Ever notice frequenting a new bed can wreck your sleep and pain your neck and back? This doesn’t happen to everyone, but as you get older, sleep issues tend to manifest clearer than when young. I’ve noticed it, personally, that now that I’m getting older, my bones and muscles are more susceptible to aches, strains, and misalignments. And if you’re like me, you travel often and sleep in a strange bed more often than your own. Or at least, that’s how it used to be for me. Now, when I travel, I take a versatile travel pillow with me, which initially may sound like a burden, but it’s not...
For years, since my backpacking trip across Europe (which strained my back and shoulders from the weight and size of my pack, as well as how many hundreds of random beds I slept in), and my road trip across the U.S. (day after day spent in a non-ergonomic car seat that felt as though it was shaped like a bucket – and no, I don’t mean bucket seats), I’ve struggled with feeling normal again, so I reached out to Honeydew Sleep for help. For years, I would toss and turn, and prop myself up just to lessen the pain in my back, then I sought help from a chiropractor and a massage therapist, who after a few months of attention, had my back feeling better than ever.
But it was the maintaining the positive position that was the trouble, because each and every night in-between sessions, I would lay in odd ways to find momentary comfort and then pay for it when the morning came. I was overcompensating for a turned vertebrae that pressed on a nerve, that ended up reeking havoc down through my spine, into my hips and buttocks and finally into my feet, and of course, it worked the same through my upper back, shoulders and neck, causing all sorts of tension, muscle pulls and knots that began to affect my everyday ability to keep up with my work, and it seriously affected my quality of life.
But it was the maintaining the positive position that was the trouble, because each and every night in-between sessions, I would lay in odd ways to find momentary comfort and then pay for it when the morning came. I was overcompensating for a turned vertebrae that pressed on a nerve, that ended up reeking havoc down through my spine, into my hips and buttocks and finally into my feet, and of course, it worked the same through my upper back, shoulders and neck, causing all sorts of tension, muscle pulls and knots that began to affect my everyday ability to keep up with my work, and it seriously affected my quality of life.
I reached out to Honeydew Sleep and they sent me their Scrumptious Travel Pillow for the road and their Side Sleeper Scrumptious Pillow for home use. Honeydew is a family business who specializes in creating pillows that are versatile in shape and thickness, and are made of luxurious fabrics and filled with a very soft, lightweight material that is easily manipulated and formed within the casing, so that if you have problems such as my own, it’s easy to make them work for you. At least, that was my experience.
At first trial, the side sleeper was a bit overly filled, making the pillow too tall for my picky neck and so I had experienced some renewed pains after the first night, but after removing some of the filling, I was able to find a perfect medium that worked well for my body. The side sleeper is a brilliant design, because as a notorious side sleeper who is very bad at it, and who tends to find a position that worked in the moment only to have the worst neck pull that lasted for days, it worked very well for me. So when my back has tension or pain, I can turn on my side and not worry about screwing up my neck, which after a month of testing I’ve been able to ease, as well as lessen the anxiety I had in the night. It wasn’t an immediate improvement, though after enough time, I found the right size, shape, and form that worked best for me, which is why Honeydew’s pillows are so successful, because they can form well for most people.
At first trial, the side sleeper was a bit overly filled, making the pillow too tall for my picky neck and so I had experienced some renewed pains after the first night, but after removing some of the filling, I was able to find a perfect medium that worked well for my body. The side sleeper is a brilliant design, because as a notorious side sleeper who is very bad at it, and who tends to find a position that worked in the moment only to have the worst neck pull that lasted for days, it worked very well for me. So when my back has tension or pain, I can turn on my side and not worry about screwing up my neck, which after a month of testing I’ve been able to ease, as well as lessen the anxiety I had in the night. It wasn’t an immediate improvement, though after enough time, I found the right size, shape, and form that worked best for me, which is why Honeydew’s pillows are so successful, because they can form well for most people.
The travel pillow is the star, however. Unlike most ‘travel pillows,’ which tend to be u-shaped oddities that are burdens to travel with and typically only work for about 10-minutes before the pain starts and only work in flight while sitting upright, the Scrumptious Travel Pillow by Honeydew is made along the same lines as the side sleeper, but has the capability of shrinking into a small package. Measuring in at 22”x11” when erect, the Scrumptious Travel Pillow is just the right size for normal sleeping in a bed or upright on a plane, yet it is possible to squeeze it into a bag that’s less than half the size. Being that size, I can take it backpacking or in a suitcase without issue, and no matter where I am, I can have my pillow at my side so that it’s not such a shock when I move from bed to bed when I’m off along my travels.
If you would like to learn more about Honeydew Sleep, click here.
Article written by Brandon Scott
(Main photo by skunkpiks via Flickr)
Product photos by © Honeydew Sleep.
If you would like to learn more about Honeydew Sleep, click here.
Article written by Brandon Scott
(Main photo by skunkpiks via Flickr)
Product photos by © Honeydew Sleep.
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