TIFU by retiring a stuffed animal

TIFU… technically about 20 years ago.

When I was 14, I acquired (read: shoplifted) a long stuffed weiners dog from KB Toys at the mall and named him Ludwig Van Beethoven.

He was filled with little styrofoam pellets, and I didn’t cuddle him — I used him as neck support on top of my pillow, as a neck pillow on the plane, or as a buffer against whatever surface I was sleeping on.

I stopped using him when my future husband moved in. I decided I was too old to sleep with a stuffed animal. Time to grow up.

The consequences weren’t immediate. About three years later, I started waking up with numb arms. Didn’t connect it to anything. Around ten years ago, the neck pain started — a morning kink that eventually turned into all-day shoulder/upper trap pain for the last 3 years.

I’ve tried every pillow type. Memory foam, contoured, soft, firm. Did PT. Had X-rays done. Researched more than I care to admit. Just assumed I was tense, stressed, or aging. New normal, ya know?

Recently I remembered Ludwig. I still have him, so I gave him a try… but he’s too flat and deflated now. So I bought a buckwheat pillow — basically the adult, refillable version of bead-filled support.

One week in: 95% of my shoulder pain is gone.

Apparently I didn’t need a better pillow. I needed good ole Ludwig.

TL;DR: Stopped sleeping with my bead-filled stuffed dachshund when my husband moved in because I wanted to seem like an adult. Spent 20 years with worsening neck and shoulder pain. Bought a buckwheat pillow (adult version of the stuffed dog). Pain is basically gone. Never should have retired the stuffed dog.