An Easy Way to Stretch the Neck

One thing that makes a product great is easy-ability of use. This is why I like the Trac-Collar. Also, you can do it sitting up. If you're a multi-tasker like me, you can even read or watch tv if you like. Here's a video on how easy it is to do this kind of neck traction.

This type of neck stretcher can yield a lot of relief for someone who suffers from a herniated disc, bulging disc, spinal stenosis, degeneration of the spine or a pinched nerve in the neck.

 

 Visit Arc4life.com for your online selection of cervical support neck pillows, orthopedic pain relief products and Home traction units. Products for pain relief.

Additional Reading Resources:

• Herniated Disc in the Neck
• Neck Pain Relief: Neck Traction Devices that really work
• A closer look at neck traction
• I've been getting neck pain, What could it be?
• Using the trac collar in conjunction with the arc4life pillow for spinal stenosis

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I Have A Cervical Kyphosis, Can I Use A Neck Pillow?

here is what a kyphosis in the neck curve looks like

If you have a Kyphosis in the neck curve, you should be using a neck pillow. Here's the reason: Having a kyphosis in the neck means you not only lost the proper curvature but it has actually started to curve the opposite way. This reversed curvature can be only really at on spinal level or it can be a number of segments.

With a neck pillow you start to work in the normal neck curve. Someone with a severe misalignment like this may having to use a neck pillow very gradually. Sometimes such a drastic difference (no spinal curve to a normal one) can cause some soreness. Sometimes if someone comes into the office with headaches and they are recommended the pillow, sleeping on it all night their first night with it may bring on soreness but a headache.

So, read the instructions that came with your pillow. Use it gradually so your body has a chance to get used to it, and if you have a severe misalignment like a cervical kyphosis make sure you do this. The same thing will apply to someone with severe symptoms. These may include headaches, excruciating pain, and even vertigo.

Visit Arc4life.com for your online selection of cervical support neck pillows, orthopedic pain relief products and Home traction units. Products for pain relief.

Additional Reading Resources:

• A neck pillow for a khphosis in the neck
• Cervical Kyphosis or Military Neck can be the Cause of Neck Pain
• Exercises for the neck spine that will help tightened neck muscles
• Choose the Best Neck Pillow
• Proper Neck Alignment - What is the normal and abnormal for a neck curve?

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"I Just Had A Neck X-Ray..."

"My neck x-ray show a lot of degeneration, what does this mean? Oh yeah, the report also says loss of cervical lordosis and decreased neural foraminal spaces at a few levels, what's that?" OK, we've got some degeneration, or arthritis. The term spondylosis may also be used; all meaning the same thing.

First, if we lost the normal curvature in the neck, we're going to have pressure on nerves. If we get this, we may have pain, we may not. But things will break down faster. Hence degeneration or arthritis. This breakdown may also cause disc bulging. So now we have arthritic bones, discs bulging, and guess what? - Inflammation! All of these thing can contribute to stiffness, pain, maybe numbness and tingling...But also contribute to those holes on the sides of the spine, where nerves come out, to get clogged up. "Ah ha, that's the neural foraminal stenosis they refer to. Yes, the foramen, or nerve holes are stenosed or closed up.

What we need to do is relax the area, taking down inflammation and start working that curvature back in the neck.

Additional Reading Resources:

• How the Arc4life Cervical Traction Neck Pillow Helps with Degeneration & Arthritis in the Neck
• Choose the Best Neck Pillow for Arthritis in the Neck
• Poor Neck Posture Puts Pressure on the Discs
• Straight Neck Issues: What Exercises Can I Do?
• An Acupuncture Point for Neck Pain: Bladder 12

Visit Arc4life.com for your online selection of cervical support neck pillows, orthopedic pain relief products and Home traction units. Products for pain relief. Bookmark this on Delicious Stumble It!

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What is Homeopathy? Would using a neck pillow be Homepathic?

