The first part is the general understanding of pillows.
First, the role of the pillow
It is generally believed that pillows are fillers used by people for the comfort of sleep. However, according to modern medical research, the human spine is a straight line from the front, but it has four physiological bends from the side. In order to protect the normal physiological curvature of the neck and maintain normal physiological activities when people sleep, people must use pillows.
Second, the structure of the pillow
A pillow generally consists of a pillow core and a pillowcase. The pillow core needs filling materials to keep the pillow at a certain height when it is used. At present, there are various filling materials in the pillow market, including cassia seed, wild chrysanthemum, silkworm excrement and other Chinese herbal medicines. There are buckwheat husk, chaff, cotton and other cereals; In addition, materials such as rush, cattail, waste tea, porous vacuum sponge, slow rebound sponge and other modern processing materials are all well-known filling materials in the market. Chinese herbal medicine has been considered as the best pillow filling material since ancient times. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that Chinese herbal medicine, as a pillow filler, can slowly exert its efficacy in people's long sleep, and can play a role in health care and even treatment of diseases. In particular, the negative Chinese herbal medicines such as cassia seed and silkworm excrement pioneered by Shizhibao are most in line with the theory of "cooling the head and warming the feet" in traditional Chinese medicine, so they are also the most popular pillow filling materials throughout the ages. Plant materials such as grains have always been considered as traditional filling materials, mainly because they are rich in amino acids, which can be partially absorbed by the human body through skin friction and breathing during sleep. The pillow core material made by modern technology mainly pays attention to the comfort of the pillow. There are three basic styles of pillowcases: ordinary one-piece bag type, Oxford cloth type (with flat edge) and hem type. All three kinds of pillowcases have internal sealed fixed pillows, so there is no need to implement some reinforcement measures on both sides. Cotton, cotton polyester and man-made fiber can be used to sew pillowcases, but the most comfortable pillowcase material is pure cotton fabric, which has good breathability and hygroscopicity and does not irritate the skin.
Third, the classification of pillows
The classification of pillows is also varied. The ancients once divided pillows into winter pillows, summer pillows, soft pillows and hard pillows. This classification is very consistent with the way of keeping in good health. In summer, they like to use cool pillows, and in winter, they pursue warmer pillows. Some people like harder pillows, while others like softer ones. Modern people divide pillows into headrest, waist pillow, back pillow and ear pillow according to their different functions. There are many types of pillow core materials: stone pillows such as jade and magnets; Wooden pillows such as ebony and cypress; Chinese medicine pillows such as cassia seed, silkworm excrement and chrysanthemum; Soft pillows such as cotton, velvet and various chemical fiber pillows, as well as pillows such as water pillows, air pillows and tea pillows, are the pillow world of Baibao, which currently includes 12 categories and more than 50 functions. These pillows are loved by people of different times and characteristics, and their performance and practicality also have their own advantages and disadvantages.
The second part is about the use of pillows.
If many modern people can't use pillows, they are a little unconvinced, because it should really be the simplest thing. But the truth is true. According to the regimen of traditional Chinese medicine, modern people have many misunderstandings and unreasonable habits in the most important aspects of pillow use: the height, height, hardness and breathability of pillow core.
First, the reasonable height of the pillow.
The view of "sit back and relax" is extremely harmful. According to science, it should be "sit back and relax". Director Li Zhiguang, a professor at Beijing Medical University, said that only by maintaining the normal physiological state of the cervical spine during sleep can the skin, muscles, ligaments, intervertebral joints, trachea, esophagus and nerves passing through the neck relax and rest with the whole human body. Normal people sleeping on a high pillow, whether lying on their back or on their side, will change the physiological state of the cervical spine and make some local muscles of the neck excessively tense. Over time, the neck muscles will strain and contract, leading to slight changes in the position of the cervical spine, which will stimulate or oppress the nerve roots and blood vessels of the neck, resulting in reflex spasm, and even insufficient blood supply to the brain, resulting in numbness of the neck, shoulders, back and arms, dizziness, headache, decreased vision, tinnitus, nausea, hearing loss and other symptoms. High pillow is one of the common causes of stiff neck and cervical spondylosis. In addition, the high pillow will increase the included angle between the neck and the chest, hinder the ventilation of the trachea, and easily lead to dry throat, sore throat and nasal snoring. High pillows can also make the muscles in the chest and back tense for a long time, and the chest is compressed, which will hinder normal breathing. If this goes on, it will definitely bring bad effects to the body. Normal people to pillow, long-term low sleep, will also change the physiological state of cervical spine. Because there is no valve in the vein of the head, gravity can slow down the venous return of the brain and increase the blood supply of the artery, resulting in head swelling, irritability, insomnia and other discomfort. Low pillow is especially harmful to patients with hypertension and atherosclerosis.
