This post is part of the complete memory foam pillow buyers guide
Are you in the market for a good pillow but feel overwhelmed by all the choices out there? If comfort and good support are what you are looking for, memory foam pillows may be suitable for you.
Memory foam is a man-made material that when used in pillows is designed to adapt to the shape of your head and neck providing great support and comfort.
With that said, who are memory foam pillows best for? How do they feel? And how do you pick the best pillow? This guide answers all these questions and more.
But first, let’s start of by answering why a pillow is so important in the first place, as knowing this will make it easier to understand the benefits of a memory foam pillow.
What Makes a Pillow so Important?
While the mattress and bed sheets are easily settled, pillows cannot be randomly picked for several factors. A major one is the fact that a lot of people have different sleeping positions which influence their pillow choices.
Hence, picking the right kind of pillow for your sleeping position is very important. Keep in mind that the main aim of getting a pillow is to keep the neck in a neutrally aligned position.
Without undue oversight, let’s take a cursory look at the different kinds of sleepers and the kind of pillows they need. We have the:
1. Back Sleepers
From the name back sleepers, it is very easy to infer that this set of persons are people who sleep on their backs. For this position, a pillow that has a very medium loft and firmness is the best option to go with.
Moreover, the pillow must be positioned where the head is slim to keep the alignment in place.
2. Side Sleepers
Side Sleepers sleep on the side thereby taking pressure off their ligaments, discs, and muscles. A pillow for a side sleeper should effectively maintain the balance between the shoulder and neck.
A pillow with high loft and firm support creates this proportional balance.
3. Stomach Sleepers
The stomach sleeping position is generally despised by physiotherapists. Nevertheless, a lot of people are already so comfortable sleeping this way and still need a pillow that suits them. Pillows with low loft and soft filling materials are the best choices.
As you can see, for each sleeping position, there is a requisite firmness or softness level that is suitable.
For instance, back sleepers do best with pillows that are filled with materials like memory foam. Side sleepers on the other hand do best with pillows that are filled with materials like feathers, Kapok, down and down alternatives, even though some memory foam pillows work well for side sleepers as well. Stomach sleepers do best with soft materials and should use pillows filled with memory foam, feather, or down alternatives.
However, what happens when a person alternatively switches between all these positions. Well, the need for pillows that dynamically suit all the sleeping positions becomes necessary.
In recent times, memory foam pillows have proven to be multifunctional and optimized for different sleeping positions. To escape from the conventional traditional pillows, memory foam pillows are your best bet.
Curious why they are? Read on to learn more about memory foam pillows and the best options to pick from in 2022.
What is a Memory Foam Pillow?
With our earlier discussions on the different sleeping postures and pillows with different filling materials, it is time to examine the subject matter of this post, which is the memory foam pillow.
Memory foam Pillows are filled with foam made from polyurethane. Polyurethane is a type of plastic that is often found in many products. Popular products include sofas, mattresses, insulation, spray foams as well as pillows.
The name Memory foam is influenced by the ability of polyurethane to change shape when pressure is applied. This is the same with memory foam pillows which return to their original shape when the pressure is gone.
This responsiveness of the memory foam pillow makes it easy to readjust your pillow to suit your sleeping position whether back, side, or stomach.
Pros of Using Memory Foam Pillows
Discussing memory foam pillows is incomplete without adequately talking about the benefits of using them. Asides from a design that is responsive to heat and pressure, there are lots of other pros of using memory foam pillows such as:
1. Retention of Contours
Memory foam pillows retain a perfect contour that aligns perfectly with the head, neck, and shoulder. Moreover, contouring memory foam pillows don’t just keep the head and neck aligned.
It also facilitates proper support and pain relief. On the other hand, traditional pillows often tilt the head out of place into an incline.
2. Prevention of Snoring
When discussions on causes of snoring are raised, most hands point towards drudgery from the day’s activities. Nevertheless, snoring can make people around you very uncomfortable. Well, is there a great way to address this problem? The solution to this problem is Memory foam pillows.
How do memory pillows achieve this? Well, traditional pillows resist pressure less which makes the head tilt upwards and seals the air passages. Memory pillows keep the neck aligned with the spine to keep the air passages open and prevent snoring.
3. Pressure Point Relief
The memory foam pillow evenly distributes weight and contours the head to relieve the points in the body that cause pain. These points cause pain when more than necessary pressure is mounted on them while sleeping.
4. Alignment of the Spine
Muscles and Ligaments facilitate a lot of movements like walking, riding, movement of the hands and so many more. The aim of sleeping at night is to make all these muscles and ligaments relaxed to heal. This makes it possible to go about the next day’s activities easily without any hitch. Memory foam pillows keep the neck, chest, and lower back aligned to prevent muscle strains and promote ease of blood flow.
5. Optimized Breathable material
While sleeping, most traditional pillows absorb heat generated from the body which later warms the pillow up. Essentially, you can easily get uncomfortable which disrupts your sleep. However, memory foam pillows have just the right amount of airflow promotion that keeps the pillow cool while you sleep.
Cons of Using Memory Foam Pillows
Most things that are used by humans all have benefits. Nevertheless, the cons or shortcomings of these things cannot be overlooked. The memory foam equally has its cons that include:
1. Retention of Body Heat
All memory foam pillows are not made equally and sometimes can be adversely responsive to climate changes. Memory foam pillows with small air chambers do not promote easy airflow passage and trap air which makes the pillow hot instead.
2. Chemical Off-Gassing
Lots of chemicals including polyurethane are used in the production of memory foam. When the pillow production is complete, they are packaged in plastic containers which trap the smell of these chemicals. However, the smell dissipates two days after unboxing.