HELP THE BODY HEAL ITSELF

Well, first of all what is Homeopathy? And it's a natural way of helping the body naturally to correct whatever problem is ailing it. So technically, using the pillow can be homeopathic. You are sleeping on the neck roll which is restore the natural curve, thus allowing nervous system energy to flow with no interference.

In other words, helping the body to heal itself better naturally. Losing that neck curve is one of the most common postural misalignment, and especially these day with the extra computer time, and time texting, etc, it's more common than you think.

So, using a neck pillow like the Cervical Linear traction Pillow can be a great natural way to get rid of problematic symptoms like neck pain.

Additional Reading Resources:

• Arc4life- Choose the best neck pillow for the best sleep
• Exercises for the Neck
• Do you have a Straight Neck? aka Military Neck?
• Available Natural Pain Treatments
• How Can What I Eat Play a Role in My Neck Pain?

Visit Arc4life.com for your online selection of cervical support neck pillows, orthopedic pain relief products and Home traction units. Products for pain relief.

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Your Mind Plays A Bigger Role In Your Health Than You Think...

You have to master your emotions before you master your health.  I was reminded of this today when I was reading a story of a young man who was involved in a horrific car motorcycle accident.  Not only did he have severe neck pain but other pains and injuries as well.

If this particular person “just gave up” and said “Ok, that’s it, I’m disabled or I can’t do this or that myself... then he mine as well “give up”.  This particular person didn’t however, and went on to win at the Olympics and become a multimillionaire and more.

It really came down to his mind and his attitude.  So if you ever think -  I can’t – my neck pain is unrelenting or my headaches...or whatever; think of this guy.  He was able to overcome his pains and go on to live a great life.

Additional Reading Resources:

• Finally, a Pillow that Helps my Poor Damaged Neck
• One solution to neck pain: try a new pillow and a new traction unit
• The Brain and How it Related to your Neck
• Hypnotizing Your Pain Away: The Secret of Mind Over Matter
• Study Shows that Even a Small amount of Meditation Can Improve Cognitive Skills

Visit Arc4life.com for your online selection of cervical support neck pillows, orthopedic pain relief products and Home traction units. Products for pain relief. Bookmark this on Delicious Stumble It!

Available Natural Pain Treatments

There are many natural pain treatments available
such as chiropractic and acupuncture

You've been to your doctors because of your neck pain .What else can you do? By the way, other than pain medication, they took xrays and even sent you to physical therapy; but no substantial results...

If you go to your doctors you are most likely going to get a prescription. Some doctors will keep prescribing medication over and over again. In that case,  see another doc if you can.

Some great treatments that are natural would be chiropractic, acupuncture, and massage. You can even combine any of these treatments sometimes for faster results. Some call them alternative medicine. Nowadays, anything that's not drugs or surgery, is given this title. Acupunture has actually be in existence much longer than allopathic medicine, and things like chiropractic and massage may not have been called chiropractic but has been used for hundreds of years.

A couple other notables are: supplements, relaxation type therapies, hypnosis. I even am aware of someone turn things around by laughter (watching comedy 24-7). Now, I'm not saying this works for you, but there is no harm in trying.

The cervical traction pillow helps to take pressure off nerves and align the spine naturally. To learn more visit arc4life.com

Additional Reading Resources

• Home remedies guide
• Neck Pain Relief Treatments that are all natural
• Treat a Stiff Neck Naturally at Home
• The Hunch Back Posture. How to Treat this area of the Upper Back that Sticks out. 
• What Does Forward Head Posture Look Like?

Visit Arc4life.com for your online selection of cervical support neck pillows, orthopedic pain relief products and Home traction units. Products for pain relief. Bookmark this on Delicious Stumble It!

Finally, a pillow that helps my poor, damaged neck!

