December 14, 2025 • 17 mins
Headaches and neck pain are so common in the modern world, especially at this time of the year. But just because it's common doesn't mean you should put up with it.
Helen Tufui is the founder of The Headache Clinic, who got in contact with Toni to help with her own neck pain that other treatments couldn't help.
In the episode Toni and Helen talk about the simple excercises you can do at home to begin strengthening your neck, why headaches become so much more common during the holidays, and the pillow Helen has created with headaches and neck pain in mind.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome, So we need to talk Tony Street's lifestyle and
Wellness podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Hello, welcome to We Need to Talk. It is great
to have you with us today. Headaches, migrain's, back pain,
neck pain. They are all exhausting and can be super
debilitating if you have no remedy insight, especially at this
time of year. We're heading into Christmas and we're all
pretty tense and stressed now. In late twenty twenty four,
I prolapsed a disc in my neck, not from anything spectacular.
(00:26):
I was lifting up the hairdryer to blow dry my
hair and I did I felt a pop. So not
only did I have constance so next, but I also
got that niggly nerve pain that went down your arm,
under my armpit and into my fingers. Ever since, I've
been back and forth to doctors, physios, and most recently
I've had a couple of cortisone injections to relieve the pain.
Helen to Fuey is the founder of the Headache Clinic,
(00:49):
and she is based in Viicargo and has nine clinics
around the country, always growing. She saw this on Instagram,
me trying to get some relief by stabbing my neck
into a wall in the radio studio, and apparently that
was not the right thing to do. But Helen is
confident that she can help me, and she has managed
to help me through several things actually that we'll get
(01:09):
into in a minute. But she's already helped several high
profile rugby players as well, including the likes of Sam Cain, Bonum,
Barrett Angus Taovao. And she's developed her own new neck
pilow that I need to tell you about because I've
been using this for the last six months as well. Helen,
I'm so glad that you reached out to me that
day to tell me that I was doing things wrong
and to put me on the right path.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Yes, you definitely needed some advice.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
So what I was doing is I was kind of
trying to push my neck against the wall because I
felt like I needed someone to just, I don't know,
press on it to get some relief. Is that a
common thing you hear?
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Often people want to put themselves in that flexed position
where their chins down towards their chest because it feels
like it's stretching the muscles that are really tight and
guarding the neck. But you'll actually make the underlying condition worse,
which is where the problem is. So yes, it might
(02:05):
feel good in the moment, it's not going to be
helpful long term.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Do you see lots of sore necks, like I just
mentioned it at this time of year because I feel like
heaps and my friends are in that position.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Yes, definitely. Is it this time of year.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
There's all the things going on, so we're very busy
and stressed and not very conscious of how we're holding
our bodies or the things that we're doing. And it
can be sitting for a long period of time, shopping
on your phone and looking for Christmas presents, those kind
of things, sitting on the couch, sitting on outdoor furniture
(02:40):
because it's hot, and just more tension in the muscles
where all of it, you know, the shoulders a wrap,
there's more tension going on. And then it's garden season
and it's sitting at the beach, and it's all those
things that actually put a lot of pressure on.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Them and we don't realize it. And when you get
a salt neck, it is so debilitating. I was at
the end of my tether. It was just this constant
and we went to New York for Coast Breakfast Radio,
and it was it was quite a hard time for
me because it was nothing that would give me relief
until I managed to get the quarter zones and they
helped a bit. And then I started seeing you guys
at the headache Clinic and I just started to get
(03:22):
some strengthening exercises. Can you just explain that process of
how that helps us?
Speaker 4 (03:27):
Yeah, So the strength provides stability. The initial thing that
you want to do is offload the injury, just as
you would if you hurt your ankle. You want to
sort of offload it and not be running around on it.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
But what the neck.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
It's sometimes tracking to realize that your biomechanics and your
posture are important to offload the neck. And then once
you've offloaded it, you've treated it to start settling it down.