3. Slow recovery of Original Shape
The memory foam pillow is a popular pick amongst most people due to its ability to recover its original shape once pressure is no longer applied. However, this takes a while in some pillows and might be very frustrating if you’re someone who switches between positions.
Best Memory Foam Pillows in 2022
After a detailed perusal of the memory foam pillow as well as its pros and cons, it’s evident that the benefits of using this pillow outweigh the benefits of not. Hence, helping you make a good choice which offers you memory foam pillows with more pros than cons is a key motive of this piece. Let’s dive in for more info.
1. Coop Home Goods Premium Adjustable Loft Pillow
Checking out reviews of users of goods is one of the most popular ways of sieving out weeds from tares. If you’re one of such persons, then the Coop Home Goods Premium adjustable pillow is a great fit for you. This memory foam pillow has been endorsed by many users across the world with five-star reviews from close to thirty-thousand people.
The Coop Home Goods Premium memory foam pillow is particularly referenced for its smooth customization. You can adjust the pillow to fit your sleeping preference. Another reason the Coop Home Goods memory foam pillow remains a favorite is the fact that it is odorless. Hence, no choking chemical smell to be bothered about.
Also, you can wash this memory foam pillow with a machine.
You can learn more about the Coop Home Goods Premium adjustable pillow over at Amazon here.
2. Tempur-Pedic Tempur Cloud Memory Foam Pillow
The Tempur-Pedic Tempur Cloud memory foam not only offers great comfort but different loft options. Hence, you can pick specifically what loft suits your sleeping position. The common ones are the high and low loft.
Tempur-Pedic Tempur Cloud Memory Foam pillow keeps the head, neck, and shoulders cradled. Moreover, it has a cooling gel cover that keeps the pillow cool and reduces nighttime sweating. With this pillow, you always wake up refreshed.
You can learn more about the Tempur-Pedic Tempur Cloud memory foam pillow over at Amazon here.
3. Dream Rite Shredded Memory Foam Pillow
The Dream Rite Shredded Memory Foam Pillow provides the duo package of comfortability and affordability. Thousands of users of this pillow have given reviews about its affordability in comparison to super expensive pillows.
Moreover, they add that the Dream Rite Shredded memory foam pillow is not even backward in comfort regardless of the price at which it is offered.
To make things more interesting, the Dream Rite Shredded Memory Foam Pillow provides customizable features in terms of loft and support. That is, users can get to reduce or increase their memory foam filling to suit their tastes.
You can learn more about the Dream Rite Shredded Memory Foam Pillow over at Amazon here.
4. Nest Bedding Easy Breather Memory Foam Pillow
If your pillow isn’t very breathable, you will most times wake up with your pillow damp with sweat. The Nest Bedding Easy Breather memory foam addresses this problem. How? Well, the Nest bedding easy breather pillow is filled with memory foam and a blended fabric cover.
These design elements work hand in hand to sustain breathability and keep you cool while you sleep. Also, you can customize the loft of this pillow by removing part of the filling.
You can learn more about the Nest Bedding Easy Breather memory foam pillow over at Amazon here.
5. Weekender Ventilated Gel Memory Foam Pillow
The Weekender Ventilated Gel Memory Foam Pillow is a great fit due to its amazing suitability for side sleepers. Lots of side sleepers have assented to its incredible performance to users who gleefully make use of this sleeping position.
The Weekender Ventilated Gel Memory Foam Pillow is soft but provides just the right amount of resistance to pressure to keep the neck and shoulders aligned. Also, when placed on the arm, the Weekender Ventilated Gel Memory Foam pillow wraps around the arm so that it’s barely noticed.
You can learn more about the Weekender Ventilated Gel Memory Foam Pillow over at Amazon here.
6. Leesa Hybrid Memory Foam Pillow
The Leesa Hybrid Pillow is one of the products of the same Leesa company that produces impeccable mattresses. The Leesa Hybrid memory foam pillow also provides a great deal of flexibility to its users.
One side of this pillow has a down-quilted pattern and the other is relatively cooler. Hence, not only can you customize your pillow’s loftiness, but your pillow also stays cool all through the night.
Here, adjusting the pillow’s loft is done by removing the insert that slides between the layers.
You can learn more about the Leesa Hybrid memory foam pillow over at Amazon here.
7. UTTU Adjustable Memory Foam Orthopedic Contour Pillow
Do you constantly wake up from sleep feeling pains around your neck? Well, bad pillows displace the neck and shoulder alignment to cause this.
The UUTU Adjustable Memory Foam Orthopedic Contour Pillow provides a close to instant relief. Reviews from various users attest to its pain-relieving capacity amongst memory pillows to be purchased.
Wrapping Up
From this piece, it is evident that the benefits of memory foam pillows are endless. Moreover, you have a range of the best memory foam pillows to pick from if you want to get yours. Look out for the pros and cons of each to ensure an all-around excruciating experience for yourself. Enjoy your sleep more with the best memory foam pillows!
Memory Foam Pillows: A complete buyers guide – Parts:
1. Why Should You Use A Memory Foam Pillow? The Pros & Cons
2. Are Memory Foam Pillows Better Than Regular Pillows?
3. Are Memory Foam Pillows Safe? Is The Smell Toxic or Not?
4. How Often Should You Replace Memory Foam Pillows?
5. How to Clean a Memory Foam Pillow: Step by Step Guide
6. Can Memory Foam Pillows Grow Mold? And How to Avoid it!
7. How to Dry a Memory Foam Pillow: Step by Step Guide
8. Should You Put a Pillowcase on Your Memory Foam Pillow?
9. Why Are Memory Foam Pillows so Hard? How to Soften Them!
10. Best Memory Foam Pillows of 2022 – Full Guide and Review
