Orthopedic pillow

An orthopedic pillow is a pillow designed to correct body positioning in bed or while lying in any other surface. Its design conforms to orthopedic guidelines to ensure the right placement and support of one or more specific parts of the body to provide safe and healthy rest to the sleeper.

It has been traditionally made of foam and fiber, but other types now exist, such as pillows made of memory foam, a heat sensitive material that can acquire the shape of the body lying upon it. It may or may not recover its original shape immediately when the body gets off.

Orthopedic pillows are regarded as therapeutic pillows based on claims that they can help - depending on their design - relieve various conditions such as sleep apnea, snoring, insomnia, breathing difficulty, blood circulation problems, acid reflux, GERD, lower back pain, sciatica pain, neck pain, whiplash, rotator cuff injury, among others. This way, the sleeper can get longer and deeper sleep without the discomfort produced by the symptoms of these conditions.

There are many types of orthopedic pillows for almost every part of the human body, as well as orthopedic beds, mattresses, top mattresses, supports and cushions for different orthopedic problems. Some of them have multipurpose and multiposition designs for different physical ailments and sleep disorders.

Types of orthopedic pillows

 * Cervical pillow or contour pillow: Sleep pillow with a curved design that adapts to head, neck and shoulder contour for back sleepers and side sleepers. Relieves neck pain, frozen shoulder, stiff neck and headaches. Helps release breathing airways to reduce snoring and sleep apnea symptoms.


 * Neck pillow or travel pillow: Pillow designed as a horseshoe for the neck contour to be use in the office and mostly on board, therefore it receives the name of travel pillow since they are mostly used by travellers to keep their neck straight and take a comfortable nap while on board.


 * Wedge pillow: triangle-shaped pillow that gives a slope for placing the body in a diagonal position. It can be used in an upright or downright position. This pillow is multipurpose; however they are mainly used to relief the symptoms of acid reflux and GERD disease during sleep.


 * Lumbar pillow: Half-moon shaped pillow used at the lower back to comfort and relief lumbar pain and keep a correct sitting-down position. Likewise, they are used underneath knees for leg elevation and as a neck support for relax and massage.


 * Knee pillow: Hourglass shaped pillow that placed between your legs elevates your lower body to keep a straight side sleeping position. Some leg wedge pillows can be unfolded and turned into leg spacers to boost blood circulation through your legs.


 * Body pillow: Long curved pillow for total body support that cradles head, neck, shoulders, back, lower back, legs and knees, replaces other pillows and gives full comfort to the side sleeper.

Spine health and better sleep
The way we sleep has a significant influence in both physical and mental health. Some sleep disorders are related to orthopedic conditions that have their origins in musculoskeletal conditions that have been triggered and/or increased by an incorrect sleep position.

Around 120 million people in the United States suffer some kind of sleep disorder, according to the National Sleep Foundation. This large number has motivated a series of studies on the incidence of sleep disorders and sleeping habits in different groups according to their age, sex, race, social condition, and other factors.

The position in which our body lies is vital for spine health. According to chiropractors, the best way to ensure the protection of the spinal nerves is sleeping over a firm and properly contoured mattress and pillow that can keep the spine straight during the night.

For a correct sleeping, only head and neck should be placed over the pillow, but not shoulders because this will elevate your upper body much higher than your lower body. However, some bed orthopedic pillows have a design that gives comfort to shoulders.

To maintain the balance of the entire body, the sleeper can place a leg wedge pillow between her knees to lift up her lower back, hips and legs and allow the normal flow of blood along them.

Health problems
Our sleep position has a major influence in our overall health condition. A relaxed sleeping position can enable our body to have sound sleep during which our entire system can properly work as it does when it is awake.

Sleep is not a period of complete unconsciousness; it is night time activity for the brain and each organ to stay functioning and recovering strength for the activity of the following day, especially for the immune system, which decreases its production of white blood cells, responsible of the endurance of our system and blocking of diseases.

During sleep our brain remains dynamic performing the most important activities that ensure survival. It keeps controlling the functions of the nervous system, the release of the hormone of growth in children and teenagers, the maintenance of body temperature and heart rate, and the stability of emotional and social reactions.

Sleep deprivation or lack of sleep shows through these health problems – some show immediately the morning after while other develop into more complex conditions– that can be divided into these categories:

Physical problems

 * Neck stiffness


 * Back pain


 * Headaches


 * Numbness and tingling


 * Blood circulation problems

Sleep disorders

 * Insomnia


 * Sleep apnea


 * Snoring


 * Breathing difficulty

Emotional problems

 * Stress


 * Sleep deprivation


 * Fatigue


 * Anxiety


 * Lack of concentration


 * Bad temper

Orthopedic pillows and sleep positions
The way we sleep is personal and unique. Sleepers usually don’t wake up in the same position they acquired first when they got in bed, they tend to toss and turn many times until they finally fall asleep.

The most common sleep positions people adopt in bed are:

Side sleeping
The most common of the three. According to the Sleep Assessment and Advisory Service two out of three people sleep on their sides. This position is considered the most suitable because it reduces the incidences of snoring, sleep apnea and obstructive sleep apnea, it helps release breathing airways and it is the most helpful position for pregnant women to reduce the pressure of their wombs. It is twice more common in women than in men.

The inconvenient of this position is that most of the body’s pressure relies over arms and  shoulders which produce neck stiffness and frozen shoulder. This can be solved with a side sleeper pillow that allows the correct placement of neck, arms and shoulders.

Back sleeping
Unlike side sleeping, this position may favour episodes of snoring and sinus, as well as back pain. This position requires a soft but firm support for three critic curves of the body: Behind the neck, in the middle of the back and lower back. For this, an orthopedic pillow with neck contour and a wedge under knees can allow the back sleeper to lie with safety and comfort.

Stomach sleeping
More common in babies and small children than in grown-ups, this sleep position is considered harmful for the neck (neck strain, neck pain and stiffness) and responsible of the incidence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in babies as small children, according to a study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Sleeping positions may present variations in the placement of arms and legs, and they may vary a little or totally change to any other position during sleep.

As for orthopedic pillows, they are designed to fulfill the comfort and good positioning needs of each type of sleeper and prevent the health problems derived from them. Some of them present versatile designs that are able to adapt to the three positions.

Other orthopedic pillows

 * Reading pillow


 * Pregnancy pillow


 * Breastfeeding pillow


 * Donut pillow


 * Leg spacer