The Best Pillow for Neck Pain and Headaches in 2020 | Physician Advice
Chronic neck pain affects millions of Americans of various ages and for various reasons. In most cases, the true cause of chronic neck pain isn’t known. If you often wake up with sore neck muscles, it’s possible that your pillow offers little or no support. In that case, you can possibly reduce neck pain if you choose a pillow that supports and aligns your neck muscles.
Your pillow’s job is to support your neck muscles, holding it in alignment with the rest of your body. The right pillow offers spinal alignment, i.e., it keeps your neck in the same line with your back and hips to ensure there aren’t any pressure points or undue stress on the neck muscles. If your neck pillow is too high or low, it fails to align your spine, leading to chronic neck pain.
In some cases, your sleeping positions may also be to blame. Some people sleep on their stomachs, which can potentially wreak havoc on your neck muscles and throw your back into misalignment. However, you can reduce neck pain if you choose a pillow that aligns with your sleeping positions and supports your neck muscles. There are several types of pillows, but you must choose a pillow suitable for your sleeping positions.
This article introduces you to the best pillow for neck pain and headaches in 2020.
Contour Memory Foam Pillow By Elite Rest: The Best Pillow for Neck Pain and Headaches
Contour Memory Foam Pillow By Elite Rest is widely considered the best pillow for neck pain and headaches, especially for side sleeping and back sleeping. For starters, memory foam pillows are the best types of pillows for people with chronic neck pain. Memory foam is a special material that conforms to your body’s shape, ensuring optimal comfort and pressure relief. As such, memory foam pillows support your neck muscles and reduce neck pain.
However, Elite Rest’s contour memory foam pillow stands several notches above other memory foam pillows for various reasons. As a contoured memory foam pillow, it has elevated sides that support your neck muscles and prevent excessive neck movements. When you lay down on the pillow, the 4” elevated contours gently follow the curves of your neck, ensuring spinal alignment. Meanwhile, your head rests on the 2.75” concavity at the center for comfort.
The contour memory foam pillow also features a highly-breathable and machine-washable cover made of 100% cotton. As such, it ensures air circulation to keep you cool and relaxed. The machine-washable and breathable cover counters memory foam’s tendency to run hot or increase your sleeping temperature. As such, the Contour Memory Foam Pillow by Elite Rest is the best pillow for neck pain and headaches.
Featured User Review: “Let me begin by saying I have tried numerous pillows, and I always come back to the contour type. I have tried many highly recommended contour memory foam pillows, but this one by far is the best I have slept on. I would say that the pillow is a more firm pillow, but it cradles your neck perfectly, giving just the right amount of support. I am mostly a side sleeper and sometimes a back sleeper. This pillow is perfect for both. I also like the fact that the pillow is not too high, so it does not strain my neck. The high side is 4 inches, and the low side is 3 inches. I hope to be able to purchase another in the future.”
Other Chronic Neck Pain Pillows
EPABO Contour Memory Foam Pillow
EPABO Contour Memory Foam Pillow has many of the same advantages as the aforementioned Elite Rest pillow. It’s a memory foam pillow with a contoured design that supports your neck muscles and ensures spinal alignment to reduce neck pain. However, the EPABO memory foam pillow is suitable for people with higher necks because it has a loft height of 6”, which may be too high for some people. However, the pillow also features a gentle curvature at the center to support the neck muscles and ensure alignment. It comes with a machine-washable, hypoallergenic, rayon/polyester pillowcase that ensures breathability.
Core Products Tri-Core Cervical Pillow for Neck Pain is an orthopedic pillow meant primarily for people with chronic neck pain. You should note that this is an extremely supportive pillow to reduce neck pain, but it’s not comfortable. This pillow is good for rehabilitation, i.e., it keeps your neck stable in the optimal position, preventing involuntary movement at night. As such, it gradually changes your habit of moving the neck too much, which can stress your neck muscles. The pillow features elevated sides on all corners with a concave center that cradles your neck. You should use this pillow for a few days or weeks to reduce neck pain, relieve the symptoms of chronic neck pain, and then switch to a more comfortable (but supportive) pillow.
Summary
Chronic neck pain affects millions of Americans for various reasons, but the wrong choice of a pillow can exacerbate the problem. You must choose a pillow that relieves your neck muscles and supports spinal alignment to reduce neck pain. Contour Memory Foam Pillow By Elite Rest is widely considered the best pillow for neck pain and headaches in 2020 — it’s a supportive memory foam pillow that supports your neck muscles with its contoured design. It also features a machine-washable and breathable cover that keeps you cool.