04 January 2016

Life Hack for a Good Night's Sleep

I was sleeping quite peacefully when the alarm raised its obnoxious voice at 04:29.  Let's face it: I'm no happier about Monday morning after a long weekend than anyone else. But this peaceful sleep has been rare, recently.

Compounding the regret at being roused is the fact that we've had extreme difficulty finding a pillow which will hold up longer than six or eight weeks before collapsing. Most don't last that long, and spending more money is no guarantee of quality. In some cases, it's been quite the opposite.

Saturday night was the final straw: I spent hours in a futile attempt to find a position which wouldn't produce neck muscle spasms, and still woke up with a sore shoulder and an arm which had fallen asleep.

We've spent hundreds of dollars on pillows in the last year. No luck.

So enough was enough. I went to the Sportsman's Warehouse yesterday and dropped $45 on an inflatable camp pillow with a five-year warranty.

I inflated it halfway, and stuck it in the slip with the memory foam pillow purchased most recently. It took me about 15 minutes to get the amount of air just right, but it finally provided enough additional height to straighten my neck. The money quote is that I don't remember anything after that, until the alarm went off this a.m.

The best part of this innovation is that as the foam pillow compresses, more air can be added to the camp pillow to compensate.

This life hack has been brought to you by a good night's sleep. :)

You're welcome!

9 comments:

Home on the Range said...

Thanks for that. I have a hard time finding a pillow I can use long term.

Rev. Paul said...

You're welcome, ma'am. I knew it couldn't be just me.

Ed Bonderenka said...

I thought you were hoing to mention MyPillow.com.
Glad you're good.
Memory foam pillow is tops with me.

Toirdhealbheach Beucail said...

What a brilliant idea Reverend Paul. You are absolutely right - it will never completely lose its pillowy-like goodness.

Rev. Paul said...

Ed, we made the mistake of trying that one. A complete waste of money; it felt good for three whole nights, then began to soften. After three weeks, it was just a loose sack of mushy foam chunks.

TB, thanks. We knew it needed something thin, but supportive. Most other things we tried to layer presented too much resistance, and left the pillow hard. The air mattress is just right, for me.

ProudHillbilly said...

What a great idea! I have neck problems myself. Memory foam works best, but it is expensive and only lasts so long at optimal support. And a lot of other pillows make my ear go to sleep.

Rev. Paul said...

Exactly, PH. In my case, it was a arm that goes completely to sleep, along with the neck & upper back pain. I'm actually looking forward to sleeping tonight.

kymber said...

Rev Paul - THAT is brilliant! like you, we have spent probably thousands of dollars on pillows over the years! we also use body pillows and have to change them every few months. two $40 dollar body pillows every six months adds up! we are soooo going to try your method!

one other thing...if you find that you have trouble sleeping at night - try this natural remedy: mix 5 teaspoons of organic honey with one teaspoon of pink himalayan salt. i'm not sure if you can get those things where you are but order both off of the internet - trust me - it's worth it! mix the honey and salt and then right before bed, stick your index finger in your mix and put it directly under your tongue and suck (sublingual). it works like a charm. i have tried over the counter sleep aids and prescription sleep aids (i hated both kinds!) but this combo really works for me and my husband. it keeps us down all night.

thank you for the brilliant idea of using inflated pillows - we've got hand pumps, bike pumps, truck tire pumps - our inflated pillows will always be pumped. and we just got new memory foam pillows for christmas so you can be sure we'll be trying this out!

Rev. Paul said...

kymber, thank you for such a glowing review. While I've only used the combined pillow arrangement for two nights, it's "so far, so good."