Pillow Use: The Behavior of Cervical Stiffness, Headache and Scapular/Arm Pain
Study by S. J. Gordon, K. A. Grimmer-Somers and P. H. Trott
Randomized Home Trial · Journal of Pain Research (Vol. 3, pp. 137-145) · DOI: 10.2147/JPR.S10880
Key Takeaway
Latex Pillows Did Best and Feather Pillows Did Worst
What was tested: 106 healthy adults who sleep on their side with one pillow tried 5 new pillows (polyester, regular foam, contour foam, feather and latex) for 1 week each at home. They logged waking neck stiffness, headache and shoulder blade or arm pain every day (Gordon et al., 2010).
What the numbers showed: On the latex pillow, 90.9% of people woke with no headache and 88.3% with no shoulder or arm pain, the best of any pillow. On the feather pillow, those figures were 63.3% and 63.6%.
What this means for you: The pillow filling made a difference in this study, and the contour foam pillow did no better than the regular foam one. The people had no neck problems to begin with, and the study did not test mattresses.
Key Numbers
How the Study Was Done
This was a randomized field trial in a regional town in South Australia. 106 healthy adults who usually sleep on their side with one pillow took part. People with a neck or upper back injury or disease in the past year were left out (Gordon et al., 2010).
Each person used their own pillow for a starting week. Then they tried the 5 new pillows in a random order, 1 week each, with a week back on their own pillow between them. Labels and covers were removed, but the authors note that shape and feel may have given some pillows away. Nights with another clear cause of symptoms, such as illness, alcohol or noise, were left out.
What the Study Compared
Latex Pillow
Most people woke free of headache (90.9%) and of shoulder or arm pain (88.3%). 97% finished the week.
Feather Pillow
Fewest people woke free of headache (63.3%) or of shoulder or arm pain (63.6%). 67.3% finished the week.
What the Study Found
The feather pillow did worst and had the most dropouts. 3 people left the study because of neck or upper back symptoms while using it. For waking neck stiffness, 67.5% woke stiffness-free on latex, 66.1% on their own pillow and 49.2% on feather (Gordon et al., 2010).
Compared with the polyester pillow, the latex pillow lowered the odds of waking with any headache (odds ratio 0.3, 95% confidence interval 0.1 to 0.8). An odds ratio below 1 means lower odds, and a range that stays below 1 means the result is unlikely to be chance.
On their own pillow in the starting week, 33.9% of people woke with neck stiffness at least once, 19.6% with a headache and 17.9% with shoulder or arm pain. The authors report no conflicts of interest. Pillow makers supplied some of the trial pillows but had no other role (Gordon et al., 2010).
An earlier version of this page gave the wrong journal, year and DOI, and pain and stiffness percentages that are not in the paper. Those figures and the pillow product picks have been removed.
How to Apply This Study When Choosing a Mattress
What it tells you: In this trial, a latex pillow was linked to fewer waking headaches and less shoulder or arm pain than the other pillows, and a feather pillow to more.
The trial used one standard latex pillow and healthy side sleepers, so it cannot tell you which brand or pillow height suits you. It did not test mattresses.
Study Scope and Limitations
106 healthy side sleepers in one Australian town, 1 week per pillow, and daily self-reported symptoms. Blinding was not complete, and people with neck problems were left out, so the results may not apply to them. The study did not test mattresses.
Primary Citation
Gordon, S. J., Grimmer-Somers, K. A., & Trott, P. H. (2010). Pillow use: The behavior of cervical stiffness, headache and scapular/arm pain. Journal of Pain Research, 3, 137-145. https://doi.org/