Recently on Amazon, a customer wrote a Review for the Arc4life Linear Gravity Neck Pillow Small Size:

I love my Linear Gravity Neck Pillow, and am purchasing my 2nd one now. I've used my Linear Gravity for almost 2 years, and it is time to replace it. I'm checking Amazon to see if the price is lower; it would be if Amazon carried the medium size, and Amazon has free shipping. Dang it Amazon; where's the medium?? Before purchasing my pillow, I contacted the company that makes them; I needed help figuring out which pillow to purchase and what size pillow would be best for me. Originally I was going to purchase the Arc4life Cervical Traction pillow. The company customer service staffer asked me what kind of neck/health issues I had; when I told them I have fibromyalgia and a history of whiplash, they said I should definitely go with the Linear Gravity rather than the traction pillow because the Linear Gravity is softer and the Traction pillow is simply too much for those with fibromyalgia. The company rarely recommends the traction pillow for those with fibromyalgia.



When I asked about sizing, I was told that most people should use the medium size pillow; they recommend the small pillow for travel purposes and for children. The Amazon description mentions this: "This Small Linear Gravity neck Pillow is great for traveling and perfect for the Pediatric patient." If I remember correctly, the large pillow is for really tall men.

The pillow is soft, but sizing is very important with this pillow. I've never, ever been a soft pillow person, and I did worry about the softness issue when I ordered the pillow. While the Linear Gravity pillow is soft, if you purchase the right size of the pillow, you will likely have excellent neck support even though the pillow is soft. The different size neck rolls on each pillow can also help with the softness issue. Because of the indentation in the center of the pillow, the stuffing doesn't shift around like it would in a regularly shaped pillow.

I don't know if other reviewers experimented with the different size neck rolls on their pillows; essentially you have 4 different sized neck rolls on the pillow. I have found this to be very useful. The center of the pillow is deeper on one side and more shallow on the other side. Some nights I need the large/deep end and other nights I do better with the large shallow end. This pillow does take time to get used to and you need to experiment with the different sides of the pillow to see which of the neck-roll sides work best for you. However, the pillow is so much better than using a towel roll or cervical pillow roll with a regular pillow.

There are some videos on youtube that can help folks decide which size and which pillow is best for them. However, I recommend calling the company for help with the decision. I wasn't asked to purchase the pillow by phone, and wasn't pressured to purchase the pillow when I called.



Before purchasing the Linear Gravity, I looked at the Core brand pillows. They are very firm. My physical therapist never recommends the Core because they are so firm. Today I noticed that Core has a softer version of their pillow now; I haven't seen one in person so I can't compare it with the Linear Gravity pillow. Even though the cost is less for the Core soft version, the Linear Gravity pillow works brilliantly for me so I'm sticking with it.

I was disappointed by the side-sleeping feature of the pillow; the butterfly sides do not work for me at all. I change to a different pillow whenever I sleep on my side. I am primarily a back sleeper though, so this hasn't been a problem for me. This is probably not be the pillow for or those who sleep on both their back and side each night, unless they are ok with changing pillows to sleep on their side.

I used to wake up with a very stiff/sore neck and morning headaches and even migraines. I have many fewer morning headaches and rarely have morning migraines anymore.

While I am replacing my pillow (I've worn it out), I plan to save my current one for travel. The pillow has lasted as long as a regularly shaped, good quality pillow.

I think the pillow is worth the price and the time to adjust to it. In my opinion, this is probably the best pillow for those with fibromyalgia and those with a history of whiplash. It is probably a good pick for those with TMJ issues as well since it keeps one's head in the proper alignment. 

Source: Finally, A Pillow that helps my poor, damged neck! 

Additional Reading Resources:

• The Arc4life Linear Gravity Pillow for Fibromyalgia
• Pressure on the Upper Nerves Often Causes Headaches
• The Arc4life Linear Gravity Pillow Now Come in a Firm Level of Support
• The Top 10 Gifts for Neck Pain Sufferers
• Proper Neck Posture

Visit Arc4life.com for your online selection of cervical support neck pillows, orthopedic pain relief products and Home traction units. Products for pain relief. Bookmark this on Delicious Stumble It!