Side sleeping and stiff neck in the AM

[SleepyHound]

I have many pillows with differing degrees of firmness. The first week I wasn't able to keep the mask on for more than a few hours, so I wasn't too uncomfortable in the morning. The second week I managed to actually use my CPAP for more than just decorative piece of equipment on my nightstand. I wear the Swift FX nasal pillows attached to the ResMed ClimateLine. Initially I wore the face mask with the provided ResMed cheek pads. I eventually abandoned the pads cuz I felt like the pads were slick on my face and moved my mask around when I repositioned.

At any rate, I woke up with a really stiff, achy neck when I would keep the mask on all night. I don't know if it's just me being paranoid about moving the mask or covering up the extra-flow part of the tubing that they tell you not to cover up? I tried a variety of pillows with varying firmness and no luck. I found out that I "dig in" to my pillow to get comfy and rubbing my face into the pillow causes my mask to move a little. Today I bought a squishy roll pillow (HoMedics Sqush) at Bed Bath and Beyond. It cradles my head and I can feel myself relaxing a little better. I hope to wake up to a less stiff neck. ...will keep ya'll posted.

[gasp]

and . . . how is the neck : ) I really like my Tempur-Pedic pillow because if I poke it the depression I pokes stays put.

[CPAP-Dude73]

I was getting a scarily stiff neck after using my CPAP steadily for about a year. My device sits on a nightstand beside my bed. What I have discovered is that by simply moving the device (and myself) to the other side of the bed the stiff neck problem went away overnight. So at least for me, it has nothing to do with the tightness of the straps, meningitis, or anything else. There must just be some sort of subconcious muscle resistance against the weight of the mask pulling the head ever so subtley in the direction of the mask. Over a long period of time, a cervical spasm-type stiff neck will develop. My suggession is to alternate sides of the bed every so often to prevent this, and definitely to switch sides if you currently have developed a cervical spasm type stiff neck. All the best, -B

[BlackSpinner]

When I went to visit my daughter last month I got to sleep on her new expensive latex foam mattress and got a doozy of a stiff neck. I ended up rolling a towel into the pillow case to give me more support. That helped a lot. Now I am back on my hard el cheapo mattress with cheap egg crate cover and I am fine.

[zeeclass]

I have chronic back and neck problems and I can't sleep on memory foam which is very squishy. It just doesn't support me well and I wind up in pain. (I'm only 15lbs overweight, btw, so the fact that the foam doesn't support me has nothing to do with my weight or size -- I'm a small person, only 5'3"). I have been told by doctors and physical therapists that if you have herniated discs (which I do), memory foam is not good. You need something firmer and supportive. For that reason I'll NEVER buy a Tempurpedic bed.

Anyway, there's another thread about this subject. I had observed that when I sleep normally without a mask, my face turns into the pillow. But when I have the mask on, it pushes my face up ever so slightly -- enough to make my neck hurt. I have observed that it's not entirely the mask that's doing this, but the hose coupling at the front of the mask. I'm buying a contour cpap pillow to see if that helps. I already use a contour-type dense foam pillow, so I'm used to that sort of thing.

For me it's a bit of a catch-22: I need a pillow which is very supportive, but which can accommodate the hose.

[Ms Piggy]

Do you use a support system for your hose? I find that mine helps to avoid leaks by reducing, or eliminating pulling.
It might just help to avoid the neck pain by keeping everything supported and out of the way..

Mine is just made form a length 3/4 inch vynal or plastic pipe with a joint and top T on which I suspend
a couple of rubber bands which I thread my hose through. It also needs a the correct bottom pieces to enable it to be stuck under the mattress by way of support for it. It can be cut into shorter lengths to make it more transportable if necessary.
best to punch it into the search system to view it and get proper instructions of course!
OR they have one posted on cpap.com, although some folks say something about one part being more fragile. nothing \fragile
about the piping one

[Mediflow]

I was wondering if any of you ever tried sleeping on one of our water pillows with your mask on? Water pillows are helpful in that they support that neck and spine by actually adjusting as the user sleeps. The waterbase inside the pillow shifts to fill the gap needed for cervical support and cradle the head as well...reducing the chance of waking up with neck pain. I have not, however, received feedback from users who also sleep w a CPAP mask - I'd love to hear if the pillow accomodates this.

