Sorry, two-pillow people, doctor reveals why you have to stick to one

Tod Perry
Fri, 07 Feb 2025 19:40:20 +0000
Dr. sammy spiegel, Good posture, How to sleep, Pillows, Posture, Sleep, Sleep hacks, Sleeping posture, Sleeping sides

Everyone has a specific position where they love to fall asleep, and finding it means the difference between a night of blissful slumber and tossing and turning. For some of us, that means stacking two pillows on top of each other and lying down with our heads and neck propped up. No rule says you can’t stack pillows. Whatever’s comfortable is best, right? According to a physical therapist, sleeping on two pillows can cause serious problems.

Dr. Sammy Spiegel, a Missouri-based physical therapist, recently went viral on TikTok for a video where she freaked many people out by telling them not to sleep on a stack of pillows. This was big news because research shows that about half of people sleep with two pillows. The big problem with sleeping on two pillows is that it puts you in the same position as looking down at your phone. Spiegel calls this posture problem “two-pillow syndrome.”

@samspiegs
You won't find "2 Pillow Syndrome" in any texts but I swear it's a thing! #posture #neckhump

“So, if we are here all day and then we lie down with the two pillows, what that does is that lifts the floor up to our head, conforming to our curve that's occurring over time with poor posture instead of letting our neck and spine stretch back into a nice straight position,” she says in the video with over 400,000 views. “I don't wanna sleep in this position. I wanna sleep in the position that I wanna be in, and then I want to reflect in my posture.”

What's a dowager's hump?

Spiegel says that people who sleep with two pillows are at risk of having a dowager hump on their backs. A dowager’s hump is a slightly rounded hunch that forms at the base of the neck. It’s caused by a chronic forward-leaning posture, which is becoming a bigger problem due to computers and smartphones. A dowager’s hump is associated with impaired lung function, reduced functional capacity, and increased mortality.

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Many in the comments weren’t happy with the news because they are used to sleeping with multiple pillows. "Oh, good. I don't use two pillows. I use three and a blanket," Elena joked in the comments. "I use three pillows all mashed up weird, and I sleep on my tummy," Linda added.

In the comments, Spiegel added that she prefers people not to use any pillow at all. "I don’t like using pillows and always thought that wasn’t healthy, but I’m not sure. I just like my head on the mattress," Bijou wrote in the comments. "I tend to think the same. I forget who even invented them and why?" Spiegal responded. The good news is that for people who have become accustomed to sleeping with two pillows, Spiegel shares a stretch at the end of the video to strengthen your posture muscles and mobilize your spine.

In an age where we are constantly craning our necks downward to look at our phones or having our heads slightly tilted down to look at a computer screen, posture has become an important topic in the health world. But the funny thing is most people are thinking about their posture in their waking hours instead of the eight hours a night they spend in their beds. Spiegel’s video is an excellent reminder that good posture is a 24-hour-a-day job, and the benefits go far beyond appearance. Good posture is associated with better mood, self-confidence, bone and joint health, and improved breathing. So, if you sleep with two pillows, why not try cutting down to one and see how your life improves in your waking hours?