Buckwheat pillows

May 20, 2005 8:47 PM

My neck is killing me. Where can I find a buckwheat/soba pillow in NYC? Bonus points for somewhere not overcharging for "organic ultimate lifesaving pillows".
posted by mkultra to health & fitness (10 comments total)

You can actually make a neck pillow pretty easily with a tube sock and some rice. Just fill up the sock and tie it off or sew it shut. You can heat the thing in the microwave for a couple of minutes and it'll retain heat for a long time. Supposedly, it will also retain cold for a long time but I've never used mine cold.
posted by undertone at 10:01 PM on May 20, 2005

Make sure to use a hardcore, high-quality sock... otherwise you could wind up with rice all over your bed. As I found out once.
posted by Netzapper at 10:41 PM on May 20, 2005

When my neck hurts (as it often does), I find Thermacare wraps to be very helpful. They're especially nice since you can have one on all day at work under your shirt, and nobody can tell.
posted by cerebus19 at 6:01 AM on May 21, 2005

To answer the question, you can often find those pillows at Korean (and maybe other Asian) grocery/general dry goods stores. Sometimes you see them in round-eye stores, too. Those are usually the "As Seen On TV," "Organic Buckwheat Hulls" type, but if they're overstocked and letting them go cheap, who cares?
posted by spacewrench at 9:04 AM on May 21, 2005

Why dont you go to a chiropractor?
posted by mert at 9:39 AM on May 21, 2005

I can't say that my neck was ever "killing me", but I find that the viscoelastic ("memory") foam pillows are more comfortable than the buckwheat hull pillows, which are in turn more comfortable than regular pillows.
posted by trevyn at 2:22 AM on May 22, 2005

A friend's wife tried one of those shell-filled pillows. He said she hated 'em. Too noisy.
posted by Tacodog at 4:11 AM on May 22, 2005

I got mine at Takashimaya on Fifth Ave in the fifties -- they have a GREAT travel department with good neck pillows, and on the home decor floor, beautiful buckwheat pillows. This store is a fantastic secret for lots of cool stuff, far cheaper than it's location/image would suggest.
posted by thinkpiece at 3:33 PM on May 22, 2005

I just saw one today at a hardward store on Broadway, somewhere betwixt 100th and 110th.
posted by bingo at 5:21 PM on May 22, 2005

I had severe neck pain for months, I bought one of the contoured memory foam pillows for $20 at Target and I've never looked back since. It saved my life.
posted by tristeza at 11:31 AM on May 23, 2005