Memory foam pillows

When it comes to selecting a pillow there is possibly even more choice than there is when selecting a bed, a mattress, or an orthopedic mattress.

Pillows can be filled with goose feathers and duck down, natural organic wool, a range of foams that include memory foam, natural and synthetic latex, or even pocket springs. Some specialist pillows are even available filled with types of grass and straw and some pillows are impregnated with aromas.

It becomes very obvious that there is a lot of choice and this means that, if you shop around and try out different pillow fillings, you will find something that meets your requirements exactly.

The memory foam pillow

The memory foam pillow, or visco elastic foam pillow, is very different to most other pillow types. The reason for this is the unusual properties of memory foam which cause the pillow to react in a different way to other pillow fillers.

Memory foam (see this What is memory foam page) has an ability to shape itself snugly around anything that presses on it in a different way to other foams. Furthermore, this moulding characteristic is enhanced as the warmth of, in this case the head, causes the moulding or contouring properties of the foam to become even more body-shape specific.

The result is that memory foam cradles or moulds itself very precisely around any object place on it and, when this is the human head, it provides a unique form of soft but firm cradling support.

One of the concepts behind this type of pillow working is that the support is so good, and so tailored to the head and neck profile of the person laying on it, that there is far less likelihood that the head will be moved during sleep. This reduced the number of times that the person will wake up during the night and this improves sleep quality and recovery.

Types (profiles) of pillow

Memory foam pillows tend to come in one of two styles. The first looks like a normal pillow, however the second is quite different and is pre-shaped to take account of the curve that runs from the back of the head to the neck (i.e. the inward curve at the nape of the neck).

This type of memory foam pillow is smaller that a typical pillow, but it also has an unusual shape that sees the pillow shaped almost like an elongated letter “m”. i.e. it has a double arch with a valley in the middle. This valley takes the projection of the head whilst the lower arch fills the space created by the nape of the neck.

Naturally the moulding action of the memory foam customises this pre-shaped pillow to the exact curves of any head and neck that rest on it.

Some people like these specially shaped memory foam pillows, however an equal number of people have a preference for a standard shaped pillow. The choice is a personal one.

The other property of pre-shaped pillows is that they often use two different types of foam. The first is a very dense foam at the base of the pillow, whilst a softer more mouldable foam is used in the top profiled zone. This also means that these pillows are one-way, i.e. they can only be used in one orientation and not turned over. Standard shaped memory foam pillows have not right or wrong way, or top or bottom.