Does a pillow make a difference?

Relatively new to 'Pappy', and I sleep on a flat pillow that I have used for y-e-a-r-s...

Does anyone have experience where changing a pillow made a big difference in their therapy? Is there any special pillows people would recommend?

Aghousewright wrote:Relatively new to 'Pappy', and I sleep on a flat pillow that I have used for y-e-a-r-s...

Does anyone have experience where changing a pillow made a big difference in their therapy? Is there any special pillows people would recommend?

Yes, I found that when I moved over to sleep on my side on my regular pillow to give my back a break, my nasal pillow mask would often get knocked out of position, causing mask leaks, unless I remembered to give the edge of the pillow a quick punch with my fist to square off the edge and get rid of the natural taper of the pillow. And that didn't always work.

I saw a CPAP pillow at my DME which had perfectly square edges no taper and with cutouts for the mask, bought one and find it almost completely eliminates the problem without punching my pillow every time I turn over.

A fair number of us find bed pillows to be an important (and very individual) contributor to sleep quality. Several suggestions are here:

Thread #1 on pillows

Another one here, and

More pillow talk here

It's not straightforward to search for these threads because "pillow" of course gets you a bazillion hits on nasal pillows, but if you search for for "therapeutic pillow" or "neck pillow" (without the quotes) you'll find them

Thanks to you both...I am looking forward to reading the threads and finding out more about this. This infomerical got me thinking about the subject...then the weird Japanese pillow too....was thinking about this one though: http://theworldsbestpillow.com/pillows/ ... ers-pillow

That weird pillow you are speaking of... I think you mean the Sobakawa Pillow? Since I started using it around 5 weeks ago, I've noticed a Huge difference in how my neck feels. I never would have thunked it, but its made a tremendous difference.

ems wrote:That weird pillow you are speaking of... I think you mean the Sobakawa Pillow? Since I started using it around 5 weeks ago, I've noticed a Huge difference in how my neck feels. I never would have thunked it, but its made a tremendous difference.

Yes..Sobakawa...is this pillow really small though, I read that in another forum....I have a 'big' head..imo...and need a full size pillow...different sizes?

I use a buckwheat pillow. Not the Sobakowa but one that is similar. I am small female and a higher profile pillow hurts my neck. I can see where the smaller and lower profile pillows might be a problem with a man with large shoulders or just someone larger than I am.
They do make buckwheat pillows in larger sizes though. I like the buckwheat pillow because it gives my neck the support it needs (bad neck) and lets me make a little nest for the mask by shoving the hulls out of the way.

Pillow preference is highly individual though. A good pillow can make a huge difference in the overall quality of our sleep though.

I've always needed two pillows.

I've a side sleeper, so I bought one king size and one standard side sleeper pillow, and I stack them. This gives me a "ledge" to have my mask fall off so it doesn't get jostled around.

I generally have pretty good leak lines.

You do NOT need a special cpap pillows by any means. Cpap pillows are definitely waaay over priced.

Any pillow that keeps your neck & spine straight and does not contribute to mask leaks is good. IF you continue to sleep on your back you should prob sleep w/o a pillow or simply roll up a small hand towel to fill the space in the nape of your neck. This will hyper extend your neck and help to minimize OA's even while on your back while keeping your spine in alignment.

Anything that lifts your chin towards your chest is counter-productive.

Sleeping on your side you want something that will fill the space between your ear and the bed while keeping your spine straight. Ever wake up with a kink in your neck when you sleep with your neck cranked all nite?

HTH

Seven nights ago I switched from a special CPAP pillow to the Sobakawa buckwheat pillow from Bed Bath and Beyond.

My AHI has dropped from a long term average of 3.8 down to a seven day average of 2.7. It seems as if the lower pillow height (2.5 inches vs 5.0 inches) keeps my neck more in line with my spine and reduces my airway obstruction.

The Sobakawa was about $27 w/ shipping. Well worth trying in my opinion. Oh and I find it quite comfortable, in spite of the small size.

A lot of people find the angle between the head and the spine makes a difference. In CPR training, they teach you to tilt the head back to open the airway.

Position and pillows may help this. It's not necessarily a question of a special pillow, but it's worth experimenting to see what works well for you.

I also use the Sobakawa pillow and find that it works great. As previously stated, just give this pillow a punch and it will stay put. When I started I had the large size, (they come in small, medium & large), and it was too much pillow. So I dropped down to the small (19.95 @ BB&Beyond) and it works great! Word of caution, if you go online to purchase this pillow, they will have the 2 for 1 box automatically checked on the small size. If you've decided to purchase only the medium or large, be aware that you need to uncheck that box or your order will include additional pillows and shipping. Yes, this is the voice of experience! They're a little tricky

I got a CPAPMax pillow, but I had to take the middle layer out to make it less thick because it was too tall. It helped me be more comfortable as a side sleeper.

archangle wrote:A lot of people find the angle between the head and the spine makes a difference.

there should be no angle

no arch no angle no archangle none nada got it

GumbyCT wrote: Anything that lifts your chin towards your chest is counter-productive.

I agree like too many pillows or unfortunately my Mask. The bottom straps tend to pull my chin down towards my chest closing the airway. This happens a lot to me using regular pillows while I'm on my back. I actually used to wake my self up snoring with the mask on, and made a consious effort to push my head back farther to open the airway more. Now I have one of those contoured memory foam pillows that keeps my spine straight, AND keeps my head from tilting forward. Got it at Costco for $20.00 bucks, well worth it for back sleeping.