Not 100%, but much better...

[telophase]

Going to state right off that I'm not looking for advice.

I believe I have tracked the cause of my regular tension headaches down. After months of swapping out pillows until I found one that did not regularly cause my head and neck to be hurting in the morning, my overall head/neck/shoulder pain has localized to one spot in the back of my head where one of the muscles connects to the skull. My current hypothesis is that I strained it somehow and the various pillows and bad form when lifting weights keeps aggravating it and keeping it from healing. The allover neck and shoulder/upper back pain seems to be from everything else trying to compensate for that muscle being injured.

The pillow in question is s $12 pillow from IKEA. YOU KNOW WE SPENT $160 ON A SPECIAL PILLOW AT ONE POINT and it was a damn TWELVE DOLLAR PILLOW FROM IKEA THAT MY HEAD AND NECK WANTED. (The $160 pillow has directional speakers in it that I can plug my phone into and listen to podcasts without Toby hearing, so we're keeping it for the times when I do have a headache and can't stand to wear my headband-with-speakers at night. [And no, the headband doesn't cause the headaches--we ascertained that with the pillow--but it does aggravate one that's already started, worse than the pillow-with-speakers.])

Now that the headaches are minimized--not completely gone, alas, but much better--I've discovered that Advil, which didn't do a damn thing for the headaches, actually does help a bit with the possibly-strained-muscle, so my current plan is to keep at it for a week or two and see if it seems to be improving. And yes, I've emailed my doctor and told her all this and my plan, and plan to heed any advice she gives me.

(Again, no advice, thank you.)

eta: And yes, another part of the plan is to meet with a personal trainer and get my form corrected. :) We're on a cruise before too long: I may book an hour with one there, if not I'll find some time that the university gym isn't full of students and book one then.

Comments

[misbegotten]

Is it that IKEA pillow with the raised edge?

I'm glad that the headaches are better. \o/

[telophase]

It’s the softer version of the ROSENSTJÄRNA. I tried several foam pillows, and they all seemed to work for a few days, and then I’d be back to waking up with pain. :/

[kore]

.....omg dude which pillow

[telophase]

The softer version of the ROSENSTJÄRNA. And I lie...it was $12.99 instead of $12.

[kore]

As someone with regular nasty headaches, and neck, shoulder, and arm pain, I will be CHECKING THAT OUT. Thank you!

[telophase]

Hope you find something that helps!:)

[vom_marlowe]

My doctor helped me get rid of tension headaches by getting a new pillow some years ago! (My old one was too squishy.)

[telophase]

Apparently mine weren’t squishy enough! I think the issue was partly that I’d always been a side sleeper, but now I’m a front and back sleeper, but my pillow-buying hadn’t caught up with that fact. Although the foam pillows I tried didn’t work even when they were made for back sleepers.

[vom_marlowe]

I used to be a side sleeper! You know, I tried foam pillows from time to time, but they just never quite work for me for some reason. (I can't do down because of the allergies, so I've always been a 'fake down' type.)

[telophase]

I've recently developed down allergies! A year or so back I found that I was waking up with a bloody nose every morning and had serious dry nose issues all day and after trying various things, I swapped my down pillow out for a synthetic and almost instantly my problems stopped. O.o

The foam pillows end up just being too hard for my head, even when they claim to mold to conform. I jsut need squish. XD

[kore]

Did you get an IKEA pillow or something else....?

[vom_marlowe]

I get 'firm' for 'back sleepers' style pillows from Target. There are a couple quality levels, and I've learned that the cheapest levels don't last hardly at all (like, a couple months max and it's flat as a pancake). The medium/upper levels last me at least a year. It feels extravagant to keep buying new pillows that often, but with the pain, it's not worth the risk. I used to be able to get really REALLY solid ones at Sears, but they closed. *sob*

I just checked my current pack o' pillows and they've got the little ridge edge to 'em and say 'firm'.

[kore]

Thank you! I have to have one of those elevated foam wedges because of the sleep apnea thing, but I think it's also fucking up my neck, so this is really helpful.

[selenite0]

Glad to hear about the improvement!

[telophase]

Thanks!

[affreca]

Congrats on finding the right pillow.

[telophase]

Thanks! XD