A lot of people struggle to get comfortable while they sleep. If you don’t have the right mattress, the optimal temperature, or the perfect sheets, you can end up tossing and turning all night.
Getting a good night’s sleep is really important for your health. Your body and your brain need to refresh themselves during the night for you to function at your best during the daytime.
Oftentimes, a non-restful sleep can result in soreness and pains that can put a damper on your schedule. To help combat this, you should consider getting a knee pillow for a better sleep.
What Is A Knee Pillow?
For starters, a knee pillow is a type of cushion that goes between your knees. You can use a knee pillow while you sleep to help with your sleeping posture. It can help pull your hips and back into a position that is best for comfortable sleeping, especially for side sleepers.
A knee pillow is usually shaped like an “X” and has wide sides to help support your legs. There is also a divot in the middle of the firm pillow, which is where you rest your knees in your sleep position.
Just like mattress protectors or pillow protectors, knee pillows often have a machine washable cover which makes washing them quite easy. This can be great because no matter when or where you end up using a knee pillow, it’s always helpful to be able to keep it clean without ruining the material inside that keeps its shape.
What Are The Benefits?
So, why do you need a knee pillow? Well, there are several benefits of sleeping with one.
Here are a few of the most common benefits, as well as reasons to look into getting one for yourself:
- Helps to relieve pain in your back and hips. The orthopedic knee pillow separates your knees, which can help reduce the stress that you put on your hip while sleeping. Your back can become out of alignment if you strain it while you sleep, but a knee pillow can correct this from happening and provide pain relief.
- Helps to reduce the pressure that you feel in your knees themselves. Normally, the weight of your upper legs presses into your hips and pulls everything downward. This puts pressure on your hip and can lead to lifelong problems for your body, like sciatica pain. Knee pillows help to redistribute the weight and reduce the pressure on your knees as well.
- Straining your muscles during sleep can lead to poor posture during the day too. With your back out of alignment, it can be difficult to sit up or stand up straight. This only puts more stress on your muscles, causing a cycle of agony. Knee pillows can help restore your posture so that you can have less back and hip pain.
- Knee pillows can also improve your circulation while you sleep. If you let all your weight rest on your hip, it can cut off the blood supply to your legs. This can lead to problems such as blood clots or other circulation issues. When you use a knee pillow, it takes the weight off of your hips, allowing your blood to flow freely to your lower legs and feet, as it should.
- If you suffer from sleep apnea, you could benefit from a knee pillow. This condition closes off the throat and stops your breathing temporarily. By using a knee pillow, it can keep your head in line with your body so that your airway can stay open. This means you will snore less and get a better night of sleep.
Does Sleep Posture Matter?
Sleep posture is vital to your health. You spend about a third of your life sleeping, so the way that you sleep matters. If you keep your body properly aligned during sleep, it will help your posture during the day as well.
On the other hand, if you end up sleeping with poor posture, you could cause temporary damage or pain that could eventually turn into extreme, chronic pain that could last the rest of your life. Here are some examples of some of the most common side effects of poor sleep posture:
- Back strain: extremely poor sleeping positions can cause back strain, which is muscle pain caused by stretching your back in unnatural directions while you sleep. This often arises with side sleeping.
- Neck pain. Sometimes, a regular pillow just doesn't do enough.
- Overarched spine: Stomach sleepers put a serious strain on the back and neck. Because the middle of your body is usually the heaviest, this sleeping position can actually cause your spine to overarch, which can cause long-term damage to nerve endings and increase pain over time.
- Sleep apnea: Believe it or not, the way you sleep can contribute to the quality of your sleep. Obstructive sleep apnea is exacerbated for back sleepers because gravity pulls your throat’s soft tissues down into your airway and makes it very difficult to get a good night’s rest.
So when considering sleep posture, it’s incredibly important to make sure that you’re actually giving yourself your best shot at a good night’s rest, knee pillow or no. Try sleeping on your side for the best results!
If you go to the chiropractor, you could be reversing the effect of the alignment that you’re trying to provide for your body. Having a proper sleeping posture can save you money in the long run and reduce your chances of developing arthritis extremely early in life.
What You Should Want In A Knee Pillow
If you start looking for a knee pillow to buy, there are some things you should consider first. You’ll want to think about how much support you want, as well as how much weight you’ll have resting on the pillow.
If you are the kind of person who tosses and turns at night, you might want to look into buying a knee pillow with adjustable leg straps. This can help keep your legs in place at night, preventing the pillow from falling off your bed while still helping your spine alignment.
One of the most common materials used for knee pillows is memory foam. This type of material is dense and provides a lot of support for your knees and back. High-density memory foam can also be molded to conform to your body’s specific contours. Memory foam is made of polymer foam and is extremely soft and hypoallergenic.
Memory foam is great for reducing even more pressure from parts of your body, so it can be really helpful for knee pain and spinal alignment. The way that it conforms to your body is effortless, so there is no need to spend time adjusting the pillow to be just right.
The Everlasting Comfort Memory Foam Knee Pillow is made with 100% high-quality memory foam and has a removable strap that can be adjusted, which makes it one of the best knee pillows out there. It has an ergonomic design that is curved for extra comfort to support your legs, hips, and back. It can help treat pain from arthritis, bursitis, and help pregnant women. If you find you get too hot on memory foam, you can also look into memory foam infused with cooling gel.
Some Other Types Of Supportive Pillows
Memory foam and supportive pillows are also available for other parts of your body. Investing in a supportive pillow can be great for your neck and keeping your head supported.
Wedge pillows can be used if you sleep on your stomach to provide extra support during the night.
There are also pillows that can go under your waist as well. This helps support your lumbar spine and can reduce lower back pain, which is very common.
A knee pillow is a good place to start if you are trying to reduce aches and pains, but if you are still having problems after purchasing one, you may want to look at some more types of pillows to add to your bed.
Great For Pregnancy
Pregnant women often run into problems while sleeping, especially if they’re used to sleeping on their back or stomach. The baby bump can make certain sleeping positions impossible. One of the best options for pregnant women is sleeping on their side.
Pregnant women’s bodies are under a lot of stress during the day, so getting the proper amount of support during the night is especially important.
Knee pillows can keep your hips and legs aligned with the rest of your body while you sleep and make it easier on your muscles. This can allow your body to grow and rest as it needs to during the night, instead of straining.
You want to be selective about the shape of your knee pillow if you are pregnant. The ones that are “X” shaped can be great for baby bumps.
In Summary
Sleeping with a memory foam knee pillow can improve your sleep greatly. If you’ve suffered from cricks in your neck and back pain for your whole life, then a knee pillow could be a game-changer.
Posture is very important, even while you sleep. Having good posture not only looks healthier, but it can help you feel better too.
Sources
1.https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentTypeID=1&ContentID=4460
2.https://familydoctor.org/getting-enough-sleep-pregnancy/
3.https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/memory-foam-pros-and-cons
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