Help me find a better pillow.

June 12, 2012 11:24 AM

I think it's time for a new pillow - one that will help alleviate chronic neck/back pain. Preferably suited for back sleepers. I'll even settle for something that doesn't make the pain worse at this point - the last two weeks have pushed me to the limit.
posted by crankyrogalsky to Health & Fitness (16 answers total)

Consider a Japaneses style buckwheat pillow.
posted by Michele in California at 11:27 AM on June 12, 2012 [1 favorite]

Surely you've tried one of these...?
posted by MangyCarface at 11:30 AM on June 12, 2012

I tried a Memory Foam like MangyCarface recommended, I could never get used to it. I got a Latex Foam, and like that more. It's springy and bouncy and works better for me. Expensive though.
posted by Blake at 11:32 AM on June 12, 2012

I have pretty severe neck problems and I use tempur-pedic memory foam pillows. You need to give them a week or so to out-gas after you buy them, however, because they have a very strong odor right out of the box.
posted by skye.dancer at 11:34 AM on June 12, 2012

Are you sure you need a pillow? I am mostly a back sleeper and I find that pillows contribute to forward head posture and aggravate my neck/shoulder/upper back issues.

I tried memory foam neck bolsters and hollow-center pillows but they make me feel confined. Finally I stopped using a pillow at all and it's made a huge difference. Keeps me from rolling over on my side in the middle of the night too.

I sometimes will use my pillow under my upper back when I first go to bed, so my pecs open up and my back muscles relax and my head falls back a bit. Weird at first but so much relief.
posted by headnsouth at 11:34 AM on June 12, 2012 [1 favorite]

I love my half memory foam / half fluff pillows. It's just the right amount of support for me. I sleep on my back.
posted by Duffington at 11:37 AM on June 12, 2012 [1 favorite]

My neck is all screwed up, and I have problems if I sleep on a normal pillow long-term. The regular memory foam pillows are kind of hit-and-miss, though. What does work? A gel memory foam pillow. I have one very similar to this that is absolutely amazing.
posted by phunniemee at 11:39 AM on June 12, 2012

I've had good luck with a rock-hard (seriously, my ex-wife said ouch the first time she banged her hand against it) memory foam pillow from Ikea. I'm pretty sure it's this guy.
posted by postel's law at 11:46 AM on June 12, 2012

I hated my rock-hard memory foam pillow from Ikea, but love my ridiculously expensive ergonomic Tempurpedic pillow. I had a $20 one from Target that was great at first, but it became all flat and useless after just a few months. I sleep on my back and my sides.
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:59 AM on June 12, 2012

I am nthing the Soba pillow. Mine came from Japan and I've had it for a long, long time. The Sobakawa pillow, (as seen on TV!) is a pretty good substitute.

I love this and it has changed my life. I drag it everywhere and I MUST have it to sleep.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 12:02 PM on June 12, 2012

I tried the buckwheat pillow, but it was not for me. (A friend who visits frequently adores it, however!)

This is my beloved pillow, which makes my neck super happy.
posted by Sidhedevil at 12:25 PM on June 12, 2012

Response by poster: Thanks - I'm checking them out now. Specific brands/pillows is what I'm looking for; otherwise amazon reviews would be enough. There are just so many pillows these days.
posted by crankyrogalsky at 1:16 PM on June 12, 2012

I have the Tempur-Pedic Extra-Thick Swedish Neck Pillow. I was having a lot of neck pain, and finally gave in to the hefty price tag. It has definitely made a difference (seeing that it's on sale, I'm tempted to buy another one!)
posted by invisible ink at 4:07 PM on June 12, 2012

For my neck pain, my chiro suggested not using a pillow at all, and/or using a folded towel instead. I take a medium sized towel and fold it in half as my pillow. Saved me from the neck pain and the trouble of trying to find a replacement pillow that was low enough. Sleeping with my arms above my head also helped to stretch my upper back.

As an experiment I tried using a low pillow recently and the neck pain started to return. I'm back to using the towel.
posted by Cog at 4:32 PM on June 12, 2012

Mainstream to the rescue - I can strongly recommend my Dunlopillo Latex Foam Pillow.

But of course you don't have my neck, so it might not be right. Also they're not seemingly easy to find in the US. I'm not actually sure this counts as advice.
posted by cromagnon at 4:54 PM on June 12, 2012

Seconding @Cog's suggestion for the towel approach. I sleep on my back, have neck pain, and have tried different pillows, until a few years ago during a particularly desperate night while traveling, it occurred to me to try a folded towel and it was very nearly life-changing. I use a medium-to-large size, fluffy towel. Using a towel may seem like a strange thing to do, but IMHO it really it offers a number of advantages:

• You can adjust the height to suit you by folding the towel.
• You can change the height during the night. This is a huge advantage for me. I tend to want to lay on my side when I first get into bed, and then switch to sleeping on my back. The problem is that when I sleep on my side, a pillow will press against my eyeball and it's just massively uncomfortable. (Side question to no one in particular: how is this not a problem for every other person who sleeps on their side?). Using a towel, I can fold it an extra time to give myself more height when I lay on my side, then when I switch to my back, I can unfold it once to reduce the height by half.
• The towel will not wrap around your head as much as a pillow, therefore it will not trap as much heat. In hot weather, your head will stay cooler than with a pillow. This makes for more comfortable sleep.
• You can use hotel towels when traveling. If you were to use a special pillow, you would probably need to bring it with you, which adds weight and takes up space in your luggage. If you didn't bring the special pillow, you'd be at the mercy of the hotel—and there is a huge amount of variation in hotel pillows. But pretty much every hotel will provide you with multiple towels, so you can count on being able to make the towel-as-pillow trick work. (If you're in a cheap hotel with thin and/or small towels, you can double up the towels.)
• You can wash towels more easily than pillows.

posted by StrawberryPie at 9:02 AM on June 13, 2012