Then you can build in the strength in behind that
to stabilize it so that long term this isn't coming back.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
And how do you do that.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
I've developed a series of exercises that when you start them,
they're very they're not very exciting exercises and they're a
little bit unusual in terms of off loading and a
really good neck stretch that you can do. It's sitting
up nice and tall and then just pulling your head in.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
And that sounds weird, like your chin's are almost coming towards
the back of your spine, right.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
Yeah, sort of thinking that you've got a book balanced
on top of your head, so that you've got that
great posture. And then it's a straight bank drawer. So
you don't want to be end up with your chin
down with your eyes locking towards the floor.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
You want to be looking straight ahead. Pull your head straight.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
Back in and then you can even apply pressure through
your jaw so that there's more of a stretch and
a little bit more force going through the top of the.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
And is that the correct posture kind of how we
should be. Yeah, so you're saying our jawel is too
far forward naturally at the moment.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Yeah. So the saying of pull your head in has
a double meaning here. It does.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
So when you are sitting really tall and you're thinking
bock on top of your head, then your head is
in a neutral position over top of the spine. Your
head is exceptionally heavy. It weighs between five and seven kilos,
and for every five centimeters of forward head movement, you
(05:35):
increase the pressure on your neck by another five.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Kilos and it wouldn't help with our devices because that
just makes our heads go further forward.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Right, yeah, absolutely, it's no surprise.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Then.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Okay, so you've got that, pull your head in or
pull your chin back towards the base of your neck,
and I can feel that straight away. That's how I
should be aligned. What else can you do?
Speaker 4 (05:57):
There's a few things you can do around that. So
if we doing it for a stretch, you're going to
pull your head in, apply a little bit of gentle
pressure through your chin, and you would hold that for
twenty seconds. You'd repeat it four times, and you can
do that five times a day.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Is great.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
Now, if you get an increase in symptoms when you
do that, especially when you apply the pressure through your jaw,
it's too much. So you have to listen to your
body so you're not then going to apply the pressure.
Just do it without applying the pressure and pull your
headen and hold that. That is also a strengthening exercise
(06:36):
if you do it without the hand and the pressure
through the jaw. If you're just pulling your head in,
that's the first step in your strengthening because you're activating
the deep stabilizing muscles in the neck, so around the
posture is crucial. And then we build in the pull
your headen chin tuck and then you can sort of
(06:57):
start into that strengthening. And depending on what kind of
things you like to do in your life will depend
on the direction of the strengthening program that will put
you on a little bit different for a professional athlete,
like in All Blacks prop compared to Grammar who likes
(07:17):
to crochet. In terms of other things that can go
wrong when you hurt your neck. The top three structures
in the neck feed information into your brainstem. Your brainstem
houses your autonomic system, and your autonomic system is like
the automatic system in your body that keeps you alive.
(07:40):
It does all the things that you don't have to
consciously think about, like keep your heart beating, and it's
adjust your blood pressure, your temperature and how much you're sweating,
and things like that that's done in the autonomic system
within the brain stem. Your neck has an influence on that,
so you can end up with all sorts of really bizarre,
(08:01):
interesting symptoms when the neck is unhappy.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Now, one of the things at the very beginning when
I was in quite an acute, painful period. Is you
told me to ice my neck rather than put a
wheat bag on. And I had always thought that putting
on heat was the way forward, but this made quite
a difference. And there's a specific way to do it right.
You don't just whack it on. You got me to
lie down.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
Yes, So when you're sitting, if you put an ice
pack on your neck or a wheetbag on your neck,
you're going to create a week shelf and push your
head forward so that you can keep your wheetbag or
ice pack on there. But when you lie on your
back on the floor and you put the ice pack
in through the hollow of the neck, you've offloaded the neck.
You can relax and the ice gets to do it sing.
(08:46):
And I would say in my experience, ice is more
effective in about eighty percent of cases.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
It certainly was for me. Yeah, it was a real relief.
And I will do that now. If it starts to
get a little bit niggly.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Us on Instagram at we need to talk with Tony Street.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
So we've got the strength of the exercises that the
chin tark the icing. You also have developed a couple
of things to help people with their necks and to
get better sleep and the headaches. Let's talk about the pillow,
which I have been using now for good six months.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Great, and how have you found it? Well?
