If you are looking for help with sore muscles, in addition to relieving achy joints and being able to get a good night's sleep, then consider the many advantages of using a body pillow. Body pillows can help with so many issues as they relate to preventing you from getting a good night's sleep, which you need to heal and get back on your feet.
If you have ever had the unfortunate experience of having sore, aching muscles, you know how it can prevent you from getting a solid night's sleep. By tossing and turning all night to try to find a comfortable sleeping position, you keep waking up or not really falling into that deep restoring sleep all of us need.
The reason for resting and sleeping is to allow the body to rejuvenate itself or to allow healing. Resting the body properly is one of the keys to good health.
There are several things that may prevent you from getting the good sleep you need to wake up refreshed and feeling good. Anything from back pain, leg pain, neck/shoulder pain, arthritis, fibromyalgia and even pregnancy can take a toll on your joints and muscles to the point of preventing a good night's sleep.
By using a body pillow, which may even be recommended by your doctor or chiropractor, you can help find the comfort your body is looking for in order to get some sleep.
When you are experiencing any kind of pain, you tend to toss and turn throughout the night, trying to find some comfort. When this happens, even if you think you are sleeping, you continue to wake yourself up, or at least out of the deep, restorative level of sleep.
You may wake up feeling tired, more achy and experience a back, neck or headache even after what you thought was a good night's sleep. It's not the number of hours you sleep so much as the kind of sleep you're getting. When you are constantly moving around looking for a comfortable position, you are disturbing the sleep process.
Another thing tossing and turning does is to move your neck and shoulders. Each time you turn, you are doing more harm than good because your neck and shoulders move out of alignment with your spine.
Did you ever wake up, feeling just as bad or worse the next morning, and chalk it up to "sleeping wrong?" That's exactly what happened in the case of tossing and turning all night. You were sleeping "wrong."
By moving your neck and shoulders out of alignment with your spine, there can be all kinds of pressure or stress placed on many other parts of your body like your back, hips and legs.
If you use a body pillow, it can provide the support you need to prevent tossing and turning. It cradles your body and decreases the frequency of movement during the night.
If you invest in a U-shaped body pillow, for example, it provides support to all parts of the body from head and shoulders right down to your legs, no matter if you sleep on your side or stomach.
Depending on what kind of material your body pillow is filled with, such as down, gel or shredded poly-fiber, you can choose the level of firmness that is most comfortable to you and it feels good on those aching muscles and joints.
Body pillows are great to use during a pregnancy, to support those growing tummies and cradle the back and legs which may be sore due to the extra weight.
A body pillow is also helpful for those recovering from surgery. Heart patients may benefit from holding on to a body pillow when coughing, to ease the chest pain that comes along with it. It is also good for the legs of a heart patient to soothe and give those legs a soft spot to heal.
You can use the body pillow for things other than sleeping, such as sitting up to watch TV or reading, and it will give your upper body and back the support it needs.
The many varieties of body pillows available today can provide help for sore muscles, achy joints and give you that level of comfort you need to get a good night's sleep. They come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, and the body pillow pillowcases give style and flair to any bedroom. You can make your bed more comfortable, feel better and more well rested, and do it all in style.