Choosing The Right Pillows For You

How to choose pillows which are right for you

When it comes to choosing a pillow for the best quality night’s sleep, it’s important to focus on your comfort and support needs. The beauty of pillows is that there are so many options - the pillow type that works for you may not work for others. Choosing the right pillow is a completely individual process that will depend on your favoured sleeping position and mattress firmness to give you the best sleep.

How to choose the best pillow?

There’s a range of pillow filling options, such as feather, down, hollow fibre and memory foam. Pillows are designed with your sleep comfort needs in mind, with the correct filling type correlating with the right level of support for you.

When deciding on a new pillow, there should be two areas to consider:

1. Which type of mattress do I have?

2. Which position do I sleep in the most?

Mattress type:

You might be thinking, how does my mattress firmness impact my pillow choice? They have a direct impact on one another and you may be experiencing discomfort or aches and pains if your mattress and pillow choice doesn’t match up nicely.

For instance, if you have a firm mattress and firm support pillows, then this combination will be too supportive for your neck and spine to align correctly. Whereas if you have a firm mattress and try soft to medium support pillows, then this should result in a more comfortable night’s sleep as your neck isn’t being pushed forward. Memory foam pillows and mattresses are the only exceptions for this tip, as memory foam is designed to give you support in all the right areas to mould to your body’s needs!

Sleeping position:

It’s only natural that in our sleep we move and wriggle around. Rarely does someone sleep solely on their side, front or back all night long! It’s not commonly discussed that your sleeping position should influence your pillow choice. Before choosing a new pillow, consider which position you most often fall asleep in and then compare this to the sleeping position that you most often wake up in.

Pillows for different sleeping positions

Side sleepers: For side sleepers, medium to firm support pillows give your head and neck the support that you need. As a side sleeper, you need a pillow that’s around the same thickness as the depth from your shoulders to your ears to make sure that your neck and spine are aligned as naturally as possible.

Front sleepers: For front sleepers, your pillow needs to be thin and soft. A pillow that is too thick and firm will make your neck align too high, which can result in neck aches and lower back pain. Some front sleepers decide to sleep without a pillow, although for maximum front sleeping comfort we recommend down and goose feather pillows.

Back Sleepers: For back sleepers, hollow fibre pillows offer medium support. Medium support pillows offer your neck and spine the best support as they won't cause your neck to fall far backwards or forwards, like the satin stripe pillow. Memory foam pillows are great at offering added support at the bottom of your neck.

What are the best pillows for neck pain?

As we’ve highlighted, if you’re experiencing neck pain, this may be because your pillow doesn’t give you the best support for your sleeping position.

For example, if you sleep on your side, you’ll want to avoid a thin and soft support pillow, as your neck will have to stretch downwards to meet the thin pillow, causing discomfort. A thicker and medium to firm support pillow align side sleepers neck and spine most naturally, giving them the best support and comfort. For firmer support, the support pillow is specifically designed to aid in alleviating any neck pain. If you’re often waking up tired and with aches and pains, this can also be a clear sign that you need a new Mattress.

Hopefully, these tips have been useful in answering ‘How to choose a pillow?’. If you find that you’re a combination of two sleeping positions, such as side and back sleeping, a medium to firm support pillow will still give you the added support that you need.