Speaker 2 (09:23):
I haven't had to go and get treatment for my
neck again, so that's a really good side.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Initially it felt.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Low because I was a two pillow sleeper and one
of the first things you'll get told is, don't have
a high pillow, right, But what this has. It's got
like a hole, like you've put a bowling ball on
a pillow and that's where your head goes. And it
is about the same weight as a bowling ball, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
So the pillow that I've developed is designed so that
because lots of us move when we're in a sleep,
we don't get into bed and lie really still and
not move all night.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
That would be amazing.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
But if you lie on your back and you have
a pillow under your head, you'll push the head forward
and then you're into that position where you're putting pressure
on your neck and if there's an injury there, that's
going to make it worse. So I developed a pillow
that has the center you can lie it's like a
nest and you line your back. You put your head
(10:21):
in the nest, and then if you roll to your
side during the night, you roll to the side panel
and then there is support enough so that when you're
lying on your side, your head's still in an un
neutral position. It's fully customizable. I've joined forces with Laura
and Fluck, which is a boutique little company from Southland,
(10:44):
and we use the will to fill the pillow. You
can fully unzip it and put more wil in or
take will out so that you can get it to
the right height for your neck, which is very important
because often when you buy a pillow you can't change
the height of it. Once you get it home and
you realize it's too big or too small, then you're
(11:06):
stuck with it. So this one's customizeds well, you give
it a good fluff in the morning, sort of beat
it about it a little bit to keep the well
nice and fluffy and loose in there, and then it
is a dream pillow.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Have you had any of those rugby players use the pillow?
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Actually had a message from Sam Kaye's wife last week
and she was saying how he takes it everywhere. There's
quite a few of the All Blacks use it. I
know well Jordan had left his at home during the
first game of the season and got McKenzie to bring
it down to the hotel. So it is amazing, especially
(11:45):
if you've got we naggles in your neck. It will
keep it off loaded. And you think about how long
you're lying in bed for. It's such a long time,
so it can make a really big difference.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
And I think what you noticed I noticed for me.
So I had to do quick trip down to New
Plymouth recently and I forgot to take my pillow and
when I got there, I woke up the next morning
and I had a saw neck. So it's almost like
when you stop using the pillow is when you notice
that I've got to go back to it. So it's
definitely something that I'll be taking on holiday with me.
(12:16):
And the latest is you've now gone into vitamins.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
Yes, So the new thing that we're doing is supplementation
that is directly related to the brain and the neck
and keeping you healthy and sleeping really well. So it's
aimed towards the brain. Clarity is a big thing that
(12:43):
a woman our age can attest to yes.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Absolutely really good.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
After concussion as well, because brain fog often is an
issue at that stage. So very good for brain clarity,
energy as well as deep sleep. So it's I found
that it's really hard to find high quality supplements in
New Zealand that actually have in them what they say,
(13:10):
because in New Zealand you can get away with hiding
things in there, which is shocking to me. And I've
realized in the manufacturing of this that you can put
this thing called buffer in there, which basically means it's
got a portion of what you want, and then it's
got a portion of this magnesium oxide, which isn't what
(13:32):
you want, but you don't have to write.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
That on the label. Wow, it just seems so bizarre, weird.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
So what have you got on yours?
Speaker 4 (13:39):
So this is this is the impact magnesium. It's got
a blend of four very specific magnesium types that are
going to help with sleep, muscles, brain clarity function. It's
got magnesium three in eight which crosses the blood brain
barrier and it's very good for your brain. It's also
(14:02):
got magnesium malate which drives helps with energy production in
your brain, which is amazing. I've recently been away in
La speaking at a five day event over there that
had ridiculously long days and minimal breaks.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
It's hard, isn't it. I've been at events like that
and it's really hard to stay focused.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
And this was I was slu still at nine point
thirty at night, really clear, able to concentrate.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
It's amazing. It's made in New Zealand.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
So the brand is Impact neuro Health and the magnesium
is Impact Magnesium and you can get it on a
headache clinic website.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Just on headaches. Someone's got repeated headaches? What is the key?
