Smarter: How to Avoid Waking Up With a Stiff Neck

By Pang-Chieh Ho

September 1, 2022

This week, I’m sharing advice from experts on how to not wake up stiff and sore in the morning. Also in this issue: How to get stains out of shirt collars, and why a 0-degree nozzle on your pressure washer is a big no-no.

THE BIG STORY
‘The Big Sleep’

Neck pain seems to run in my family, especially pain of the “stiff neck after a night’s sleep” variety. My mom has it. My sister occasionally gets it. And once a year, at least, I wake up with such acute discomfort in my neck and shoulders that doing the simplest motions, such as sitting up or turning my head to talk to someone, becomes a luxury.

So if you want to avoid having shoulder or back pain after sleeping as I (desperately) want to, here’s what you can try.

Adjust your sleeping position. If you find yourself experiencing shoulder pain, you can try sleeping on your back to avoid putting pressure on your shoulder and exacerbating the pain, says Colleen Louw, a physical therapist based in Iowa and spokesperson for the American Physical Therapy Association.

For people with back pain, you can try sleeping on your side with a pillow between your legs to help support better alignment of the hips and pelvis, says Jayesh Vallabh, MD, a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. And if you still prefer to sleep on your back, place a firm pillow under your knees to help alleviate your back pain.

The key thing to understand is that there is no official preferred sleeping position and that sleeping is an individual experience. You might go through a period of trial and error to find the sleeping position that works best for you. And if you have injuries or just had surgery, your primary care doctor or physical therapist can help you find the most suitable sleeping position.

Find a pillow that provides optimal support. The best pillows offer proper support for your neck and don’t take away from the natural curve of your spine and hips when you sleep. Avoid pillows that will put your neck in positions where it is extended or rotated, because those positions might compromise the blood flow to your joints and cause a stiff neck when you wake up in the morning, Louw says.

It’s important that your neck form a straight line with your spine when your head is laid down on the pillow, says Chris Regan, who oversees the pillow and mattress testing at CR. For back sleepers, try pillows that are medium-loft. (Loft is a pillow’s height as it lies flat on the bed.) And for side sleepers, a higher-loft pillow is the most optimal for retaining the proper alignment of your neck and head.

It’s worth noting that the pillow loft that suits you best can be influenced by your size and the firmness level of your mattress, but as a general rule, side sleepers will require a higher-loft pillow than people sleeping on their back. For details about the best kind of pillow for your sleeping position, check out more here.

Some sleepers also find it helpful to have body pillows and smaller support pillows around them while they sleep. For instance, if you’re sleeping on your side, you can put support pillows between your knees and ankles and prop another one in front of your belly to keep your spine in a neutral position, Louw says.

Look for a mattress that works for you. The most ideal mattress balances support with pressure relief, which for some people could mean a medium-firm mattress, and for others, a medium-soft. Opt for one that keeps your spine in a normal alignment and provides personal comfort, Louw says.

We have nearly 300 mattresses in our ratings, and our testers have evaluated them on criteria including firmness and how well they support different body types in side and back sleep positions. (You can see one of our mattress tests at work here.) Here are the best mattresses of 2022, according to our ratings, as well as the most highly rated mattresses for people who sleep on their side and their back. (All ratings are available to CR members.)

Regular physical activity can be helpful. Practicing relaxation exercises, including mindfulness and meditation, relaxation breathing techniques, and yoga, during the day and also before bedtime can help calm the nervous system to promote healthier sleep patterns, Louw says. You can also try stretching, which can help improve your blood flow and relieve muscle tension.

For people with chronic back pain, Pilates, strength training, and core-based exercises can be the most effective at managing and reducing pain, Vallabh says. In general, regular physical activity has the added benefit of improving your physical, mental, and social health, and preventing or improving many chronic conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and depression.

Bonus reading: What’s a sign that you should replace your pillow? Here’s our take.

DOUBLING DOWN

There are a lot of mattress myths out there. Here are two of the most common ones:

🆒 Gel always provides you with cooler sleep. CR’s tests show that while innerspring mattresses containing gel do tend to sleep slightly cooler, gel-infused foam beds don’t always help you stay cool while you sleep.

🤑 A more expensive mattress is better. Quality and price don’t always align, according to our tests, and there are many great budget mattresses out there that cost less than $600 (available to CR members). If you’re shopping for a mattress, here are our tips on what to watch out for.

ASK AN EXPERT

A few weeks ago, I pointed out that many people are using way too much laundry detergent. Some of you wrote in asking other questions you have about doing your laundry. Here’s what Rich Handel, CR’s washing machine test engineer and laundry whiz, has to say.

How do you get grease out of clothes? Try blotting and then using an enzymatic laundry pretreat, such as OxiClean MaxForce Spray, following the directions on the product. Afterward, rub laundry detergent into the clothes and then launder them in cold water. Repeat these steps until you get the grease out before drying.

If the grease stains persist, try rubbing some dish detergent into your clothes and rinse with cold water, Rich says. If that fails as well, unfortunately, the stain may be permanent.

How to get stains out of shirt collars? You can try a combination of spot treating with a top detergent and an “oxi” (nonbleach) type stain remover, Rich says. Here’s our review of the best- and worst-performing laundry detergents we tested. The high-performing ones are great at treating a variety of stains, while some of the worst ones are barely better than water at removing stains.

My clothes smell bad after washing. Is there any way to get them to be “clean-smelling” again? This depends on what kind of smell you’re smelling. It could be mold from your washing machine, and if that’s the case, run a cleaning cycle on your washer. If it doesn’t have this feature, run the sanitary cycle or simply a hot-water cycle and use a washer cleaner with bleach. You can also try cleaning the gasket and the door with a bleach solution.

If, however, it’s body odor or sweat you’re smelling, don’t throw the clothes into the hamper when they’re still damp. Hang them up and let them dry to reduce the growth of odor-causing bacteria. And before washing, soak your clothes in a vinegar solution (1 part vinegar to 5 parts water) for 15 to 30 minutes, Rich says.

You can also try washing your clothes inside out and using specialty sports detergents designed to remove the funky smells. Make sure you don’t use fabric softener or too much detergent. They will leave a residue that can trap the bad odors in your clothes.

And if you want more advice, here are five things Rich would never do as a laundry expert. If you’re a fabric softener stan, look away.

MUST-READS OF THE WEEK

🚗 The 9 Easiest Cars to Drive
I like my cars how I like my friends: hassle-free.

📄 Why People of Color Are Less Likely to Have a Will
A recent nationally representative CR survey shows that 82 percent of Hispanic and 77 percent of Black people don’t have a will, compared with 61 percent of white people.

💰 Best Deals Under $100
If you’re looking to get a good deal on an air fryer, an electric toothbrush, or a security camera, we’ve got you covered.

🎧 Download Free Audiobooks From the Library to Save Money
Another plus side: Listening to audiobooks makes commuting or road trips way less boring. Trust me. This is how I used to survive my 3-hour commute.

THE GOOD STUFF

Why you should go for a 40-degree nozzle on your pressure washer and not a 0-degree one.

THE SHORT ANSWER

Does flash-freezing kill all the bacteria in a piece of fish? No.

"I’m a side sleeper sun and a back sleeper rising."

Pang-Chieh Ho

I'm a newsletter writer who likes looking into the different ways we can live smarter. The topics I cover typically explore unanswered questions we have about the products we use every day and bridge the gaps between what owners' manuals advise and what we actually do. In my spare time, I like to take photos, critique movies out loud while I watch (at home!), and take care of my ever-increasing plant "children."