Best Pillows for Neck Pain

Neck pain is an all too common ailment, but you don’t have to suffer forever. Switching out your pillow can help soothe chronic neck pain. This makes it easy to sleep and helping your muscles repair. But, finding the right pillow can be confusing.

There’s not one perfect pillow for everyone as it depends on your sleeping position. Find a pillow that maintains proper alignment and provides neck support. Let’s go over the best pillows for neck pain, along with the general rules for choosing a pillow suitable for you!

the Dual Comfort Pillow’s cover is a breathable knit. It dissipates heat and moisture from the pillow so you don’t get hot.

We make the Dual Comfort Pillow with our proprietary Bio-Pur® memory foam. Bio-Pur® is a plant-based memory foam that’s safe for the environment breathable. Plus, you won’t need to worry about fluffing the pillow or it going flat.

The Dual Comfort Pillow comes in both low- (5-inch) and mid-loft (6-inch) variations.

What Causes Neck Pain?

Neck pain is an increasingly common ailment, with roughly 

1 in 3 Americans

 suffering from it annually. The intensity of neck pain can vary from person to person and based on what’s causing the pain to begin with.

Common causes

 of neck pain include:

Poor posture

Muscle strain

Aging

Herniated or bulging disks

Spinal stenosis

Injuries

Osteoarthritis

Meningitis

Fibromyalgia

While there are many causes of neck pain, the symptoms tend to be similar. When suffering from neck pain, you may experience muscle spasms, stiffness, reduced range of motion, headaches and migraines, poor sleep, and pain during repetitive activities.

How Neck Pain Affects Sleep

Proper sleep is crucial for muscle recovery and pain relief. However, being in pain makes it difficult to get comfortable and fall asleep. Even if you do fall asleep, some people might be in such intense pain that they don’t stay asleep.

Neck pain and sleep have a bidirectional relationship, meaning the pain worsens your sleep and the poor sleep worsens your pain.

Consider Your Sleeping Position

Your sleeping position plays an important role in choosing a supportive pillow and relieving your neck pain. How you sleep impacts the pillow loft and firmness best suited for you.

Side Sleeping

Side sleeping is a great position for neck pain so long as you use the right pillow for side sleeping. We recommend side sleepers use a firm, high loft pillow thicker than 6 inches to ensure the head and neck stay neutral to the spine.

Why a firm pillow? An overly thin or soft pillow will leave your head unsupported and cause your neck to curl unnaturally.

Back Sleeping

When back sleeping, we suggest using a medium loft pillow between 5 or 6 inches thick. Medium or firm-feels often establish the best pillows for back sleepers to support the natural curve of the neck and prevent pain. Any overly thin or thick pillow will also throw the spine out of alignment and further exacerbate pain.

Stomach Sleeping

Frankly, stomach sleeping is one of the worst positions to sleep in if you’re dealing with neck pain. When sleeping on your belly, your neck is twisted to the side, which exacerbates neck pain. We suggest trying a new sleeping position to minimize your neck pain, but of course, it isn’t always easy to permanently switch sleeping positions.

In the meantime, we advise using a soft, thinner pillow or not using a pillow at all. A low loft pillow minimizes any strain on your neck to ease neck pain while stomach sleeping.

Compare Pillow Fills

Once you’ve determined your ideal pillow firmness and loft, it’s time to consider what type of pillow you want. Your pillow’s material affects its feel, price, durability, and support levels.

Memory Foam

Memory foam is one of the best fills for neck pain sufferers. A memory foam pillow has a “hug-like” feel because it conforms under the neck muscles, maximizing pressure and pain relief.

A common complaint with memory foam pillows is they trap heat and aren’t very springy, leaving your pillow feeling flat after using it all night. Look for memory foam pillows made with gel, graphite, or plant-based oils. These types of memory foam stay cool, are extra responsive, and last longer than standard memory foam does.

There are two types of memory foam pillows: shredded and solid. A shredded memory foam pillow is soft, flexible, and breathable. Conversely, a solid memory foam pillow is sturdy, durable, and supportive.

Latex

Latex is another foam fill, but it’s an eco-friendly material made from rubber trees. Unlike memory foam, latex has more bounce and is naturally breathable. It provides excellent pressure relief without leaving you trapped or unable to move around comfortably.

Latex pillows are hypoallergenic and resistant to dust mites, mold, and mildew. Of course, if you have latex allergies, avoid latex pillows.

When looking at latex pillows, avoid synthetic or blended latexes. Both are chemical-based and won’t perform the same way natural latex pillows would. Plus, they aren’t as safe for the environment as natural latex.

Down

Down is a well-known, luxury pillow fill made from the underbelly feathers of ducks and geese. It’s a popular fill for its excellent loft, breathability, and cloud-like feel, but it isn’t necessarily the best pillow out there.

Down and feather pillows aren’t supportive and offer minimal pressure relief. So, while they may feel nice to the touch, they aren’t anything extraordinary. You have to fluff down pillows regularly to help them maintain their shape, and they need to be spot-cleaned or taken to a dry cleaner. And despite being unsupportive, down pillows get expensive since they’re made from animals.

Down Alternative

Whether you have allergies, a small budget, or want something easy to care for, down alternative pillows may interest you. Down alternative is a polyester fiber fill designed to mimic real down, without the high cost or animal parts.

Microbead

Microbeads are tiny, unexpanded polystyrene beads (EPS). Microbeads are squishy and contour well under your head and neck, which is great for relieving pain. You’re most likely to find microbeads inside of horseshoe neck pillows—also called travel pillows—since they’re reliable for sleeping upright.

While microbead pillows are cooling and supportive, they’re not the most eco-friendly pillow option. It takes roughly 500 years for polystyrene beads to biodegrade, plus they pollute the ocean and are harmful to sea life.

Buckwheat

Buckwheat pillows are a firmer, breathable pillow option made from buckwheat hulls. Buckwheat is similar to microbeads because it conforms closely to the head and neck. However, buckwheat is a natural material and biodegrades much quicker than microbeads.

The problem with buckwheat pillows is that they are expensive, uncommon, and noisy. Buckwheat hulls crunch and scratch each other when you move around, which can be disruptive to your sleep. Plus, buckwheat pillows can feel overly stiff and heavy compared to other fills.

Water

Water pillows are uncommon but can be great for relieving neck pain. They can be any firmness or loft depending on the amount of water you add to the pillow and conform easily to your head and neck. Plus, water pillows never go flat or lumpy since you just need to add water to them.

The main risk involved with water pillows is potential leaks. While uncommon, a water pillow may rip and soak your bed, which voids mattress warranties.