Because I know people that have got cornic headaches and
they don't know where to start.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
Yeah, So when people come in and they have headaches,
we go through quite a robust subjective history to work
out what systems are involved in their ongoing headaches. We
know that the common underlying condition in all headaches is
that there is a sensitized lower brain stem and you
(15:12):
have to look at why is it sensitized and what
can we do about it? So we are going to
look at the neck as a culprit if it's shown,
but we would also look at the other systems. So
supplementation can be part of that. Diet can be part
of that looking at a low inflammatory diet to remove
some of that sensitivity. But then other systems like the
(15:37):
visual system and the vestibular system and lots of other things.
So it's really working out the cause rather than looking
at triggers and things that might tip them into a headache.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
Why is it even happening in the first place.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Yeah, Just to finish, I want you to give your
last piece of advice for all of us crazy busy
people heading into this festive season and we don't want
to have a debilitating sore neck or headaches. What would
your advice be on what people can do to prevent
it in the next few weeks.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Okay, so for the next few weeks, I would say,
watch when you're sitting and relaxing. So if you've been
very busy and stressed and running around, then when you
do relax, relax in a way that it's not.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Adding extra stress to your neck.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
So if you were to be inclined to sit on
the couch, just lie on your side, put a pillow
under your head so that your head and necker in neutral,
and watch TV like that. Be on your phone in
that position. The same with outdoor furniture. Instead of sitting,
either perch forward or lie on your side. If you're
looking to relax, it's always aiming to lie down rather
(16:46):
than sit because we tend to collapse into a slouch.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
And just be tall.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
It's actually an amazing time of year. You've got this
embrace it be tall, breathe and some patch magnesim wouldn't
go on.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
And that pillow and the good fellow and what I
will say from someone that's had saw next for many years,
and yes, the courter zone helped, but I think in
the past I've gone, oh, nothing's going to help me,
all these stretches and these subtle things, but it's actually
all those little things you do, your posture, how you
have your head at night, making sure that you're in
a neutral position. They are actually the things that stop
(17:24):
you getting the quarter zone again. And I have finally
looned that. It's taken me a long time, but all
those little exercises make the world of difference. So Helen,
congratulations on your latest new product, and well done, and
thank you for creating such a cool pillow and for
having me in a state where I can now be
painfree I'm very thankful.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
Great, thanks for listening.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
So we need to talk. Get in contact with us
on Instagram, at we need to talk with Tony Street
or email. We need to talk at Coastonline, dot co
dot nz
Welcome, So we need to talk Tony Street's lifestyle and
Wellness podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Hello, welcome to We Need to Talk. It is great
to have you with us today. Headaches, migrain's, back pain,
neck pain. They are all exhausting and can be super
debilitating if you have no remedy insight, especially at this
time of year. We're heading into Christmas and we're all
pretty tense and stressed now. In late twenty twenty four,
I prolapsed a disc in my neck, not from anything spectacular.
(00:26):
I was lifting up the hairdryer to blow dry my
hair and I did I felt a pop. So not
only did I have constance so next, but I also
got that niggly nerve pain that went down your arm,
under my armpit and into my fingers. Ever since, I've
been back and forth to doctors, physios, and most recently
I've had a couple of cortisone injections to relieve the pain.
Helen to Fuey is the founder of the Headache Clinic,
(00:49):
and she is based in Viicargo and has nine clinics
around the country, always growing. She saw this on Instagram,
me trying to get some relief by stabbing my neck
into a wall in the radio studio, and apparently that
was not the right thing to do. But Helen is
confident that she can help me, and she has managed
to help me through several things actually that we'll get
(01:09):
into in a minute. But she's already helped several high
profile rugby players as well, including the likes of Sam Cain, Bonum,
Barrett Angus Taovao. And she's developed her own new neck
pilow that I need to tell you about because I've
been using this for the last six months as well. Helen,
I'm so glad that you reached out to me that
day to tell me that I was doing things wrong
and to put me on the right path.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Yes, you definitely needed some advice.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
So what I was doing is I was kind of
trying to push my neck against the wall because I
felt like I needed someone to just, I don't know,
press on it to get some relief. Is that a
common thing you hear?