Generally speaking, people with high blood pressure, heart disease and asthma need to sleep on high pillows; People with low blood pressure and anemia need to sleep on low pillows.
Too high or too low a pillow is not good for human health. So how high is the height of the pillow for normal people? The general understanding is that it is more appropriate for people who are used to lying on their backs to have a punch on their pillows, and it is more appropriate for people who are used to sleeping on their sides to have a punch and a half on their pillows. However, according to a recent medical survey, healthy people change their posture about 20-45 times during 8 hours of sleep, and half of them change their posture in less than 5 minutes, of which 60% are supine, 35% are lateral and 5% are prone. Therefore, although the pillow height people need often varies from person to person, which is related to each person's weight, shoulder width and neck length, there is no certain standard. However, because most people sleep in supine position for a long time, it is suggested that the height of one punch should be slightly higher, and it is not appropriate to reach the height of one punch and a half. Suitebo thinks pillows vary from person to person! The pillow that suits you is the best pillow!
Pillow expert-"Poetry Treasure Pillow Workshop"-reminds: Because everyone's neck radian and height are different, tailoring healthy pillows with different radians may be the best choice to build a new pillow health relationship. The world-leading 3s system of "Pillow Workshop" all over the country provides customers with personalized professional services of "measuring the head and setting the pillow" for 5 minutes.
Second, the reasonable hardness of the pillow.
Generally speaking, hard pillows are beneficial to human health, but hard pillows make the contact surface between the head and the pillow too small, and the local pressure is too large, which makes people feel uncomfortable, and it is likely to cause too much pressure on local nerves, leading to numbness or pain in the head, neck, back, arms and hands the next morning. Too soft a pillow is difficult to keep the height of the pillow, because too soft will oppress the scalp and is not conducive to blood circulation. At the same time, there is also the problem of poor air permeability, which can not ensure adequate breathing during sleep, and there may be potential safety hazards. According to the hardness of pillows, Shi Zhibao is divided into three pillow families: soft pillows, fiber cotton pillows, silk pillows, down pillows and other basic fillers, and the products are comfortable and elastic; Hard pillow, a kind of buckwheat shell filler that Chinese people gradually like and become popular, has good fluidity and can be shaped freely, especially the best supporting force, which makes it have more and more loyal followers; Medium-hard pillows, natural cattail, kapok and other materials are slightly less elastic, but they are naturally fragrant, comfortable and soft, and have moderate support for cervical vertebrae, which is particularly popular.
Third, the breathability and elasticity of the pillow.
The breathability and elasticity of pillows are mainly aimed at pillows with soft pillow core materials, because other filling materials such as cassia seed, silkworm excrement and grain. Good air permeability of the pillow can be ensured, and it will not collapse without elasticity. However, soft materials such as vacuum cotton, cotton, sponge, etc. Generally, it may have poor air permeability and elasticity. According to medical investigation, prone posture occupies a certain proportion in everyone's sleep process. Pillows with poor air permeability will make people breathe poorly during sleep, which will seriously affect people's health and may even cause safety problems. At present, most pillow manufacturers in the market have considered this problem and adopted porous fiber to solve this problem. Good elasticity mainly means that the soft pillow core material can prevent the pillow from collapsing, ensure the pillow to be used comfortably for a long time, and increase the supporting force of the neck bending, but the pillow with good elasticity also has the disadvantage of unstable sleeping position. The best pillow needs moderate elasticity and support, and Shi Zhibao especially recommends the cattail pillow.
Fourthly, the reasonable position of headrest.
When sleeping, it is very important to put your head in a reasonable position on the pillow. Generally speaking, it is best to put your head in the middle of the pillow, so that
It is a posture that can stabilize sleep and avoid stiff neck caused by frequent posture changes at night; Second, it can make the neck have a certain supporting force and maintain the normal physiological curve of the body. If the pillow core is made of inelastic material, you can flatten the middle of the pillow, raise the place where the neck rests on the pillow, so that the cervical vertebra does not bend forward or sideways, and maintain a proper backward extension position, so that the cervical vertebra will not be sore in the morning.
