Pillow for Shoulder Pain: What Side Sleepers Should Look For

A pillow doesn't treat shoulder pain. But it can help keep your head and neck at a suitable height when you sleep on your side, so your shoulder isn't put under extra strain.

Can a pillow help with shoulder pain at all?

Shoulder pain has many possible causes. The pillow isn't one of them, and it doesn't replace treatment either. Anyone who promises you that a pillow will make shoulder pain go away is promising too much.

What a suitable pillow can do is limited, but not unimportant: it helps keep your head and cervical spine in a line and gives your shoulder room. That's the basis for a sleeping position in which you aren't working against your own pillow.

Why does pillow height matter so much for side sleepers?

When you sleep on your side, part of your body weight rests on your shoulder. The pillow fills the gap between your head and the mattress. That gap is different for everyone, because it depends mainly on shoulder width.

• The pillow is too low: Your head tilts toward the mattress. Your shoulder then carries more than it should, and your neck sits at an angle.
• The pillow is too high: Your neck bends to the other side. Here too, your head and cervical spine aren't in a line.

The right height lies somewhere in between, and it can't be given as a general figure. We describe how to tell whether a pillow is too high or too low in our guide Pillow too high or too low?. You'll find more about side sleeping in general in The Right Pillow for Side Sleepers.

Which pillow for shoulder pain suits side sleepers?

An answer like “the pillow with height X” wouldn't be credible. Which pillow suits you depends on several things that are different for everyone:

• Shoulder width: It determines how much distance the pillow has to bridge when you sleep on your side.
• Neck circumference and neck length: They determine how your head and neck rest on the pillow.
• Sleeping position: If you mostly sleep on your side, you need a different height than someone who sleeps on their back or stomach.
• Mattress: Whether it's soft, medium or firm changes how deeply your shoulder and body sink in.

The material alone doesn't settle the question. A memory foam pillow can work well if the height is right, and poorly if it isn't. The same is true for any other material. You'll find an overview of the properties in our guide Memory Foam Pillows.

If what you mainly want to know is which pillow suits you overall, Which Pillow Is the Best? will help.

Is there a top-rated pillow for shoulder pain?

Anyone looking for a test winner is hoping for a simple answer. There isn't one, for two reasons.

First, even a test winner doesn't treat shoulder pain. Second, a pillow in a test is assessed under specific conditions, not on your body.

A test winner doesn't automatically suit your shoulder width. If your shoulders are wider or narrower than those of the test participants, the same pillow may be too high or too low for you. Tests can offer some guidance. Whether a pillow works for you when you sleep on your side only becomes clear from your own measurements.

How does Pillowise determine the right pillow size?

Pillowise is a made-to-measure memory foam pillow. I developed it together with United Comfort Industries, which has been making ergonomic sleep products in its own factory in the Netherlands since 1990. It started with a question from my practice: which pillow can I recommend to a patient with neck or shoulder complaints? I couldn't find a method that suited every body, so I developed one myself.

The size is based on three measurements:

Your sleeping position (back, side, stomach) and your mattress (soft, medium, firm) are factored in as well. An algorithm uses these to choose the right size. There are six sizes, each with its own colour: pink, orange, green, blue, red and purple.

The Pillowise pillow measures 55 x 35 cm. The core is made of 100% memory foam. The cover has a moisture-regulating top layer made of Tencel and can be washed in the washing machine at 40 °C. The materials are certified to STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX.

The guide Measuring Shoulder Width explains exactly how to measure your shoulder width.

How do you find your size?

There are two ways to determine your size.

1. Get measured: At a Pillowise retailer, your size is determined with the Pillowise tape measure.
2. Measure yourself: With PillowScan at scan.pillowise.com, you determine your size yourself, using your phone or a QR code. You'll also find the tool on the Taking Measurements page.

Pillowise isn't available through its own online shop on pillowise.com. You can get the pillow through a retailer, which you'll find on the Retailers page.

And what if your neck bothers you more than your shoulder?

Shoulder and neck are closely connected, and sometimes it's hard to say exactly where the pain begins. If your neck is more of a concern, keep reading in our guide Pillow for Neck Tension. If the pain is more around the shoulder blade, you'll find more background in our guide Shoulder Blade Pain: Can Your Pillow Play a Role?. If your hand also falls asleep at night fairly often, read more in our guide Hand Falls Asleep at Night: Can Your Pillow Play a Role?.

When should you have shoulder pain checked by a doctor?

A pillow is no substitute for a diagnosis. Have shoulder pain checked by a doctor if any of these apply:

A doctor can determine the cause and decide on treatment. We don't give advice on that. The pillow only becomes a topic afterwards, and even then only as part of your sleeping position. If you'd like some general background on the subject, you can read our overview of shoulder impingement exercises.

So: do you need a different pillow for shoulder pain?

Not necessarily. If you lie comfortably on your side, without your head tilting or your neck bending, and the pain has been checked by a doctor, you don't need to change anything.

If, on the other hand, you notice that your pillow is too high or too low when you sleep on your side, getting measured is worthwhile. The pillow doesn't treat pain. But it can help keep your head and neck at a suitable height, and that depends on your shoulder width, not on the test result.

Find your pillow size

Three measurements determine the size that suits your body.

Determine your size yourself or find a retailer near you

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