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Often people want to put themselves in that flexed position
where their chins down towards their chest because it feels
like it's stretching the muscles that are really tight and
guarding the neck. But you'll actually make the underlying condition worse,
which is where the problem is. So yes, it might
(02:05):
feel good in the moment, it's not going to be
helpful long term.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Do you see lots of sore necks, like I just
mentioned it at this time of year because I feel like
heaps and my friends are in that position.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Yes, definitely. Is it this time of year.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
There's all the things going on, so we're very busy
and stressed and not very conscious of how we're holding
our bodies or the things that we're doing. And it
can be sitting for a long period of time, shopping
on your phone and looking for Christmas presents, those kind
of things, sitting on the couch, sitting on outdoor furniture
(02:40):
because it's hot, and just more tension in the muscles
where all of it, you know, the shoulders a wrap,
there's more tension going on. And then it's garden season
and it's sitting at the beach, and it's all those
things that actually put a lot of pressure on.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Them and we don't realize it. And when you get
a salt neck, it is so debilitating. I was at
the end of my tether. It was just this constant
and we went to New York for Coast Breakfast Radio,
and it was it was quite a hard time for
me because it was nothing that would give me relief
until I managed to get the quarter zones and they
helped a bit. And then I started seeing you guys
at the headache Clinic and I just started to get
(03:22):
some strengthening exercises. Can you just explain that process of
how that helps us?
Speaker 4 (03:27):
Yeah, So the strength provides stability. The initial thing that
you want to do is offload the injury, just as
you would if you hurt your ankle. You want to
sort of offload it and not be running around on it.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
But what the neck.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
It's sometimes tracking to realize that your biomechanics and your
posture are important to offload the neck. And then once
you've offloaded it, you've treated it to start settling it down.
Then you can build in the strength in behind that
to stabilize it so that long term this isn't coming back.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
And how do you do that.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
I've developed a series of exercises that when you start them,
they're very they're not very exciting exercises and they're a
little bit unusual in terms of off loading and a
really good neck stretch that you can do. It's sitting
up nice and tall and then just pulling your head in.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
And that sounds weird, like your chin's are almost coming towards
the back of your spine, right.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
Yeah, sort of thinking that you've got a book balanced
on top of your head, so that you've got that
great posture. And then it's a straight bank drawer. So
you don't want to be end up with your chin
down with your eyes locking towards the floor.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
You want to be looking straight ahead. Pull your head straight.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
Back in and then you can even apply pressure through
your jaw so that there's more of a stretch and
a little bit more force going through the top of the.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
And is that the correct posture kind of how we
should be. Yeah, so you're saying our jawel is too
far forward naturally at the moment.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Yeah. So the saying of pull your head in has
a double meaning here. It does.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
So when you are sitting really tall and you're thinking
bock on top of your head, then your head is
in a neutral position over top of the spine. Your
head is exceptionally heavy. It weighs between five and seven kilos,
and for every five centimeters of forward head movement, you
(05:35):
increase the pressure on your neck by another five.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Kilos and it wouldn't help with our devices because that
just makes our heads go further forward.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Right, yeah, absolutely, it's no surprise.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Then.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Okay, so you've got that, pull your head in or
pull your chin back towards the base of your neck,
and I can feel that straight away. That's how I
should be aligned. What else can you do?
Speaker 4 (05:57):
There's a few things you can do around that. So
if we doing it for a stretch, you're going to
pull your head in, apply a little bit of gentle
pressure through your chin, and you would hold that for
twenty seconds. You'd repeat it four times, and you can
do that five times a day.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Is great.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
Now, if you get an increase in symptoms when you
do that, especially when you apply the pressure through your jaw,
it's too much. So you have to listen to your
body so you're not then going to apply the pressure.
Just do it without applying the pressure and pull your
headen and hold that. That is also a strengthening exercise
(06:36):
if you do it without the hand and the pressure
through the jaw. If you're just pulling your head in,
that's the first step in your strengthening because you're activating
the deep stabilizing muscles in the neck, so around the
posture is crucial. And then we build in the pull
your headen chin tuck and then you can sort of
(06:57):
start into that strengthening. And depending on what kind of
things you like to do in your life will depend
on the direction of the strengthening program that will put
you on a little bit different for a professional athlete,
like in All Blacks prop compared to Grammar who likes
(07:17):
to crochet. In terms of other things that can go
wrong when you hurt your neck. The top three structures
in the neck feed information into your brainstem. Your brainstem
houses your autonomic system, and your autonomic system is like
the automatic system in your body that keeps you alive.