The third part is about children's pillows.
Children, especially infants under one year old, are an important stage of head development. A suitable pillow is very beneficial to the blood circulation of the baby's head and promotes growth and development. If the choice is improper, it will not only affect the physiological function of the head and neck, but also cause some developmental deformities. So, how to choose and use pillows correctly?
You don't need a pillow for a month or three.
When a newborn baby sleeps on his back, his back and back are on the same plane, and his neck and back muscles naturally relax. The baby's head is very big, almost reaching his shoulders.
The width is the same, and the head and body are also in the same plane when lying on the side. So in principle, there is no need to use pillows. But at present, people's mattresses are generally soft, and there are too many cushions in children's beds. If the newborn baby uses some lower pillows, it is also possible.
Second, the child pillow stage is applicable
Children's pillows emphasize the applicability of each stage, and different pillows should be used in each stage. One pillow should not be used from small to large, and adult pillows should not be used by children. Pillow-type children began to learn to look up after 3 months, and the cervical part of the spine appeared forward physiological bending. Therefore, in order to maintain physiological curvature and comfortable posture, babies begin to use pillows three months after birth. The height of the baby pillow should be 3-4 cm, and the height of the pillow should be gradually adjusted according to the baby's development; The length of the pillow is as wide as the baby's shoulder. Shi Zhibao, a pillow expert, uses different age groups to make pillows, and uses different reasonable shapes and different materials to distinguish different age groups.
Third, the materials of children's pillows
Children's pillow core should be soft, light, breathable and hygroscopic. It is suggested that the pillow core should not be made of too soft material, because children have many prone positions and it is not easy to adjust themselves. Pillows that are too soft will have safety problems. The contact area between the pillow and the head can be made as close as possible to the back of the skull, and the pillowcase is preferably made of pure cotton. Shizhibao children's pillow adopts double-sided mechanism, one side adopts tartary buckwheat shell, which is elastic and breathable, and the other side adopts negative oxygen ion pearl cotton to maintain better comfort. Can be used in winter and summer, cold and warm.
Fourth, the use of children's pillows.
Some parents mistakenly think that hard pillows can make the skull grow strong and the head shape looks good, but it is actually wrong.
Children's skulls are soft, and the chimney door and skull seam are not completely closed. Long-term use of pillows with good quality can easily lead to skull deformation, or a big face and a small face, which will affect the appearance. Shi Zhibao, a pillow expert, recommends children to use the soft side of the plastic pillow in Shi Zhibao's baby pillow. The child's metabolism is strong, his head sweats a lot, and his pillow is easy to get wet when he sleeps. The mixture of sweat and dandruff is easy to cause pathogenic microorganisms to attach to the pillow surface, which is easy to induce facial eczema and scalp infection. Therefore, the baby's pillow core should always bask in the sun, and it is best to change the pillow core once a year, and the pillowcase should also be washed and changed frequently to keep it clean.
The fourth part of the pillow maintenance
Pillows, as an indispensable household item in people's lives, together with bedding, constitute a family bedding series. As bedding, people usually only pay attention to the cleaning and drying of bedding, pillow towels and pillowcases, and rarely "invite" pillows to dry outside. As we all know, when sleeping every night, the pillow is the "throat artery" through which the foul smell in the bedding passes. In addition, the impure gas exhaled by people when they sleep permeates a lot, and the sweat stains and dirt secreted by the scalp make the pillow a "dirty place". Cleaning only the external pillow towel and pillowcase only "treats the symptoms but not the root cause", but the foul smell in the pillow core can't be removed, so the pillow has become one of the most unclean places in modern families, and it is called "the sanitary blind area of pillows". It is particularly important to note that if there are infectious diseases in the respiratory tract, digestive tract or head skin, the pillow core will be infected with bacteria and viruses, which may lead to cross-infection between husband and wife or children. Therefore, Shi Zhibao suggested that your pillow should be dried and disinfected frequently to keep it clean. Conditional families, in addition to drying more pillows, should also change the pillow core frequently. According to the advice of medical experts, the pillow core should be replaced at least once every two years, preferably once a week.