PILLOW, BED, AND MATTRESS
FOR BETTER SLEEP
MATTRESS TOPPER
Good pillow top mattress topper distributes pressure on the body, so you're more comfortable and therefore sleep better, fully supported. .
In Matttress Decision, I ended up adding the topper, since the mattress was slightly too firm.
THE CORRECT PILLOW FOR SUPPORT
If you watch YouTube videos, the pillow should support the arched neck with your head fully aligned with your body when lying on your back and also when lying on your side. (Never sleep face down!)
It would seem logical to use an expert here, which I would suppose would be a chiropractor with an excellent reputation.
The interim winner, but not perfect as neck is a little bent forward when on back, but it seems to work for sidesleeping, which is most of what I do: 100% fiberfill, soft and fluffy, head sinks in a bit. Not "too supportive" like the others. See the final winner at the end of The Pillow Wars section below.
See Pillow Ratings at end.
MATTRESS
Cousin found tempurpedic bed to get her stuck in the indentation for her body...
BED
Adjustable beds? My nephew bought the electrical adjustable bed so that he could elevate his head to avoid the effects of acid reflux (aka silent reflux). I used bed raisers to raise the head (bought them at Bed, Bath, And Beyond.)
THE PILLOW WARS
Rating criteria:
On back: Neck is aligned with back, not too far forward.
On side: Neck is aligned sideways
Winner, but not perfect as neck is a little bent forward when on pack, but it seems to work for sidesleeping, which is most of what I do: 100% fiberfill, soft and fluffy, head sinks in a bit. Not "too supportive like the others.
Since MyPillow didn't work for me and Brookstone Anti-snoring pillow didn't work (I don't snore anyway, but I thought the lower middle would work for my neck when I was sleeping on my back and that the bigger sides would work for when I rolled over onto my side).
Next is a "cervical pillow", with a depression in the middle with a neck support when sleeping on my back and with higher sides for sleeping on my side. This turned out to be a bit uncomfortable as I apparently had to "hold" my head in place to some extent to balance on either side for side sleeping.
Next is a down pillow.
Ratings
On back On side
100% fiberfill, Global USA B B+
Nature's Pillows polystyrene bead, contour for head,
too small? B B
Charter Club down Medium Pillow C+ B
Bedding Essential 100% fiberfill, too firm C B+
Allergy luxe Side Sleeper , 100% polyester C B
Tri-Core gentle support, not enough room for
head to fall into hollowed out center,
head tends to roll on sides, too narrow C+ C-
ComfortPedic - no give D C
Tempuredic - like a clump of clay, rolling wave shapek
neck forward way too much on low or high side D C-
MyPillow medium D D
Considering next:
I finally bought a Dr. Hall's "Pillo1" at full price ($199), after trying cheaper ones that looked almost identical but did not work for me.
OLD NOTES
Old post
I was sleeping with a "crick" in my neck. But after watching the video at MyPillows.com, I could see that I had to have a thicker pillow for my shoulders when side sleeping and was using pillows that were too soft/collapsible.. (Turned out that I misestimated this, as my shoulder tends to roll forward, lowering my head enough for a lower pillow.)
Sidesleeping: To increase pillow height: crunch pillow on the sides to increase the height in the middle.
Backsleeping: To decrease height: flatten the middle and pull out the sides, enough to feel support of the neck from the shoulders up to the top of the curve, with no cricks. .
To adjust when sleeping on your back: bunch the pillow under your neck, assuring you are getting support
for your:
MyPillow.com - Two brief tutorials are good. Google "discounts on mypillow.com" to get codes. It didn't work for me.
I did it and slept on it for three nights - whacked my neck out really, really badly, in pain, took a couple of days and pills to recover. Returned it.
