Neck pain

[margie22]

I know that this has been discussed before, but I read some of the previous posts and still can't decide what would work for me.

I have been using CPAP therapy for about 2 1/2 months and I love it. I am sleeping so much better, tolerate the mask and the pressure, and am wearing the mask about 7 hours a night.

However, about 2 weeks ago I started waking up with a stiff neck and neck pain. I already use a temperpedic mattress and have tried both a regular pillow and a memory foam pillow and received no relief from either.

Any other suggestions?

[plr66]

Are you sleeping on your side, as is usually recommended? If so, my guess would be that your neck pain might be coming from your head being forced by your pillow to either tip up or down through the night. This can easily happen if your pillow is either too fat or too thin. Another explanation is that most standard bed pillows have "sharp" (sloping) edges rather than boxed (gusseted) edges. Unless you really work at punching up your pillow to be fatter under your neck, the top of your head will almost be forced to tip up rather than remaining level, and that could certainly produce neck pain.

If either of these scenarios are the case for you, then one inexpensive fix might be to find a $12 contour memory foam pillow at Big Lots or Target and play around with adding some level height to it (folded towels inside the pillow case) so that you can sleep on your side with your head & neck in a straight line. Another great alternative is the PaPillow, or similar, which has a 3-4" gusseted edge that accomplishes the same thing in a more expensive way.

I use the PaPillow and love it. But there are times when I catch myself waking up with my head in a very awkward and uncomfortable position as I have unconsciously moved around to either stop a leak or clear the vents while sleeping. That happened much more often when I didn't have the right pillow, and almost never happens now.

[Mary Z]

Sorry about the neck pain. That's a bummer. What worked for you before CPAP? You may be subconsciously trying to stay in one position to avoid mask leaks, causing the stiff neck. I use my regular old pillow with my FitLife Total Face Mask and luckily don't have any trouble. Hope you find some relief.

[Trinsor]

Hello everyone .I am new on this forum and want to join all of you.I want to discuss here a problem.I have a neck problem.My neck muscles are weak from my childhood and with it there is always pain in my neck.Kindly share with me some information and ideas to get ride of it.reply soon.Thanks.