if you're completely upright and you're standing and you have your supporting muscles. Turned on the supporting muscles for the body should have a little bit of tone in them at all times, but the accessory muscles are turned off and nice and relaxed.
[00:07:59] Then you're in a neutral position. So I shouldn't feel tension more on one side of my neck than I should feel on the other. I shouldn't feel tension on one side of my back compared to the other. It should be. Equal tension. So knowing that if we can get ourselves into a neutral position, we are able to get into a sleeping position where I'm not working at one muscle group for eight hours at a time while we sleep in that position.
[00:08:26] Um, and then expect our bodies to be okay in the morning. So we want to get into that neutral state. Now I want to explain a little bit that. Every part of your body affects another part. And this is important because if you spend time crossing your feet at night, when you sleep, you're actually going to twist up your spine.
[00:08:48] Now I have people that will walk with their ankles inward and for the majority of the time, if they're walking, uh, crossing their feet over their ankles, I will. For the majority of the time. And there's been studies done on this in Europe, on how, um, how our position affects things like scoliosis. I will find that there is a corresponding scoliosis in the body, which means is that there's a curve in your spine.
[00:09:18] That's not supposed to be there now. Sometimes scoliosis can happen. Because of, uh, your structure and, and there's, um, a wedge in one of the bones and one bone wasn't fully formed properly. And then you can get scoliosis from that, but I'm not talking about that. I'm actually talking about something called functional scoliosis, where your body is.
[00:09:42] Um, crooked because of your muscle tension and you can actually change functional scoliosis where you can't change structural scoliosis. So when you're looking at sleeping position, if your feet are crossed, it's actually affecting every single muscle group all through your body and it can be creating a twist or torque.
[00:10:03] So what does that mean when it comes to sleeping position? So. I want to tailor every single person. I want to tailor their sleeping position, according to the, um, the position that they're comfortable in that they're used to. And then I want to make sure that there's no extra pressure. So for example, if you sleep on your side, I want to make sure that your shoulder is not crossing your body, um, or your neck is getting not, your neck is not getting support enough.
[00:10:39] Um, we want to start and maintain that neutral position. So how do we move into a neutral position? Um, well you can do that by. Things like hugging, a Teddy bear or hugging your spouse, where your shoulder. Isn't like both your arms. Aren't lying to the one side. Um, you can also do that by not having your feet cross, not crossing your knees.
[00:11:05] Um, making sure that your, your knee, both knees, aren't touching the bed at the same time. So I want you guys to really think about this when you tonight, when you get into your sleeping position. And I want you to go through the process. Um, I want you to feel your back and say, feel your right side of your back.
[00:11:24] Is it relaxed? Is it tight? Feel the left side of your back? Is it relaxed or tight? And then I want you to put a pillow in between or, or. Put a pillow in between your knees or hug your pillow and see if you can get your body into a position that has no muscle tension on it now. Um, I actually ended up going through disc herniation a number of years ago.
[00:11:49] And when I, I used to sleep with a pillow in between my knees and I did notice that changing the position of the pillow changed the support down my leg and this, this had no effect on me whatsoever until I had a disc herniation. I had a major, um, like my nervous system was really, really compromised because it had been injured. I actually needed to support all the way down my leg and I ha I couldn't just use my regular pillow anymore. I had to change in so that I started using this big Teddy bear and what the Teddy bear was doing is it was putting my. A leg in a position that actually took the pressure off the nerve. So the nerve wasn't contracting my muscles continually at night when I slept, but it was also supporting all the way down to my foot because I was getting numbness in the bottom of my foot and up the back of my leg, which I still have to this day.
[00:12:48] And so. It's important to look at these positions and make sure these are positions that are right for you, and you have to tailor them according to your muscle function. And I really want to stress that because you want to test all of this stuff against your own body. This is something that you want to do, and it's not Willy nilly and it's not, there's not a one size fits all.
[00:13:13] Um, this is something that okay. If I sleep. On my stomach and that's the most comfortable position, but I'm getting back pain all the time. How do I change my back pain? So you'll have to check your muscles on your back, see if one side's, um, uh, pulling more than the other. And if it is, you're going to actually have to try straightening your neck first and seeing if that makes a difference.
[00:13:36] Then the second step would be, how can I get my hips in a position that will take that pressure off the back? And you guys can do this. If I want to empower each and every one of you to take charge of your health, learn these things and, and pass these things on to future generations. Because if we can change little things, In our lives.
[00:13:57] Um, and if we can change them on a continual basis, just one thing at a time, we can elevate our health without all the massive exercise and diet changes that we tend to associate with better health. Sometimes better health means. Can I do one thing and can I change one thing that will change pain will change problems and will, um, get me to a position where I'm living the best life possible and each and every one of you can do that.
[00:14:28] And there are tools out there, but sometimes we just don't know where to find them. So if you know of people that can really benefit from the information that we're sharing with them, the YouTube channel or the podcast, please reach out to them and share. Because this is a free platform. Now, if you guys want further information on MissDoctorMom, or on what I do personally, and how I teach people, how to help themselves at home, we have a wonderful website that is www.healthhelpathome.com, and please spell out each and every individual word. Dot com and I have a video library where you can look up certain conditions, um, just by typing them in.
[00:15:13] And it'll pull up a lot of videos for you that will help each and every spot in your body. So I hope you guys are, are enjoying our challenge and how to elevate your health today without massive diet and exercise changes and stay tuned to our next episode. So guys live with passion, have a great rest of your day. And health should be fun. Health should be something that we look forward to, um, changing so that we can, we can have a massive impact for our family, our friends, and our future. So have great rest of your day guys.