Neck Pillow Progress
The goal of neck pillow progress is to make sure that you are experiencing benefits in relief of neck pain both in the acute stage (recent) or in a more persistent stage (chronic), because neck pain affects a considerable percentage of people at any given time. It affects 9 to 14 percent of people at any given time and, during a lifetime, it will affect about 1/3 of all people. The highest age group for neck pain is 50 to 59 years and affects women twice as much as men.
Why Is A Neck Pillow Important
It is generally noted that an average person life will spend about 1/3 of their life sleeping, therefore, for both acute and chronic neck pain, it may be beneficial to incorporate a neck pillow for the purpose of managing neck pain. There has been an increase in interest by the public for the role that a good pillow may play in helping with neck issues. Although no study is perfect, there have been studies indicating proper designed pillows can be of benefit in attempts to alleviate neck pain, therefore we need to have objective indications for beneficial outcomes.
Progress Form
This is a form which may help monitor neck pain progress by making use of a cervical pillow. The Neck Pillow Progress Form can aid in assessment to determine if a pillow is helping and/or if a new type of neck support pillow would be appropriate. If no immediate concerns have arrived, this method of evaluation continues for 4 weeks.
Initially, you can get a score to form a baseline to work with. This can be to determine if your pillow is affecting your neck pain in a negative manner. By comparing the score after a week of using a new pillow, it is possible to get an idea if the pillow is beneficial. It may seem obvious, however, there have been times during the course of treating a patient where they state, “I am not doing any better”, yet a questionnaire may show that the patient is able to do more daily activities and has pain ratings that are lower than the previous month. Sometimes these changes are subtle, this is noted more with chronic neck pain than acute, as acute levels of pain may subside much faster than a condition that has been going on for months or years.
The highest score is 50, indicating the worse possible outcome. If this is your score to begin with, do not be alarmed, the only option is for it to stay the same or get better. The score gives you an idea of how neck pain effects your life, however, the idea here is to get an idea of how a new pillow effects your life; specifically in certain areas.
So, you can keep a record of your score every day. You should notice a difference after 1 week. Therefore, you may take the initial score and then 1 week later. This should be done for at least 2 weeks to analyze whether the new neck pillow is having a positive effect. Typically, it may take longer, depending on your specific condition. As there are many variables.
The levels of a pillow affecting your life are: none, slight, mild, moderate and severe – noted as pillow comfort level. This can give you an idea if you might need a new pillow and can also monitor progress using a new pillow. When monitoring neck pillow progress, it is the number or level at one date compared to the number or level at a subsequent date.
Progress would be noted if progressing to a lower number or level. For instance, an initial level of severe that later progresses to moderate would be a significant improvement or progress using a neck pillow. Likewise, a level of moderate which progresses to mild would indicate the neck pillow is making a significant positive impact.
If you start at a mild level and the next night you get a level of moderate, this would not be uncommon, since there is a period which one must adapt to the pillow, however, the same level 2 weeks later would indicate that either the pillow is not working or there may be some other factors involved.
So, this is by no means definitive, however, it is a tool that can be useful in making decisions regarding a neck pillow or if you may need to get further advice regarding your neck pain.