I routinely (every few months) wake up with up pain, or discomfort or tightness in my neck and/or shoulders/upper back. The discomfort is such that it causes me to miss swim workouts, lifts and sometimes even a bike or run. The pain may last for a week or longer sometimes. I primarily sleep on my back. I’m not sure if I’m doing something funky with my body in my sleep but I also wondered if it may be related to the pillow I use as this seems to be happening more often since I bought this pillow about a year ago–a basic $20 (I think Eddie Bauer) pillow. I would describe it as pretty standard–medium on fluffiness; it is not the kind that your head sinks down into. I’m not uncomfortable laying with it, but I just wake up with issues.
I realize a pillow choice is very personal but I am curious if others have had similar issues and fixed it with a new type of pillow or just generally rave about a particular pillow choice that is very comfortable/supportive.
I have the same issues and haven’t solved it yet. I’ve tried firmer, softer, standard, down, etc. My shoulders and neck hurt in the mornings which have prevented me from missing workout too. But I have noticed that I toss and turn a lot in my sleep. If anyone could elaborate for the OP we both would appreciate it.
I have had similar issues and had great success with a Chiropractor. I was never a believer in this kind of treatment but it seems to work for me, I no longer have any pain and sleep well. The Chiropractor told me that some of my ribs had slipped out of alignment and she just put them back into the correct place for me.
I had pain in my neck for a time as well from the aero position. I found that by sleeping without a pillow the pain went away. My wife says i also stopped snoring too! Takes a bit to get used to but is pretty miinor when you consider all the other changes we make to do this sport.
I have been a terrible sleeper for the last 30 years.
Things improved markedly when I got a memory foam pillow. I tried a few and now have one that works pertty well.
things improved again when I started with melatonin regularly.
I used to wake 3-5 times every night. The pillow dropped that to 1-3 and the melatonin got me down to 0-1 wakings per night. I no longer wake up in the morning, wanting to kill myself. I’ve had some days when I’ve bounced out of bed rearing to go, and that’s great, but waking up feeling well rested is good enough for me, as it’s such a change/improvement.
Try all sorts of things, to find what works best for you. Sleep is critical not only to your normal daily life, it’s important for the recovery between training sessions, and that’s what’s most important afterall.