Which Pillow for Neck Pain? How to Find the Right Height

There is no pillow that treats neck pain. What matters is a pillow that lets your neck rest at the right height at night: head and cervical spine in one line, with enough room for your shoulder. The right height depends on your body measurements, your sleeping position and your mattress.

What can a pillow do for neck pain, and what can't it do?

A pillow is a means of support, not a remedy. It can help your neck rest in a suitable position all night long. It cannot resolve symptoms.

That goes for every pillow, ours included. Neck pain and neck tension can have very different causes. If your symptoms persist, get worse or are joined by new ones, please have them checked by a doctor. We don't give treatment advice here.

What we can explain: a pillow at the wrong height can put your neck in an unfavourable position all night. That is something you can avoid.

Why isn't there one pillow for neck tension?

Because bodies are built differently. If you want to know which pillow might suit you for neck tension, start by looking at three things:

• Body measurements: Shoulder width, neck circumference and neck length are different for everyone. A broad shoulder needs more height than a narrow one to fill the gap between your head and the mattress.
• Sleeping position: When you sleep on your side, the distance between your ear and the mattress is greatest. On your back or your stomach, your head sits differently. You can read more in our guides for side sleepers, back sleepers and stomach sleepers.
• Mattress: On a soft mattress, your shoulder and body sink in deeper than on a firm one. That changes how much height the pillow has to make up.

The right height comes from all three factors together, not from a label like “soft” or “firm.”

What about neck and shoulder pain?

If you wake up at night with neck and shoulder pain, you may wonder whether your pillow is to blame. There's no blanket answer. A pillow that is too low lets your head sag downward when you sleep on your side. A pillow that is too high pushes it upward. In both cases, your neck isn't in line with your spine.

With the shoulder, there is a second point: it needs room. If the pillow is too short or sits in the wrong place, your shoulder ends up in the way. If you mostly sleep on your side, you'll find more tips in the article Pillow for shoulder pain: what side sleepers should look for. If you feel your symptoms more around the shoulder blades, the article Shoulder blade pain: can your pillow play a role? may help. If it's more often your hand that falls asleep at night, read Hand falls asleep at night: can your pillow play a role? to see what can matter for sleeping posture and pillow. Whether your symptoms come from your pillow is something a doctor or a physiotherapist can tell you better than a guide can.

How do you find the right pillow height?

You can work your way toward the right height in three steps:

1. Observe your posture. Have someone take a photo of you in your usual sleeping position, from the front or from behind. Look at whether your head bends upward or downward.
2. Check the signs. You'll find how to tell whether a pillow is too high or too low in our article Pillow too high or too low?. The background on the calculation is at Calculating pillow height.
3. Measure your body. Choosing by feel is still guessing; if you measure, you don't have to guess.

How does Pillowise choose the size?

Pillowise is a made-to-measure pillow made of memory foam. We don't choose the pillow size by feel, but from three measurements:

On top of that come your sleeping position (back, side, stomach) and your mattress (soft, medium, firm). An algorithm uses this information to choose the best-fitting pillow. There are six sizes, each with its own colour: pink, orange, green, blue, red and purple. The pillow measures 55 x 35 cm. The core is 100 percent memory foam and is made in the Netherlands. You can machine wash the cover at 40 °C. The materials are certified to STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX.

You can read more about the construction on the page The Pillowise pillow.

Pillowise does not replace a medical assessment. It is only meant to answer the question of pillow height, so you don't have to guess.

Why do we measure this way?

The method comes from practice. Thijs van der Hilst trained as a physiotherapist in Breda and specialized in neck and shoulder complaints. He couldn't recommend a suitable pillow to his patients with neck complaints. So he developed a measuring method himself: three measurements that point to the right pillow. Pillowise grew out of that, together with United Comfort Industries. The company has made ergonomic sleep products in its own factory in the Netherlands since 1990.

Where can you get measured?

There are two ways:

• At a retail location: There we measure you with the Pillowise tape measure. Retail locations include chiropractors, physiotherapists, sleep specialists, wellness practices and specialty retailers. You can find one near you under Retail locations. At a retail location, you can try out your size, plus a second size for comparison, on a display with all six pillows.
• At home with PillowScan: You determine your size yourself at scan.pillowise.com, using your phone or a QR code. The instructions are on the page Taking measurements.

There is no online store for private customers on pillowise.com. You get the pillow through the retail locations.

What about neck pillows and orthopedic pillows?

Neither term describes a fixed type of pillow. “Neck pillow” can mean a pillow with a hollow, a travel pillow or a pillow with a neck roll. “Orthopedic” is not a uniformly defined feature. So pay less attention to the label and more to whether the height fits your measurements. You'll find an overview in our guides to the neck pillow and the orthopedic pillow. For more guidance, see the guide to choosing the right pillow.

So: which pillow for neck pain?

One whose height suits your body, your sleeping position and your mattress. A pillow can't do more than that, and that's already quite a lot. It doesn't treat pain. If your symptoms persist, have them checked by a doctor.

If you wake up in the morning without discomfort and your pillow feels good, you don't need to change anything. A new pillow is mainly worth it if you've been unsure for some time whether the height is right.

Find your size

Find your size yourself or find a retail location.

Thijs van der Hilst, physiotherapist (non-practising)
Inventor of Pillowise