I totally get the paranoia—after my wisdom tooth came out, I was convinced any little move would mess things up. I actually tried stacking a few pillows instead of the neck pillow, and it felt more natural. The neck pillow just made me feel awkward and stiff, honestly. I think as long as you’re not sleeping face-down, you’re probably fine.
Stacking pillows does sound a bit more comfy than those neck pillows, honestly. I always worry if too much elevation messes with blood flow or healing, though. Did you have any issues with swelling or dry socket using regular pillows? That’s my biggest fear after extractions...
I always worry if too much elevation messes with blood flow or healing, though. Did you have any issues with swelling or dry socket using regular pillows?
We did the pillow stack thing when my kid had his wisdom teeth out last year. Honestly, I was more worried about him sliding off the mountain of pillows in his sleep than anything else. He looked like a little prince propped up like that. But—no dry socket, thankfully, and swelling was pretty minimal. I think the key was making sure he didn’t lay flat, but also not at some crazy angle where he’d wake up with his chin to his chest.
He did complain a bit about a stiff neck after the first night, but I figure that’s just part of the fun. We tried one of those travel neck pillows too, but he found it super awkward and kept tossing it aside. I totally get the fear about messing up healing, though... I was googling “can you sleep too upright after tooth extraction” at 2am.
In our case, regular pillows worked fine. Just kept an eye on him for bleeding and made sure he didn’t do anything wild like try to eat popcorn two days later (he did, of course).
That pillow mountain life is real, but honestly, I’ve always leaned more toward a single firm pillow and just a bit of a recline. Too much elevation made my jaw ache and my face felt puffy. Maybe I’m just not cut out for the royal treatment... but hey, no dry socket here either. I do think comfort matters a ton—if you’re tense or twisted up, it’s hard to heal well.
Too much elevation made my jaw ache and my face felt puffy.
I get what you mean. I tried stacking up pillows once and woke up with a stiff neck—never again. Did you find anything besides pillow setup that helped with swelling or that weird throbbing? Ice packs were hit-or-miss for me.
