Friday, November 20, 2009

How Important is Your Neck Pillow?

Studies have shown that a neck pillow can improve the quality of sleep and reduce pain levels. These studies, while usually of poor design and/or influenced by commercial incentives, focus on pillow design, rather than quality and specific properties of materials. Due to the large number of commercially available neck pillows, it is impossible to include all pillows in designed trials, thus studies regarding the how to choose the right neck pillow remain elusive and fail to surpass the credibility from health professionals providing patient advice based on the anecdotal suggestions of expert colleagues and professional associations.

The quality of sleep is influenced by many factors. A good neck pillow is an essential factor, especially for those suffering from neck pain and discomfort. There are a wide variety of pillows available on the market today in various materials, shapes and sizes. They are always emphasized to be a better product to benefit neck pain and sleep than others. However, as noted, there is not clear scientific evidence to prove these claims.