Part 1- Why I Started Searching for Answers
This isn't medical advice, this is my experience as I lived it.
Before my surgery, I began noticing a pattern I couldn't ignore.
When I laid back with my neck resting against a pillow, my symptoms got worse- not better. Not when I turned my head. Not when I moved suddenly. Just lying back.
At the time, no one explained that this mattered. I was doing what most of us are told to do; use a "good" pillow, support the neck, rest.
But my body kept telling me a different story, and it wasn't subtle.
When Lying Back Made Everything Worse
Over time, I noticed that lying back with my neck pressed into a pillow often triggered:
*Dizziness or a floating sensation
*Nausea
*A sense of pressure or shutdown
*Autonomic type responses that were hard to describe
What stood out most was where the pressure was.
It wasn't pain in the neck itself, it was the feeling that my head had nowhere to go except down and back.
The Assumptions Most Pillows Make
Most pillows, including high end or cervical designs, are built around one core assumption:
If you support the neck, the head will take care of itself.
But I knew that wasn't right for me. So could it also be happening to others?
When my head sank into the pillow and my neck was pushed upward or backward, it felt like everything above my neck became overloaded. The more the pillow tried to "hold" my neck, the worse my tolerance became.
The Moment Everything Shifted
Out of necessity, I started experimenting.
Instead of adding more support under my neck, I focused on supporting the crown of my head, just enough to prevent it from sinking or dropping backward.
The effect was immediate and unmistakable.
When my head was supported first:
*My neck no longer felt forced into position
*Pressure eased instead of building
*Lying back became tolerable again
It wasn't about firmness.
It wasn't about posture correction.
It was about where the weight of my head was going.
Why Supporting The Crown Changed Everything
The head is heavy, like 10-12 lbs heavy. When it's allowed to sink or tilt backward, the neck often compensates, especially when the body is already sensitive or under stress.
By supporting the crown of the head:
*Head weight is redistributed
*The neck is allowed to rest instead of brace
*Overall alignment can settle naturally
For me, it wasn't a comfort upgrade, it was a functional difference.
And it explained why so may pillows that were supposed to help had actually made things worse.
This Was Before Surgery, And It Mattered After Too
I want to be clear about something important;
This understanding came before surgery and it remained relevant after.
Recovery changes how the body tolerates pressure. What once felt "supportive" can suddenly feel overwhelming. Having the ability to adjust head support without forcing the neck became essential.
That's ultimately what led me to create the Crown Lift® Insert concept, not as a pillow replacement, but as a head support system that works inside any pillow.
Why I'm Sharing This
I'm sharing because I know how confusing it is when;
*Lying down makes symptoms worse
*Pillows feel like part of the problem
*You're told to "just rest" but rest doesn't feel safe or right
This isn't medical advice. It's my experience as I lived it.
Do you search for answers endlessly for:
*"Why does my neck hurt when I wake up"
*"Why does my pillow not feel like it works anymore"
*"Are there better pillows for neck pain"
*"How to sleep better"
Because, those are the kinds of questions I searched for answers to. The internet isn't helpful when it comes to the source of the pain. Every search brought back more pillow suggestions, or to support the neck. Get a cervical pillow. Get a Coop foam filled style pillow. Get a Therapeutica cervical style pillow.
And I did. I had every one of them. Still, there wasn't a single pillow that truly worked for me, no matter how soft, expensive, or viral it was on Tik-Tok.
My journey started long before this but the actual ah-ha moment was in the middle of my worse times. I joined FB groups looking for solutions but instead found many others searching and suffering just like me.
I asked doctors, and always got the run around that it was my neck, my pillow, my activities, etc.
But even though yes, those all were factors, I knew it was something more.
If any of this resonates with you, please follow along as I share my journey towards answers and solutions to a problem that I never even knew existed:
Without proper head support, there isn't a single pillow that will alleviate compression of the spine as they all focus on the neck support.
Well, then if these big pillow companies weren't going to see us as individuals with real problems that don't need temporary fluff, but instead need actual solutions, then I was going to find a way to solve it myself!
"That realization that head support mattered more than neck support, changed everything for me, and it's what this journal is about".
Head Drop™ is the downward shift of your head during sleep when a pillow loses height.
Read about HEAD DROP HERE
Read About Pillow Choice HERE
Read About What Happens When Your Pillow Collapses HERE