[zeeclass]

OK, I tried the "regular" Contour Products CPAP pillow. I think that for most people it might work well, but for me the part that supports your neck was too small and low. I need something higher. So I'm returning it and instead trying to other Contour pillows: the new "Max" one and the regular "high profile" one. I know they are supposed to be for heavy big people (which I am not) but my neck problem requires something thicker.

Overall I liked the way the pillow was designed, however. I'm used to a contour-type foam pillow that is rather dense, and the density of the pillow was pretty good for me. I thought that if the neck/shoulder part was just thicker it might work well for me. People who are used to feather pillows might not like it, but if you're used to sleeping with a denser foam pillow, it would probably be OK.

One drawback I noticed was that I was doing more mouth breathing with this pillow when I was on my side (probably because of the cutouts -- no pillow against the side of my mouth, perhaps?) My mask is nasal-only, so I have just ordered a few different chin straps from cpap.com. I have one that my DME guy gave me but it's too bulky and uncomfortable (but will do, temporarily until the new ones come).

If neither of these two Contour pillows work, I will try other options.

Last night, I had to have a "free" night without cpap so that I could get a whole night's sleep without a stiff neck. Back to the same old crap of occasional twitching and feeling that I didn't sleep very calmly. But at least my neck feels better today! But since overall I feel better on the cpap, I plan to go back to it tonight.

I'll let you guys know how it all turns out as I continue on my pillow odyssey.

[gasp]

As one user mentioned, a hose management system may help. I use the travel buddy https://www.cpap.com/productpage/travel ... ystem.html with the Respironics Performance tubing (nice and light and helps me move around without noticing any hose weight on my mask). https://www.cpap.com/productpage/respir ... ubing.html

When I first started XPAP I noticed that I strained my face upward and outward a bit - as if to ensure a better mask seal. Doing that gave me neck aches. Now I relax my head and adjust the mask straps to ensure a correct seal.

[So Well]

Side sleeping and stiff neck in the AM
I have many pillows with differing degrees of firmness...

You need to make sure your head is in such a position that the neck is on the same plane as the rest of the spine. When sleeping on the side, if your neck is higher or lower than the rest of the spine, you have a "crook" that can cause even bigger problems than what you have now. Test the alignment with the head at full rest and wearing the mask.

Pillow firmness is a matter of personal preference. Proper alignment is the critical factor.

I was wondering if any of you ever tried sleeping on one of our water pillows with your mask on? Water pillows are helpful in that they support that neck and spine by actually adjusting as the user sleeps. The waterbase inside the pillow shifts to fill the gap needed for cervical support and cradle the head as well...reducing the chance of waking up with neck pain. I have not, however, received feedback from users who also sleep w a CPAP mask - I'd love to hear if the pillow accomodates this.

Here is the Mediflow site - http://www.mediflow.com/

Maybe you have special knowledge and can comment on the alignment issue.

Thanks for posting,

[Mediflow]

Thanks So Well...to answer your question...

When you sleep, you want to keep your neck and spine in a normal, healthy position. Your pillow choice will change depending on your sleep position. If you sleep on your back for example, using a pillow that is too firm and fluffy will thrust your head forward while you sleep, leading to slight spinal misalignments, which is enough to put pressure on nerves and cause pain. This is why we support the concept of water inside our pillows, because this allows people to customize the firmness of the pillow to suit their height, weight and sleeping position.

[SleepyHound]

Thanks for all the feedback! It has been a while since I've been on the forum...I've narrowed down a few favorite pillow combinations, and still use the Sqush Tube pillow when I start sleeping on my side. I've experimented with wearing the Resmed cheek pads vs. not wearing them to see if I get more comfort when positioned on my side.

The tubing hasn't been an issue since it is quite lengthy and the machine is inches away from my head. I tend to tuck it underneath the covers with me, and have it close to my chest in whatever position I'm sleeping in.

So far, so good. It's only on occasion that I wake up with a stiff neck nowadays but it's because the dog is usually stealing some space on my pillow as well or her back legs are jabbing me in the kidney and I'm all contorted. LOL