(07:40):
It does all the things that you don't have to
consciously think about, like keep your heart beating, and it's
adjust your blood pressure, your temperature and how much you're sweating,
and things like that that's done in the autonomic system
within the brain stem. Your neck has an influence on that,
so you can end up with all sorts of really bizarre,
(08:01):
interesting symptoms when the neck is unhappy.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Now, one of the things at the very beginning when
I was in quite an acute, painful period. Is you
told me to ice my neck rather than put a
wheat bag on. And I had always thought that putting
on heat was the way forward, but this made quite
a difference. And there's a specific way to do it right.
You don't just whack it on. You got me to
lie down.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
Yes, So when you're sitting, if you put an ice
pack on your neck or a wheetbag on your neck,
you're going to create a week shelf and push your
head forward so that you can keep your wheetbag or
ice pack on there. But when you lie on your
back on the floor and you put the ice pack
in through the hollow of the neck, you've offloaded the neck.
You can relax and the ice gets to do it sing.
(08:46):
And I would say in my experience, ice is more
effective in about eighty percent of cases.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
It certainly was for me. Yeah, it was a real relief.
And I will do that now. If it starts to
get a little bit niggly.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Us on Instagram at we need to talk with Tony Street.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
So we've got the strength of the exercises that the
chin tark the icing. You also have developed a couple
of things to help people with their necks and to
get better sleep and the headaches. Let's talk about the pillow,
which I have been using now for good six months.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Great, and how have you found it? Well?
Speaker 2 (09:23):
I haven't had to go and get treatment for my
neck again, so that's a really good side.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Initially it felt.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Low because I was a two pillow sleeper and one
of the first things you'll get told is, don't have
a high pillow, right, But what this has. It's got
like a hole, like you've put a bowling ball on
a pillow and that's where your head goes. And it
is about the same weight as a bowling ball, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
So the pillow that I've developed is designed so that
because lots of us move when we're in a sleep,
we don't get into bed and lie really still and
not move all night.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
That would be amazing.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
But if you lie on your back and you have
a pillow under your head, you'll push the head forward
and then you're into that position where you're putting pressure
on your neck and if there's an injury there, that's
going to make it worse. So I developed a pillow
that has the center you can lie it's like a
nest and you line your back. You put your head
(10:21):
in the nest, and then if you roll to your
side during the night, you roll to the side panel
and then there is support enough so that when you're
lying on your side, your head's still in an un
neutral position. It's fully customizable. I've joined forces with Laura
and Fluck, which is a boutique little company from Southland,
(10:44):
and we use the will to fill the pillow. You
can fully unzip it and put more wil in or
take will out so that you can get it to
the right height for your neck, which is very important
because often when you buy a pillow you can't change
the height of it. Once you get it home and
you realize it's too big or too small, then you're
(11:06):
stuck with it. So this one's customizeds well, you give
it a good fluff in the morning, sort of beat
it about it a little bit to keep the well
nice and fluffy and loose in there, and then it
is a dream pillow.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Have you had any of those rugby players use the pillow?
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Actually had a message from Sam Kaye's wife last week
and she was saying how he takes it everywhere. There's
quite a few of the All Blacks use it. I
know well Jordan had left his at home during the
first game of the season and got McKenzie to bring
it down to the hotel. So it is amazing, especially
(11:45):
if you've got we naggles in your neck. It will
keep it off loaded. And you think about how long
you're lying in bed for. It's such a long time,
so it can make a really big difference.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
And I think what you noticed I noticed for me.
So I had to do quick trip down to New
Plymouth recently and I forgot to take my pillow and
when I got there, I woke up the next morning
and I had a saw neck. So it's almost like
when you stop using the pillow is when you notice
that I've got to go back to it. So it's
definitely something that I'll be taking on holiday with me.
