Pillow

There are thousands of people who sleep and good rest without pillow. If you use pillow and cannot sleep without pillow then you should also know which type of pillow is better for your sleep and how to take care of pillow.

Why pillow selection is important? To get good sleep selection of good pillow is critical. Our sleeping posture is a key reason to get good sleep. Pillow helps to get into healthy sleep posture. Body alignment from toes to head, knees and hips posture and spine, chest and shoulder, neck and head – all alignment should be proper. If not, disturbance in sleep will take severe troll on our health. Key is to get good and proper support on neck and shoulder. If it is not – twisting, craning, propped in an angle it puts strain on spine leading to discomfort on entire body including the back.

While selecting good mattress focus on right pillow too. The best pillow supports entire body and makes you comfortable to sleep and you feel refreshed with more energy when you wake up in the morning.

Which pillow is better?

Size, shape, quality of pillow – these should be perfect while picking up the right pillow.

1. Filling: Depending on your needs and preferences you can select pillows that have fillings of various types.

• Down: Light and soft made from goose and duck fibers. Goose feather tend to be softer than down and expensive. If you are allergic to feathers then you should be careful. There are pillows called “hypodown: which is blend of down and syriaca a substance that helps bolster the allergy free properties of down. These pillows are good for stomach sleepers too !
• Buckwheat pillows: To eliminate headaches, neck and back pain buckwheat pillows are becoming popular. It removes stress from spine. Buckwheat hull fill allows pillow to breath and avoids over heating of pillows. Depending on the thickness we need, buckwheat pillows can be used for most sleeping postures.
• Synthetic down? Less expensive than natural. These are filled with polyester fibers and need replacement once in a year. Medium soft and will flatten with time.
• Wool: These are naturally hypo -allergenic, resistant to dust mites and mold. Wool filled pillows helps to regulate temperature and keeps body warm during winter. These are firm and have more longevity.
• Cotton: Natural and hypo-allergenic. Flat and firm and are choice of those who does not like chemicals and want to keep away from allergens.
• Latex: These are more firm and very comfortable pillows. Knows to hold shape and designed to give extra support to neck and head.
• Memory foam: Popular pillow in recent years is memory foam. These pillows conform to our shape based on our weight and body heat. Foam pillows have right balance of softness and loft to keep head supported at night. It softens and contours to the line of head, neck and shoulders. People who have neck and head pain prefer these pillows.

2. Fill weight: What should be the pillow weight depends on personal choice. Memory foam and latex pillows are heavier compared to down and synthetic. If your head and body moves while resting and you want to snuggle pillows then light weight pillow could be your choice.

3. Quality: If you are looking for good quality pillows then you should remember following points – Support, comfort, allergen free, chemical free and longevity are points to remember while choosing pillow.

4. Size: Standard size is large. A pillow should enable you to sleep with shoulder, neck and head aligned with spine. Pillow should be able to comfort you and give good sleep. Use proper pillow cover.

5. Mattress: Your pillow choice also depends on your mattress type. If your mattress is soft then consider firm pillow to keep head and neck aligned. If you have a firm mattress consider buying softer pillow. Depending on the posture you sleep you may consider following types of pillows.

Depending on your sleeping position you can chose pillows:

• Stomach sleeper: Soft pillow or no pillow – to prevent back pain, place a pillow under stomach
• Side sleeper: Firmer and thicker pillow. Select one that is as thick as distance between your shoulder and ear.
• Back sleeper: Flat pillow to keep neck and head in alignment with spine.

When to change the pillows? Consider changing pillow:

• If your pillow is more than 18 months old
• If your spine is hurting
• If you have constant neck pain
• If you have constant shoulder pain
• If you are not getting good sleep and tossing around
• If your pillow is worn out, crushed and sunken

Check your pillows today and if you feel for above reasons you need to change pillows then, go for it!

References:

https://www.thesleepdoctor.com

https://www.sleepadvisor.org/

Image credit : Photo by Dan Farrell on Unsplash (Free for commercial use)