What is the Best Pillow?
What is the Best Pillow?
Patients often ask us, “What is the best pillow?” Patients also ask whether there is a pillow to use with CPAP, or a pillow that treats snoring and sleep apnea. According to Consumer Reports, the best pillow is Coop Home Goods Premium Adjustable Loft, followed closely by Sleep Number ComfortFit Ultimate.
Most importantly, a pillow must be supportive. It should give proper support to your head and neck on your side and your back. The head should not tilt up or down too much. The neck and spine should be aligned. If you sleep on your back, the pillow should be thinner than if you sleep on your side. Stomach sleepers may need an even thinner pillow.
The pillow should be breathable. Otherwise. it will feel too hot in the middle of the night. It should hold its shape and return to its original shape after each night of use. Make sure you are not allergic to any of the materials in the pillow’s fill. The cover should have neat stitches, straight seams, and piping. A zipper makes it easier to increase or decrease the filling, and to clean the cover.
Pillows can be filled with polyester, memory foam, latex, down, feathers, buckwheat, or water. Polyester is the most common filling. It is good, but does not hold its shape as well. Therefore, polyester filled pillows need to be replaced more often. Latex keeps its shape well. Memory foam adjusts well to the shape of the head, but does not breathe well, so it may feel hot at night. Down pillows are soft. Feather pillows are firmer. As the pillow ages, feathers may poke through the cover. Buckwheat adjusts well to the shape of the head, but makes noise if you move in sleep. Water filled pillows can be adjusted by increasing or decreasing the amount of water.
Adjustable Pillows
Some pillows are now adjustable. Therefore, you can increase or decrease the amount of filling. In so doing, you can customize the pillow to your liking. This makes adjustable pillows the best option. The pillows rated best by Consumer Reports (Coop Home Goods Premium Adjustable Loft and Sleep Number ComfortFit Ultimate) are both adjustable. The Coop comes with extra filling, and the amount of filling can be decreased or increased. The Sleep Number comes with three layers, and one or two layers can be removed. Adjustable pillows are clearly the winning choice.
No, pillows do not help snoring or sleep apnea. No particular pillow has been shown to make it easier to use CPAP.
Summary
Adjustable pillows are the best pillows. Consumer Reports rates the Coop Home Goods Premium Adjustable Loft and Sleep Number ComfortFit Ultimate as the best pillows currently. For an updated list of best pillows, look at Consumers Report.