(12:16):
And the latest is you've now gone into vitamins.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
Yes, So the new thing that we're doing is supplementation
that is directly related to the brain and the neck
and keeping you healthy and sleeping really well. So it's
aimed towards the brain. Clarity is a big thing that
(12:43):
a woman our age can attest to yes.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Absolutely really good.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
After concussion as well, because brain fog often is an
issue at that stage. So very good for brain clarity,
energy as well as deep sleep. So it's I found
that it's really hard to find high quality supplements in
New Zealand that actually have in them what they say,
(13:10):
because in New Zealand you can get away with hiding
things in there, which is shocking to me. And I've
realized in the manufacturing of this that you can put
this thing called buffer in there, which basically means it's
got a portion of what you want, and then it's
got a portion of this magnesium oxide, which isn't what
(13:32):
you want, but you don't have to write.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
That on the label. Wow, it just seems so bizarre, weird.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
So what have you got on yours?
Speaker 4 (13:39):
So this is this is the impact magnesium. It's got
a blend of four very specific magnesium types that are
going to help with sleep, muscles, brain clarity function. It's
got magnesium three in eight which crosses the blood brain
barrier and it's very good for your brain. It's also
(14:02):
got magnesium malate which drives helps with energy production in
your brain, which is amazing. I've recently been away in
La speaking at a five day event over there that
had ridiculously long days and minimal breaks.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
It's hard, isn't it. I've been at events like that
and it's really hard to stay focused.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
And this was I was slu still at nine point
thirty at night, really clear, able to concentrate.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
It's amazing. It's made in New Zealand.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
So the brand is Impact neuro Health and the magnesium
is Impact Magnesium and you can get it on a
headache clinic website.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Just on headaches. Someone's got repeated headaches? What is the key?
Because I know people that have got cornic headaches and
they don't know where to start.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
Yeah, So when people come in and they have headaches,
we go through quite a robust subjective history to work
out what systems are involved in their ongoing headaches. We
know that the common underlying condition in all headaches is
that there is a sensitized lower brain stem and you
(15:12):
have to look at why is it sensitized and what
can we do about it? So we are going to
look at the neck as a culprit if it's shown,
but we would also look at the other systems. So
supplementation can be part of that. Diet can be part
of that looking at a low inflammatory diet to remove
some of that sensitivity. But then other systems like the
(15:37):
visual system and the vestibular system and lots of other things.
So it's really working out the cause rather than looking
at triggers and things that might tip them into a headache.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
Why is it even happening in the first place.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Yeah, Just to finish, I want you to give your
last piece of advice for all of us crazy busy
people heading into this festive season and we don't want
to have a debilitating sore neck or headaches. What would
your advice be on what people can do to prevent
it in the next few weeks.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Okay, so for the next few weeks, I would say,
watch when you're sitting and relaxing. So if you've been
very busy and stressed and running around, then when you
do relax, relax in a way that it's not.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Adding extra stress to your neck.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
So if you were to be inclined to sit on
the couch, just lie on your side, put a pillow
under your head so that your head and necker in neutral,
and watch TV like that. Be on your phone in
that position. The same with outdoor furniture. Instead of sitting,
either perch forward or lie on your side. If you're
looking to relax, it's always aiming to lie down rather
(16:46):
than sit because we tend to collapse into a slouch.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
And just be tall.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
It's actually an amazing time of year. You've got this
embrace it be tall, breathe and some patch magnesim wouldn't
go on.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
And that pillow and the good fellow and what I
will say from someone that's had saw next for many years,
and yes, the courter zone helped, but I think in
the past I've gone, oh, nothing's going to help me,
all these stretches and these subtle things, but it's actually
all those little things you do, your posture, how you
have your head at night, making sure that you're in
a neutral position. They are actually the things that stop
(17:24):
you getting the quarter zone again. And I have finally
looned that. It's taken me a long time, but all
those little exercises make the world of difference. So Helen,
congratulations on your latest new product, and well done, and
thank you for creating such a cool pillow and for
having me in a state where I can now be
painfree I'm very thankful.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
Great, thanks for listening.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
So we need to talk. Get in contact with us
on Instagram, at we need to talk with Tony Street
or email. We need to talk at Coastonline, dot co
dot nz
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